Beautiful Bagan
16.02.2013
36 °C
The ancient country of Burma straddles the winding Irrawaddy river for more than two thousand kilometers and is sandwiched between India, Bangladesh, China and Thailand. Like its neighbours, Burma has suffered over the centuries through religious and internecine squabbling. However, in the mid 9th century King Anawratha unified the country under Theravada Buddhism and built some 13,000 temples and stupas at Bagan on the central plain. Here are a few of them…
Oh … and here’s some more…
And what about these…
They just go on and on and on…
There are still more than two thousand of these amazing religious structures scattered around the sandy landscape of Bagan despite all attempts by the ruthless Mongol warrior, Kublai Khan, (grandson of Ghengis Khan), to destroy them in 1387. When the great Venetian explorer and trader Marco Polo visited Bagan just before the marauding Mongols arrived he wrote that "it is a gilded city alive with tinkling bells and the swishing sounds of monks' robes". The monks are still here and some of the stupas and temples have been re-gilded today…
...along with many of the enormous Buddhas...
…but when the Mongol hordes sacked the city they stole all the gold, left the temples in ruins and decimated the population, leaving only a handful of peasants scratching a living on the dusty riverbanks…
Some of the peasant farmers remain, living in flimsy stilt-houses amongst the ruins of great temples…
But most of the area has now been cleared so that we can appreciate the spectacular beauty of this incredible place…
The ancient temples and stupas of Bagan are every bit as impressive as Angkor Wat, Borobudur and the Acropolis. It is truly one of the wonders of the world. Tourists from around the globe are beginning to flock here, so come soon if you can, before this magical historic landscape becomes a parking lot for a thousand tourist buses…
So profoundly beautiful. So thankful you are there and bringing this beauty to us. I cannot imagine what it is like for you. Your photos are gorgeous.
Many thanks
Sue
16.02.2013 by Sue Fitzwilson