Travel and Leisure

Roads play a vital role in our life among the land, air and sea routes. The travel by road remains essential and indispensable nowadays. Roads are cultural symbols of modern life. There are many things in common between the road travel and human life. Comply with rules and regulations: Do obey the rules and regulations of the society for happy living and driving. In the same vein, potholes and speed breakers serve the safety and smooth movement of all vehicles.

Of course, there are many options to change your vehicle later, unlike the life partner.

Regularly service the vehicles and embellish with new upholstery and jewels. Help others that need support for life. People seek a divorce when the relationship develops mistrust and loss of faith. Of course, for sentimental and vintage reasons, owners retain the old vehicle. Vehicle insurance is essential to overcome the risks of accident, theft, etc.

Steady growth in life is better like steady driving on the road. Safe driving ensures happy travel of all.

Get more such practical ideas for happy life at http://www.mohanspage.com Some 2,300 pagodas and temples are still giving valid testimony to Pagan's 'Golden Era' when the city became known as 'The City of Four Million Pagodas' under King Kyanzittha. Kyanzittha was in my opinion Pagan's greatest King. 

1. Shwezigon Pagoda

The Shwezigon served as a prototype for later build pagodas.

2. Ananda Temple

The Ananda Temple is Bagan's most impressive temples and a masterpiece of Mon architecture that was completed in 1091 A.D.

The temple was built by King Kyanzittha who personally executed its architect after completion in order to avoid the pagoda's duplication. For more Ananda Temple details read my Ezine article 'The Ananda Temple And Its History'.

3. Thatbyinnyu Temple

This temple, an originally snow-white stucco building, known as 'The Temple of Omniscience', is with 200 ft/61 metre height the highest building in Pagan/Bagan. It was build in the middle of 12th century by King Alaungsithu and is in shape and style similar to the Ananda Temple.

Thatbyinnyu's upper temple floor houses an eastward looking Buddha image.

4. Gawdawpalin Temple

The Gawdawpalin Temple is one of Bagan's most impressive two-storey temples and suffered substantial damage during the 1975 earthquake that caused considerable damage to many of Bagan's pagodas and temples.

The temple was built in the 12th century by King Narapatisithu and bears a strong resemblance to the Ananda and Thatbyinnyu temple. 

5. Dhammayangyi Temple

This after 3 years construction unfinished temple is the most massive and largest shrine in Bagan and has the Bagan Monument Inventory Number 771

It is displaying the finest brickwork of all the other pagodas and temples in Pagan. King Narathu was one of the worst kings Pagan ever had. 

6. Gubyaukgyi Temple

The Gu Byauk Gyi is another temple built by king Kyanzittha and as it is with some of the other Bagan temples its architectural design shows clear signs of Indian influence. The temple was completed around 1113 A.D. and is number 1.323 of the Bagan Monument Inventory list.

The temple is a relatively small 1-storey red-brick and plaster masonry building. There are very beautiful additional murals in the temple. 

7. Shwesandaw Pagoda

The Shwesandaw Pagoda - its white colour being in stark contrast to the other mostly brick-red pagodas and temples - was built by King Anawrahta in 1057 A.D. after his victorious return from Thaton. The Shwesandaw is also called Gaunesh or Mahapeinne Temple. Its stupa enshrines some hair of Gautama Buddha send to Anawrahta by the King of Pyay.

The Shwesandaw has the Bagan Monument Inventory number 1.568.

8. Shinbinthalyaung Temple

The building dates back to the time the Shwesandaw was built and is giving home to Bagan's longest image of the reclining Gautama Buddha. 

9. Sulamani Temple

This Temple, build by King Narapatisithu in 1183 A.D. is considered one of Pagan's great two-storey temples and its plan resembles the Thatbyinnyu Temple. The temple's lower floor houses seated Buddha images at all four cardinal sides.

10. Htilominlo Temple

The Htilominlo Temple has the Bagan Monument Inventory number 1.812 and was built by King Nandaungmya - one of the four sons of King Narapatisithu - in 1211 A.D. at the place where he was chosen king.

11. Lawkananda Pagoda

The Lawkananda Pagoda has the inventory number 1023. 

12. Nathlaung Kyaung

13. Mahabodhi Temple

The Mahabodhi Temple has the Bagan Monument Inventory number 1670. The temple has a total height of 141 feet/43 metres. 

14. Dhammayazika Pagoda

The Dhammayazika (in Pali 'Pertaining the King of Law') Pagoda is the third of the altogether five religious structures king Narapatisithu has built in Pagan and has the Monument Inventory number 947.

15. Mingalazedi Pagoda

Completed in 1284 A.D. - 3 years prior to the sacking of Pagan by the Mongols - the Mingalazedi Pagoda with the Bagan Monument Inventory number 1.439 is the last very large pagoda that has been built in Pagan.

The pagoda is built of bricks, architectural an almost pure copy of the Shwezigon Pagoda, and located close to the old city wall in southern direction not far from the road leading to Myinkaba village. 

