History Getting Around Interesting places
History
Bagan dates back almost to the beginning of the Christian Era. It lies on the bend of the Ayeyarwaddy River. Bagan can be marked to have started with King Anawrahta. He ascended the throne of Bagan in 1044. At that time, the kingdom was under the Mahayana religion. After Shin Arahan's arrival to Bagan, it converted to Theravada Buddhism. It was said to be that each and every household was able to donate an enshrined Pagoda, because of their faith in Buddhism believe and also because of their wealth.
The great Shwezigon was one of King Anawrahta's donation during his time.
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Getting Around
Horse carts are popular ways travelling around Bagan. Visitors can also hire bicycles at some hotels and guest houses to roam around. The charges are taken per hour service. Ferry boats can also be hired to flow in the Ayeyarwaddy. The ferry stand is near the Bu Pagoda. The views from the Ayeyarwaddy is also an interesting way to explore Bagan.
Bus and Express
There are Daily Expresses from Yangon and other major cities.
Car
One can hire a car from a car rental agency or from a travel agent. Different types of cars, coach seaters are available.
Train
Air
There are daily flights from Air Bagan, Yangon Airways, Air Mandalay and Myanmar Airways to Nyaung U Airport, Bagan. The flight schedules may change from time to time depending on the weather. But this is the fastest way to explore Bagan.
General Information
Today, Bagan has many hotels and guest houses to stay in.One should also buy a map of Bagan, so that people can travel alone depending on their interests. Many souvenirs and antiques can be bought near the Bagan Pagodas. But it is also a bit difficult to differentiate between the genuine and fake. There are entrance fees to the Bagan Zone, Bagan Museum and some pagodas too. More detail of entrace fees click here.
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Places to Visit in Bagan
Gubyaukgyi
Gubyaukgyi is close to Wetkyi-in village. This 13th-century 'cave temple' has an Indian-style spire like the Mahabodhi Paya in Bagan. Gu meaning "cave" in Myanmar.
It is interesting for the fine frescoes of scenes from the jatakas.
To distinguish it from the temple of the same name in Myinkaba, this monument is sometimes called 'Wetkyi-in Gubyaukgyi'.
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Shwezigon PagodaShwezigon is situated between the village of Wetkyi-in and Nyaung U. It was first built by King Anaweahta then completed by Kyansittha (1084-1113). Shwezigon enshrines one of the four replicas of the Buddha tooth from Sri Lanka. The other three are enshrined in Lawkananda, another one in Tankyi Taung Pagoda and the last one in Tuyin Taung Pagoda. There is a local saying that if one person visits and pay homage to all these four pagodas in one day, the person will gain prosperity and fulfilment.
There is a 10-cm circular indention in a stone slab near the eastern side of the pagoda, which was filled with water to allow royal families to look at the reflection of the hti (the tip of the Pagoda) without tipping their heads backward.
The graceful bell shape of this pagoda became a prototype for virtually all later pagodas all over Myanmar. The gilded pagoda sits on three rising terraces.
Enamelled plaques in panels around the base of the zedi illustrate scenes from the previous lives of the Buddha. At the cardinal points, facing the terrace stairways, are four shrines, each of which houses a four-metre-high bronze standing Buddha.
Tharabar Gateway
Tharabar is derived from the Pali term “Sarabhanga” meaning “Shield Against Arrows.”
This gateway is what remains of the royal city of Bagan founded by King Pyinbya in A.D 9th century, of the walls of the fourth City of Bagan that the king built in A.D 849.
It was known that the fourth City of Bagan had twelve gates around the city wall. The western and the north western parts have been totally washed away by the river. Only this eastern gateway is left. Most of the structure has been ruined by weather and the earthquake of 1975. Stucco carvings of ogre clutching garlands and chaplets of pearls can be discerned. There is a masonry shrine of quite massive proportions on each side of the gateway. One commemorating the Lord of the Gate Mountain also known as "Pabe Maung Tint Te" and the other his Sister "Shwe Myathnar". They are regarded to be guarding the city.
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Lawkananda Pagoda
Lawkananda Pagoda was built in 1059 by Anawrahta, who is also credited with the Petleik payas. It is still used as an everyday place of worship and is thought to house an important Buddha-tooth replica.The riverside and sunset views from Lawkananda are very good.
Lawkananda Pagoda has one of the Buddha's tooth relic enshrined in it, which was brought from Sri Lanka. It is situated on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River.
Bu Pagoda
Bu Paya is said to be known to be constructed during the 9th Century, about 850 AD. It is situated on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River. It is a cylindrical shaped Pyu-style pagoda and is said to be the oldest among many temples in Bagan. Bupaya was completely destroyed when it tumbled into the river in the 1975 earthquake, but has since been totally rebuilt. There are many steps leading into the river.
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Bagan Museum
The new Bagan Museum glorifies the golden age of Burman culture, those 250 years during which thousands of temples were built in and around the Myanmar capital of Bagan. The builders of Bagan apparently reserved brick for religious monuments for nothing remains of the other buildings, that must have been wooden, in this great capital.The Bagan Archaeological Museum is situated within Old Bagan city near the Gawdawpalin Temple was established in 1998. On entering the museum, one will first view bronze statue of four famous Kings of Bagan period namely Anawyahta, Kyansitthar, Alaungsethu and Kjaswa and large three dimension of mural painting on the wall depicted Bagan Archaeological Site.
Many masterpieces of excavated objects and concrete evidences are stored in this building. It has a collection of more than 2500 items including Buddha statues, stucco pieces, terra-cotta cups and pots. Museum also houses stone sculptures, wood carvings, metal works, lacquer works, and many more.
Different postures of Buddha images (Mudra) made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood are also displayed. Among them, one can see the significant bronze lotus Bud, a masterpiece of bronze sculpture of Bagan period.
Myazedi lithographed inscription of four languages in Pali, Pyu, Mon, and Myanmar is an astonishing
literature and cultural heritage.
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Inland the country rises in gently undulating slopes. The most noticeable feature is Popa Hill, or the Mt. Popa, an extinct volcano, to the south-east. The highest peak is 1518 metres (4,981 feet) above sea-level. The volcano is known to be extinct since 250,000 years. The volcanic ash makes the surrounding plains fertile and the heights capture the moisture of passing clouds, causing the rain and to make this place an oasis in the middle of the hot plains of Bagan. Mt Popa has about 200 water streams around it. Hundreds of Monkeys dwell in this region.
Mt. Popa is considered to be the adobe of the Myanmar Nats or Powerful Spirits. Thus most of the Nats are worshipped here. There is a yearly festival worshipping the Nats at Mt Popa. Usually the festival takes place during May-June.
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