Bagan

Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries the kings of Bagan built temples across a bend of the Irrawaddy on a scale that has no real parallel, and more than two thousand of them still stand on around fifty square kilometres of dry plain. They range from small brick shrines to the great vaulted temples of Ananda and Dhammayangyi. An earthquake in 2016 damaged hundreds of monuments and prompted the restoration that preceded the World Heritage inscription in 2019, after decades in which earlier rebuilding had kept the site off the list.

History

The Burmese chronicles say Bagan was founded in the 2nd century and fortified in 849 by King Pyinbya, while Western scholars hold that the Mranma, newly arrived from Nanzhao, founded it in the mid-to-late 9th century, one of several Pyu city-states until it outgrew them in the late 10th. From 1044 to 1287 it was the capital of the Pagan Empire, the first to unite the lands of later Myanmar, and over 250 years its rulers and wealthy subjects built more than 10,000 religious monuments on 104 square kilometres of plain, of which over 2,300 survive; it drew monks and students from India, Sri Lanka and the Khmer Empire. The empire collapsed in 1287 amid the Mongol invasions, though recent research suggests the Mongols may never have reached Bagan itself. Over 400 earthquakes were recorded here between 1904 and 1975, the earthquake of 8 July 1975 was severe, and that of 24 August 2016 damaged nearly 400 temples; on 6 July 2019, 24 years after its first nomination, Bagan became a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Bagan).

What's there

• The temple plain - over two thousand brick monuments spread across the dry plain in every direction.
• Ananda Temple - a vaulted early-twelfth-century temple with four standing Buddhas, the best preserved of the great ones.
• Dhammayangyi - the largest and most massive of the temples, its inner passages bricked up since antiquity.
• The viewing mounds - purpose-built platforms used for sunrise and sunset since climbing the temples was stopped.

When to go

November to February is the cool dry season and the most comfortable. March to May is severely hot on an open plain. Sunrise is the hour most people come for, when mist lies between the temples and the balloons go up.

Before you go

Climbing the temples was banned after the 2016 earthquake and the ban is enforced, so the classic photographs from a temple terrace are no longer possible; viewing is from designated mounds or from a balloon at considerable cost. The archaeological zone fee is charged on entry and checked. Restoration work over past decades was heavily criticised and some rebuilding is visibly conjectural.

Nearby

Mount Popa is an hour southeast, Salay is south along the river, and Mandalay is several hours north.

Key facts