Myanmar 8 Bagan Temples Dhamayangyi and Soemingyi

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Minglaba
Myanmar!
Bagan Dhamayangyi pagoda
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The Dhamayangyi pagoda is the largest and the
most solid pagodas of Bagan and it looks like a
pyramid.
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The biggest temple in Bagan, Dhamayangyi was
built by the King named Narathu who was famed for
his cruelty killing his own father, brother and
wife, who was an Indian emperor's daughter.
Narathu (11181171) was king of Pagan dynasty of
Burma from 1168 to 1171. He ascended to the
throne by murdering his father King Alaungsithu
and his elder brother Min Shin Saw. To atone for
the sins, he built the largest of all the Pagan
temples, the Dhamayangyi.
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King Narathu's reign lasted only for three years
and he was able to carry out building such a big
temple in such short period but the temple is
still unfinished.
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The king was not only cruel to his intimates but
also for his citizens as he ordered to cut the
masons if he found out a pin can be pushed
between two bricks. The workmanship of the masons
is the best in Bagan. According to legends,
afterward, he was assassinated by Indians as
revenge of their princess.
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It is said that if on the king's visit to the
site, he was able to stick a pin between the
bricks, the mason in question would have his
hands cut off prior to being executed
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However, the new king could not control his
violent temper, and killed a queen of his with
his bare hands in one of his episodes of
violence. The queen was a daughter of Pateikkaya,
a tributary kingdom in the west in Bengal or near
present-day Chin State.
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In traditional Myanmar chronicles, it was
mentioned that the Kalar / Pateikkaya princess
who was offered to king AlaungSithu and was taken
into Narathus harem on his accession, was killed
because had displeased him with her hygiene
rituals and she avoided as Narathu did not use
water after toilet.
Kalar / Pateikkaya princess
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Not surprisingly Natathu himself met a bloody
end. The chief of Pateikkaya now sent a group of
eight assassins, disguised as Brahmin astrologers
in 1171. The eight managed to gain an audience
with the king while hiding their swords
underneath their robes. They quickly fell the
king. When the palace guards rushed in, they all
committed suicide.
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For years the horse cart was the only option for
visitors to Bagan but tourists are increasingly
exploring temples on electronic bikes. Visitor
numbers have boomed in the intervening years
Myanmar welcomed 554,531 visitors through Yangon
in 2012, up from 212,468 a decade earlier. Bagan
has no shortage of horse carts. Horse carts by
the dozens stand ready to provide clip-clop
transportation around pagoda-rich Bagan. Every
shady spot, every hotel, every outdoor tea shop,
every pagoda courtyard serves as a horse-cart
taxi stand.
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Soemingyi Paya
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Bagan is one of Myanmar's most arid regions. This
is an area known as the central dry zone of
Myanmar and only a short distance from the banks
of the river and the city state it once
supported, water is as scarce as in any semi-arid
region in the world. And because of over grazing,
population increase, a severe climate with
limited rainfall and the destruction of natural
habitat, large swathes of the landscape are
denuded and increasingly hot. The newly planted
trees are not only expected to halt land erosion
and desertification but also to provide
controlled amounts of firewood, better grazing
for their animals from secondary growth and
community areas.
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Poinsetia
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Poinsetia
Tamarind tree
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Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) (from Arabic ?tamar
hindi, "Indian date") is a tree in the family
Fabaceae indigenous to tropical Africa. The
tamarind tree produces edible, pod-like fruit
which are used extensively in cuisines around the
world. Other uses include traditional medicines
and metal polishes. The wood can be used in
carpentry. Because of the tamarind's many uses,
culti-vation has spread around the world in
tropical and sub-tropical zones.
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Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
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Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
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Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
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After a meal in Bagan, you may be presented with
a small sweet. As you take a bite, youll notice
it is indeed sugary but also slightly sour. This
is called a tamarind toffee or a tamarind
flake and it is the local specialty of Bagan. It
is not only in restaurants that you might
encounter tamarind flakesthough this is most
likelyit is also typical to see huge piles of
taffy-like tamarind pulp on the side of the road
ready for production. The pulp is rolled through
antique cylinders and cut out with cookie
cutters a quick dusting of sugar and they are
ready to eat.
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Youll also find them at markets wrapped in paper
in piles of 5, or sometimes in bags. Eat as many
as you can while in Bagan because you are
unlikely to find them anywhere else in Myanmar.
Indeed, youll struggle to find them elsewhere in
the world. But the fruit of the tamarind is one
of the greatest sources of sour taste in cooking.
It is broadly found in the cooking of India,
Asia, and African dishes.
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Soemingyi Paya
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The ruined complex of the Soemingyi Monastery in
on the road between Myinkaba and New Bagan. It is
one of the few brick-built monasteries on the
Bagan plain - most were built of wood and did not
survive. Soemingyi Pagoda was built by the Senior
Queen or Lady Soemingyi during the 12th Century.
The structure of this pagoda has a square base
with many terraces leading to the top part, which
is a cylindrical dome on top, which is the main
shrine. To hold up the weight of the structure,
sandstone blocks hold each corner giving more
enforcement to it. There are many glazed plaques
describing the animals, flowers and the
lifestyles of the Bagan people.
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Toddy palm is a common name for several species
of palms used to produce palm wine. Species so
used and named include also Borassus flabellifer,
the Asian palmyra palm, toddy palm, sugar palm,
or Cambodian palm, native to the Indian
subcontinent and Southeast Asia, in the
Indomalaya ecozone. It is a palm tree, one of the
sugar palm group.
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Foisoreanu
2013
Sound Mar Mar Aye - Burma Traditional
Music