Bagan (formerly spelt Pagan) is believed to have derived from the name Pyugarma, meaning village of Pyus a race from whom Bamars have descended. It is the name of a city which was first built  probably in AD 849.

It enjoys world-wide renown for the ancient pagodas and other religious buildings around it. The buildings many of them in ruins constitute  one of the architectural wonders of the world. In fact. Bagan has become our chief tourist attraction. It lies on the left (east) bank of the  .Ayearwady river and about 90 miles southwest of  Mandalay. It can be reached by air, by boat, by car and by  train. Why are there so many pagodas at Bagan? 

Because it was the capital of the first Myanmar Empire that flourished from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries AD. Another reason is that the rise of the empire conicided with the introduction into it of pure Theravada Buddhism from Lower  Myanmar. The missionary zeal of that period in Myanmar history resulted in the- construction of all those religious buildings that have earned the country the sobriquet of the Land of Pagodas. New converts are more devout and active than the old faithful, aren't they?

Thus Bagan has become a repository of ancient  Myanmar architecture and related arts. The founder of the Bagan Empire was King Anawrahta ( 1044-1077). He broadened his domain from a small area in Central Myanmar until it spread beyond the present-day boundaries. It was he who introduced pure Theravada  Buddhism to Upper Myanmar with the help of Shin  Arahan, a learned monk from Suvanna Bhumi or  Thaton in Lower Myanmar. He conquered Suvanna Bhumi chiefly to acquire Buddhist scriptures known as the three Pitakas or  Baskets of Learning.

The Bagan civilization owed a great deal to the influence of the Mon the people of Suvanna  Bhumi artists and artisans that he brought to  Bagan. His greatest contribution to the welfare of the country was the construction of dams and irrigation  canals that transformed the Nine Districts of Rice Paddies into the Granary of the  North. The farmers of that region have always enjoyed  prosperity thanks to his vision. He strengthened the defense of the nation by  establishing garrison towns at strategic places.

He also suppressed animal sacrifices and  standardized the weights and measures throughout  the country.  Judging by his achievements, he might probably  have been the greatest of Myanmar kings. The construction of numerous pagodas and other  religious buildings was an irrefutable proof of the  prosperity of the Bagan Empire. Anawrahta was not the first king of Bagan  although he was the greatest king of the Bagan  Dynasty

The founding of Bagan is believed to have taken place after the fall of the kingdom of Sri Kshetra in  the 2nd Century A.D.  A nephew of the last ruler of Sri Kshetra is said to  have unified 78 towns and over 1000 villages under  19 chieftains into a kingdom and ruled over it assuming the title King  Thamutiriz. Counting from him to the last in line Tayoke Pyay  Min, the king who ran away from the Chinese,  there were altogether 55 kings in the Bagan Dynasty.

Most of the pagoda-building was done towards the latter part of the dynasty, that is, in the 11th and 12thcenturies when Bagan was at the height of  its power and prosperity. One interesting legacy of the Bagan Era was  55 different hair-styles for women indicating  that the ladies of the Bagan Period were second to none where fashions were concerned. 

In matters of learning also, they did very well.. There was even one princess who was so learned that she had to teach scriptures to monks from behind a  curtain!. A young monk fell in love: with her voice in such a big way that he went on a hunger strike for her  love and she finally had to marry him to save his life! Stone inscriptions of the Bagan Era form a princeless part of our cultural heritage. 

They provide invaluable historical records besides representing the earliest extant Myanmar literature. The most famous and noteworthy stone inscription  of the Bagan Era is the one found near the  Myazedi Pagoda and hence formerly known as the  Myazedi stone inscription. Actually, it s a record of how the Gubyaukkyee  Pagoda came to be constructed and accordingly, it  is better known as the Gubyaukkyee stone  inscription these days.

Its unique feature is that it was written in four  languages Myanmar, Palis Mon and Pyu  Such a stone inscription must be very rare indeed. Before its rediscovery circa 1886, no one in  Myanmar or in the whole world, for that matter was able to read Pyu, the language of  Pyus or ancient Bamars. The rediscovery enabled a scholar a Westerner  serving in Myanmar under the British rule to  decipher the Pyu writings on the stone by comparing them with those in the other three  languages.

Having a memory like a sieve, I have totally forgotten the name and nationality of that great  man my humble apologies!  Thus, the Gubyaukkyee stone inscription  has served to revive a lost language. It has also enabled historians to connect traditional errors regarding the years of ascension to the throne or death of some major kings of the Bagan  Dynasty.

