Pagodas at Bagan

The thousands of layer built, stone carved pagodas at Bagan, Burma were built between the 11th and 13th Centuries during the time the city was a thriving Buddhist centre. Their designs alter from pagoda to pagoda, with some featuring luxurious mosaic or frescos, some complicated internal tunnels and mazes, some grand statues and some complicated rounded exteriors. The richness of design and culture found here can be attributed to the Mon monks who were brought to Bagan in the 11th Century and who were responsible for teaching the locals the alphabet as well as the scriptures.

While there once could have been as many as 10,000 pagodas there are now around 2,000, most having been felled in earthquakes and destroyed at the end of the 13th Century when Kublai Kahn’s forces invaded Bagan.

The most impressive pagodas still standing are Dhammayangyi, containing an inner maze of tunnels and staircases, Thatbyinnyu, at the height of a 15 storey building it is the tallest of the remaining structures, Anada, at 172 feet is among both the most intricate and best preserved and Shwezigon, a bell shaped stupa inside which stand several important golden Buddhist statues and important relics including a holy tooth relic given to the founder of the pagoda by the King of Sri Lanka.