This is the excerpt from the paper prepared by Department of Architecture , Rangoon Institute of Technology in co-operation with the Department of Archaeology , The Ministry of Culture and Finance in 1989.
Shwezigon (Shwe Zi Gon)
The Shwezigon provides the only example in this volume of a pagoda -- that is, the solid stupa of which the archetype is the Great Stupa at Sanchi -- although there are many other pagodas at Bagan in a variety of forms. Built by Anawrahta (1044-1077) to enshrine the relics of the Buddha, it was left unfinished at his death and was completed by Kyansittha (1084-1113) about 1086-1090. Although repaired by later kings, including Bayinnaung (1551-1581), the Shwezigon retains its original shape and has served as the prototype for later pagodas.
In form, the Shwezigon has three square receding terraces and an intermediate octagonal base which provides a transition from the square of the terraces to the circle of the bell-shaped dome. Above the dome, which is decorated with a bold waist-band in the middle and with loop pendants on the shoulder, rises a ringed conical spire, which has an intervening double lotus before ending in an ovoid finial. A hti or umbrella, symbol of sovereignty, crowns the structure.
Medial stairways with makara (sea monster) balustrades on each of the four sides provide access to the terraces, the upper most of which has small stupas at the four corners. In addition, there are smaller stupas in the shape of kalasa pots, symbolizing fertility and prosperity, at the corners of all three terraces. Bicorporate lions guard the corners at the base of the lowermost terrace.
Pitakat Taik
It is generally believed that the Pitakat Taik was built by Anawrahta in 1058 to house the sets of Tipataka which he brought back from Thaton, although it has been remarked that the interior would be too dim for the reading of manuscripts. Square in plan, the building resembles in form such smaller Bagan temples in this volume as the pahtothamya and the Apeyadana. There is a square cella -- which in the temples is the sanctuary enshrining the image of the Buddha -- and a surrounding ambulatory corridor, but it lacks the vestibule characteristic of the temples.
A central doorway, flanked by two false doorways, all approached by steps, provides an entrance on the eastern side, while each of the other sides has small perforated stone windows. The spire and the ornamentation on the roof, which is in five receding tiers, are not contemporaneous with the building but are part of the restoration work of Bodawpaya (1781-1819) and are clearly imitative of wooden architecture.
Manuha
The Manuha was built in 1059 by Manuha, the king of Thaton who was brought captive to Bagan by Anawrahta. It enshrines the unusual combination of one reclining and three seated images of the Buddha and assumes the form of a rectangular building divided lengthwise into two separate sections, each with its own entrances and roofing. The eastern section accommodates the three seated images, the central image being larger than the two flanking ones, -while the western section accommodates the reclining image. The temple is small in proportion to the images which fill up most of the space within the temple.
Shinbinthalyaung
There are no records concerning the building of the Shinbinthalyaung, which is a long, low rectangular structure enshrining a reclining image of the Buddha, the largest at Bagan. The image has been assigned to the 11th century on the basis of the close resemblance of its facial expression to those of the images of the Shwezigon and the Ananda.
Pahtothamya
The Pahtothamya, traditionally attributed to Sawrahan of the 10th century although actually constructed by Sawlu(1077-1084), provides a good example of the smaller Bagan temple -- of which other examples are provided in this volume by the Apeyadana and the Gubyaukgyi at Myinkaba -- before the innovations - of the 12th century.
Single-storeyed, it consists of a square chamber with a vestibule on its eastern side and a projecting bay in each of the other three sides. The chamber, which has a square cella and a surrounding ambulatory corridor, is lighted by perforated windows, of which there are five in each of the sides with a projecting bay, as well as by dormer windows in the roof terrace. Three archways provide entrance to the vestibule, with the eastern as the main entrance.
The superstructure has distinctive elements; above the terraced roof rises a bulbous dome whose twelve vertical ribs are echoed in the surmounting disc-shaped harmika("sacred enclosure") and the tapering spire with horizontal grooves, both of which are dodecagonal.
Tradition attributes the building of the Apeyadana to Kyansittha or, alternatively, to his chief queen Apeyadana. It is much like the pahtothamya in form, although it is less elaborate and differs in detail. Facing the north rather than the east, it has only one entrance to the vestibule, the other two being turned into false doorways. The main chamber lacks the projecting bays of the pahtothamya, as also the dormer windows, and there are only three perforated windows to a side. In the superstructure, the surmounting stupa, which is replicated in the corner stupas, has a bell-like dome with a grooved waistband, a harmika in the shape of an amalaka(myrobalan fruit) -- the ring-stone crowning the nagara type of temple of northern India -- and, finally, an octagonal spire.
Ananda
The Ananda, built by Kyansittha in 1090, is on a larger scale than the pahtothamya and the Apeyadana and is significantly different in form. While the smaller temples have only a single seated image in the cella, the Ananda enshrines four large standing images of the Buddha in arched recesses on each side of a square central block. instead of the single vestibule of the smaller temple, there are vestibules on all four sides, making the Ananda a Greek cross in plan.
Two parallel ambulatory corridors run around the central block, with three tiers of arched niches in their walls, as well as smaller niches in the upper walls, to enshrine images of the Buddha and reliefs of episodes from the Final Life. Light is provided by two tiers of arched windows in the outer walls as well as by dormer windows in the roof, so placed to illuminate the villages of the standing images.
The superstructure of the Ananda also differs from that of the pahtothamya and the Apeyadana. Three levels of sloping roofs are followed by three receding terraces and above this rises, not a dome, but a mitre-shaped curvilinear tower closely resembling the sikhara or tower of the nagara temple of northern India. The tower is horizontally grooved and has a lancet on each of the four sides in which are set a vertical row of five arched niches containing Buddha images.
A stupa- surmounts the tower, its bell-shaped dome held in four cusps at the quoins of the tower. The shape of this superstructure is replicated in the corner stupas of the uppermost roof while those of the lower roofs have a bell-shaped dome.
Ananda Temple's standing images
The four standing images of the Buddha -- representing the Buddha who have already gained enlightenment in the present kalpa (world cycle) -- are placed in the standard locations of Kakusanda in the north, Konagamana in the east, Kassapa in the south and Gotama in the west. The two in the north and south are original and contemporaneous with the building. Their hands are in the dharmacakra mudra (gesture of turning the Wheel of the Law), while their monastic robe takes a form which became current in India in the Gupta period: a smooth transparent sheath, with the mantle outspread on both sides of the body. The images in the east and west are later replacements, differing from the original in their delineation of the drapery of the robe. The image in the east has the right hand in the varada mudra (gesture of granting boons) while that in the west has it in the abhaya mudra (gesture of reassurance).
The doors of the recesses in which the standing images are enshrined provide examples of traditional woodwork. A foliate or rosetted frame encloses a central panel which is latticed, and a miniature door-guardian occupies one of the lower corners.