And then there is a lovely story of filial piety  behind it. Before Kyansitthar the second greatest king of  the Bagan Dynasty ascended the throne, he once  had to flee the capital to escape the wrath of King Anawrahta for an offence which was another long  story. During his sojourn in the countryside, he took a  woman Thambula to be a wife and left her  pregnant, telling her to follow him to the royal  capital if she bore a son.

She gave birth to a son but followed Kyansitthar only several years later. By then, Kyansitthar had already crowned his  grandson, Alaung Sithu, king. So, he could only give his own son, Rajakumar, the  governorship of seven mountainous districts in the Rakhine region. He also made Thambula a queen and gave her three villages of slaves. When she passed away, the three villages passed  into Rajakumar's hands as maternal inheritance. 

At long last, Kyansitthar fell ill and lay on his death-bed. At that time, Rajakumar had an image of the Buddha cast in pure gold and brought it before his  dying father so that the latter might worship it and gain eternal merit for the last time before passing away. He also dedicated the three villages of slaves that he had inherited to the care of the image before his  father and enshrined it in a gold topped cave—the  Gubyaukkyee pagoda. Thus Rajakumar who was deprivede of his rightful  inheritance of kingship performed an act of filial  piety instead of bearing any grudge against his  father.

The Gubyaukkyee stone in scrimption recorded  that heart warming brief history eternity.  If Anawrahta was the greatest king of Bagan, then Kyansitthar was its most famous hero. Numerous tales- most of them legends, to be sure have been told about the latter's good luck,  prowess and ability. One story goes that he was once in a forest hiding  from the anger of King Anawrahta. When he tried to stick his spear into the ground before Lying down to sleep, it kept falling So he threw it into a bush nearly in anger and went  to sleep. 

When he woke up next morning and went to the bush to pick up the spear, he found that it had  skewered the seven foreign mercenaries who had  followed him to capture him! At another time, he was swimming across the Ayeyawady river to escape from enemies who were chasms him He got so tired that he started drowning in the middle of the river. At that time, a spirit the Lord of the Great  Mountain and his sister-spirit saved him by  creating an island in the middle of the river and  making a bird's call to draw his attention.

They also ferried him across the river in the guise of a fisherman and his son, if 1 remember right. And then, there was his encounter with a cucumber-grower. He asked the farmer for some cucumbers and the  latter replied that he could eat his l-ill if he could  enter the cucumber-patch which was surrounded  by a thorny hedge as high as an elephant. Using his spear as a vaulting-pole, Kyansitthar  jumped into the patch effortlessly and helped himself to the cucumbers.

Another legend has it that limes that he peeled with his god-given spear turned sweet! He was a great warrior who performed many  heroic deeds and superhuman feats. Then he was an enlightened ruler whose  administration of the country was so propitious that  the Bagan Empire enjoyed peace and prosperity  for about two centuries after his time. 

He was also known to be a regular Don Juan having affairs wherever he happened to be! Thus he was beyond any doubt  the most  colourful personality of the Bagan Era.  Actually, Kyansitthar wasn't a son of King  Anawrahta although some historians have tried to  make it out to be so. His name suggests that he was originally some sort  of land official or the name kyan or klan means  land official in old Myanmarese. Sitthar means soldier or military personnel. He was probably an ordinary official who rose to  the top by sheer ability an eleventh century technocrat, eh! According to one legend, a prophecy spread far  and wide early in the reign of King Anawrahta. 

It said that a future-king had been conceived by a certain woman. Believing that the prophesied future-king was going  to rob him of his throne, King Anawrahta ordered  that all pregnant women be put to the sword. Remember that this is only a legend and not a  proven historical fact.  To go back to the legend, the woman escaped the searches by the king's men and gave birth to young  Kyansitthar. When the king asked his wise men if the future-king had been done away with, they replied in the negative and  stated that he had become a suckling. 

Out of frustration, the king ordered that all sackings be put to death. But being destined to become a great king, Kyansitthar got away again. He escaped another search-and-destroy operation at the age of a cowherd boy. At last, the King learned from his prophets that the future-king had become a young monk but that he  posed no threat to the king for he would succeed  only the King's successor.

He rightly blamed his wise men for their failure to provide him with complete information from the beginning. Then he asked them how he could find the yound monk. They advised him that he should offer alms food to monks and said that a "charismatic light" would  shine forth from the  mouth of the young monk while eating and  drinking. The king did as he was advised and found the  young monk accordingly. Having been assured that the young monk was no  threat to his throne, the king did nothing to him. Instead, he persuaded the young monk to return to  lay life and serve him as an official. This is another of many legends surrounding  Kyansitthar and I haven't the least idea how much  of it is factual and how much, fiction.