16. Bupaya

The Bupaya Pagoda with the Monument Inventory number 1.657 was as legend has it built by king Pyusawhti who reigned between 167 A.D. - 242 A.D.

17. Abeyadana Temple

The Abeyadana temple built by king Kyanzittha and completed around 1102 A.D. is located in Myinkaba north of Kyanzittha's royal palace. The Abeyadana Guphaya is a one storey red-brick and plaster masonry cave temple.

18. Nanpaya Temple/Nanpaya Guphaya

19. Manuha Temple

The temple with the Bagan Monuments Inventory number 1.240 is one of Bagan's oldest temples and was built in 1059 A.D. by the Mon king Makuta, better known by the name Manuha, after having asked and received permission from king Anawrahta to build this temple.

Mon king Manuha had after having lost the war against king Anawrahta been taken with his family from Thaton to Pagan and was given a plot of land located 1 mile/1.6 kilometre south of Pagan's city walls in Myinkaba village. Also, the marker stone at the temple clearly states that the Manuha Guphaya was built in 1059 A.D.

Situated at the south-western shore of Lake Inlay, also called Inle Lake (Shan State, Burma) with its floating market and the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, Ywama is a main tourist site and visiting it is always an interesting and eventful affair. However, Ywama is at its best during the Burmese month of Thadingyut (September/October) when the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival is held.

If you want to visit the lake and Ywama at this time you must book your journey well ahead. I have just said Buddha statues but it does not seem to be quite clear whether these statues are as some sources say all images of the Gautama Buddha or - as others say - two of them are images of the Buddha and the other three images of his disciples. In ancient times the barges were welcomed by kings and Sawbaws when they reached Nyaung Shwe, the largest town at and gate to the Inlay Lake, but this is history. The ceremonial 'Royal barge' carrying the images is - as well as the other barges - given the appearance of a Karaweik, the royal bird-mount of Vishnu (Sanskrit for 'Garuda') by putting a huge, 'feathered' golden image of a Karaweik's front part (head with beak, neck, breast and wings) on the royal barge's prow and the equally golden tail end on its stern. Additionally the barges are decorated with a large number of 'Htihpyus' (white umbrellas) and 'Htishwes' (golden umbrellas).

King Alaungsithu had the five statues hidden in a cave shrine near the Inlay Lake when he returned to Pagan from one of his journeys. The rowing boat competition is divided into two classes, women and men, who in turn are divided into different boat categories (larger and smaller boats) as well as into leg and arm-rowing disciplines.

The 'Inlay Lake Boat Races' are truly an exciting event and the highly entertaining and joyful part of the otherwise rather serious religious affairs of the pagoda festival and the procession of the statues. The most spectacular of the rowing boat disciplines - the king's discipline, so to say - is certainly the men's long boat leg-rowing. One can only hope that the colourful, 'virgin' floating market of Ywama as well as the other floating markets on the Inlay Lake will not degenerate to a pure and poor tourist attraction as is the case with Bangkok's present day floating market.

The Sule Pagoda at Sule Pagoda Road in Yangon, the former Rangoon, is one of the first three pagodas that were built by the Mon in what is now Burma (well, Myanmar as it is called since 1989). To be precise, the Sule Pagoda is the third one, built after the Shwedagon Pagoda and Botataung Pagoda.

We have just paid our entry fee and entered the Sule Pagoda through its southern entrance. The British made the Sule Pagoda the centre of the grit pattern they used to built British Colonial Rangoon. The Sule Pagoda has run through a continuous development process especially during the last 120 years. This pagoda is different from other pagodas. At the Sule Pagoda and around the pagoda are more of them than at any other pagoda in Yangon.

OK, after having set some sparrows free for good fortune we start our Sule Pagoda walk. With the history of the Sule Pagoda's genesis it is as it is with most of the other pagodas, it is shrouded in myth and legend. 

Some of the legends in circulation have originated from Burmans long after the Sule Pagoda was built. Problem with that is that there was no Burman in the area that is nowadays called Myanmar at the time the Shwedagon Pagoda, the Botataung Pagoda and the Sule Pagoda were built because the first Burmans came more than 1.000 years later. Although it is all legend I am strongly opposed to the idea that the Sule Pagoda is older than the Shwedagon Pagoda just because the Sule was built at the place were as legend has it the Sule nat was dwelling. 

The connection between the Shwedagon Pagoda and the Sule Pagoda is according to legend that the nat who gave the deciding information as to where the relics of the three Buddhas that preceded Gautama Buddha were enshrined at the Singuttara Hill came from the Sule nat. Legend further says that the Sule nat has resided here were the Sule Pagoda is. Wednesday morning born are elephant with tusks and Wednesday afternoon born are elephant without tusks (Rahu).

We have seen shrines with other Buddha statues, the Sule Pagoda guardian Bo Bo Gyi and the two Buddha Footprint.By the by, some Sule Pagoda pictures you can see in my Professional Photos.