At the very least, however, this legend may be taken as one more prop of the assumption that Kyansitthar was not a son of Anawrahta, for most  historical legends are based on facts. Kyansitthar's arrangement of his daughter Shwe-Eim-Thi's marriage attested to the greatness  of his vision. It so happened that Princess Shwe-Eim-Thi fell in love with an Indian prince whom the Myanmars  call Pateik-Khayar.  Realizing the impropriety of the affair, Kyansitthar  dissuaded his daughter from continuing it. 


Then he married her off to Narga-Tha-Maan, a Myanmar nobleman. In doing so, he prevented his daughter from getting married to a foreigner which might give rise to  complications, later. He also strengthened Mon-Myanmar friendship  which was in need of being invigorated at that time  as the Mon kingdom of Thaton had been recently  conquered by the Myanmar kingdom of Bagan. The Mon-Myanmar War came-about like this. In those days, Lower Myanmar was more advanced in some aspects than Upper Myanmar as  it is closer to the sea and had more international contacts and trade. Pure, Theravada Buddhism also flourished there first while Upper Myanmar was following the religious teachings of quack-priests called Aris.

To give an example of the religious practices taught by the Aris, a bride had to offer her virginity to the  Aris on the night of her wedding! A learned monk from Thaton by the name of Shin Arahan went up to Bagan—probably to propagate the true Buddhist religion. King Anawrahta who did not like the teachings and practices of the Aris, welcomed him with open arms. it

The king was pleased with Shin Arahan's introductory sermons on Buddhism and expressed his desire to introduce it to his kingdom. The venerable monk informed him that the propagation of Buddhist religion in Bagan would be  facilitated if the king could obtain a set of the Three Pitakas the complete teachings of the Buddha from Thaton. Accordingly, King Anawrahta sent a mission bearing appropriate gifts to the kingdom of  Thaton to request for a set of the Three Pitakas.

Regrettably, King Manuha of Thaton turned down the request in undiplomatic terms. As a result, the Myanmar forces of Bagan  marched on Thaton, conquered it and took back to  Bagan not only sets of the Three Pitakas, but also  the royal family and many Mon artisans as  prisoners of war.  The culture of Bagan was enriched by this infusion  of Mon arts and crafts, no doubt, for the Mons are  an enterprising race well-known for their industry  and creativity.  But Thaton's greatest contribution to the culture of  Bagan was without any doubt pure; Buddhism.

King Manuhar sold a piece of his jewelry for a fabulous sum in Bagan and built a shine there,  probably to portray his life as a POW,  (Prisoner-of-war). You can see the shrine today huge images of the  Buddha inside a low and narrow building, clearly conveying a sense of confinement.  Kyansitthar was an eleventh century technocrat  who rose to the top by sheer ability and PR skills. In an obvious attempt to win the respect and  loyalty of the common people, he declared himself  to be a  reincarnation of powerful religious figures. 

The fact that he had affairs with several women proved his organizational prowess!  He also spoke like a twentieth century  politician. One stone inscription of his time recorded him as  saying: ' I will feed and clothe the people with my right hand and wipe away their  tears with the left." Can any twentieth century politician better than  political statement'?  His smartness is reflected in his pagoda. Where as Anawrahta's Shwesikhon Pagoda simple, massive and imposing, Kyansitlhar's Ananda is sleek, slim, sophisticated an infinitely. more fascinating. Arguably the most beautiful of all the Bagan  Pagodas, Ananda is a felicitous and harmonious blending of the best Myanmar, Mon and Indian architectural styles of those days.

Any student of ancient Myanmar and Indian  architecture can see Indian influence in Ananda, at  a glance. Some scholars have surmised that at least some  Indian masons were employed at the construction  of the Ananda pagoda. Indian or Hindu influence is more marked in the  names and religious buildings of cities more ancient  than Bagan such as Beikthanoe (Vishnu) and Sri Kshetra now Pyay. The architectural arrangement that allows light to  get into the inner recesses of the Ananda pagoda  has remained a marvel to this day. Another unique feature of the pagoda is that the  lifelike statues of Shin Arahan, the guiding light of  pure Buddhism in Bagan, and Kyansitthar, the  donor of the pagoda, are placed inside it.  Thatbyinnyu and Gawdotplin are two other pagodas that can approach Ananda in beauty  grandeur and sophistication.

The common saying that the pagodas of Bagan number over four million is an exaggeration to be  sure.  The realistic figure is no more than five thousand,  many of which are mere mounds of earth and brick  which are now being restored. With the exception of the most famous few, the  Bagan pagodas have stood there neglected for  nearly a thousand years at the mercy  of the ravages of time and inclement weather. To make matters worse, a strong earth-quake  damaged many of them a few years back. Fortunately, we are now witnessing their renaissance for the very first time.

The authorities concerned are now renovating and restoring all of them including mounds of earth and  brick into their former  glory, grandeur and beauty, with public contributions. As a result Bagan is fast becoming a favorite haunt  of students of archaeology and lovers of ancient  arts and architecture.  Another Bagan pagoda with a heart-warning story  behind it is the Htee-lo Min-lo.  One of King Narapati Sithu's lesser queens was a beautiful daughter of a gardener. She bore the king a son named Zeya Theinkha. That prince was refined, scholarly and well  spoken.

Once, a sore developed on one of the king's fingers causing him great pain. The lesser queen put the finger in her mouth to give it warmth and to relieve the pain.  After she had done that repeatedly the king felt  better and fell asleep with his finger in her mouth. It so happened that the sore burst and pus came  out while the king was asleep. The lesser queen swallowed the pus instead of  spitting it out so as not go awaken the king.  When the king knew what she had done, he  granted her a boon, saying that no other person  loved him as much as she did.   She requested that her son Zeya Theinkha he appointed the guardian of the palace.  The request was granted and the other four sons of  the king who were older than Zeya Theinka were appointed lords of fiefs.

Zeya Theinkha, the youngest brother, visited each  of his elder/older brothers and paid his respects to  them every Sabbath day.  After some time, out of love and compunction for  Zeya Theinkha's respectful behavior, the four  elder brothers told him to come and pay them his  homage only when they were together in their  conference chamber, to save him trouble, and he  did accordingly.   Once, King Narapati Sithu proposed that the white umbrella the emblem of kingship  should be set 
upright among the five brothers and the prince in whose direction the white umbrella tilted should  succeed him as king.  The five brothers agreed and prayed that the white  umbrella might tilt in the direction of the prince who  deserved to be king. The white umbrella tilted in the direction of Prince  Zeya Theinkha and he eventually succeeded his  father to the throne.

A pagoda was built on the site where the white  umbrella was set up.  The pagoda was named Htee-lo- Min-lo, meaning   "the umbrella, the king and the princes desired it".  One Bagan palace intrigue worthy Of a Shakespearean tragedy involved Weluwaddy Bamboo Maiden who  was supposed to have been born of a bamboo plant.   She was a woodland girl who was so beautiful that she was presented to King Minyin Nara theinkha.The king turned her down as having large ears and gave her to his younger brother Narapati Sithu the crown  prince.  

The Queen Mother who live with the younger brother took her under her wing, had her ears cut to the right size and taught her palace manners and speech. Before long, the ugly ducking was transformed into  a beautiful swan.  When the king saw her again, he fell for her like a  ton of bricks and decided that he must have her by  hook or by crook.   Accordingly he sent his younger brother away from  the capital on a false mission and appropriated  Weluwaddy in his brother's absence. 

When Narapati Sithu got near Ngazaunggyan where a rebellion was supposed to have broken out,  he found the region in peace and suspected the  truth.   Sensing betrayal, he administered an oath of loyalty  to his troops and camped there waiting for news  from the royal city.   He had ordered his trusted servant, Nga Pyi, the  horse-handler, to follow him at once in case of an  emergency.  One night, he heard the neigh of Thudawzin one of  his horse that he had left at home  at a distance  and spent a sleepless night believing that Nga Pyi  had followed him    When Nga Pyi arrived and waited on him next  morning, he asked Nga Pyi where he had spent the night.

Nga Pyi replied that he had spent the night across  a stream a short distance from his master's camp  as the horse was exhausted and needed watering  and feeding.  Already burning with jealousy at his brother's  misappropriation of his queen, he was. infuriated by  Nga Pyi's delay and had him executed.   Then he sent Young Aung Zwa, a nobleman, to  assassinate his royal brother, promising him the  pick of his brother's three queens if he succeeded.    Young Aung Zwa succeeded in assassinating the  king and Narapati Sithu became king with  Weluwaddy as his chief queen.  

The late king's queens tearfully begged their brother-in-law not to give them away to Young Aung Zwa.    So he offered to give Young Aung Zwa a noble woman instead, saying that it would amount to 0 insulting his  ancestors if he married any of his t sister-in-laws to the noblemen. Young Aung Zwa's response to that offer was a disrespectful interjection.  Narapati Sithu got furious again and had Young Aung Zwa executed.   However, he came to regret his impetuous actions gradually and performed many acts of charity to atone for  his sins. Among his good deeds were Culamani, Gawdotplin  and Dharmarajika, some of the most beautiful  major pagodas of Bagan.   He also constructed a tunnel with an image of the  Buddha in the act of walking inside it in a cliff  somewhere near Bagan and named it Weluwaddy  Tunnel, after his favourite queen. Unfortunately, its whereabouts have now been lost  with the long passage of time.