Bagan

It's nearly impossible to visit Bagan and not find at least one temple or vista awe-inspiring. I traveled with a Burmese family doing an annual pilgrimage to Bagan, and it was interesting to see how their trip differed from some of the more classic ways that tourists tour it: via bicycle and in just a day. We started before dawn, when it was still dark and headed to Mount Popa, where we trucked it up the mountain and began what would be two days of temple hopping. After each visit, we would pile back into the bed of the pickup truck and head with our incense, flowers, and gold leaf to the next spot. 

And of course, we watched sunset at a temple—that's a must do. The stupas change color throughout the day, and some vary by composition. So you have rose-pink temples in the early morning light, dull brick by the harsh light of mid-day, and a brilliant ochre when lit by the setting sun. Make sure that you are out early on the day(s) you visit so you can see the full range.   

One of the things I loved about going via the truck is some of the more rural areas that we passed. Locals from the region sell jaggery candies and sour plum treats a bit outside the tourist center, and they're tasty! Make sure that you keep an eye out for these small round purple balls — they are hand-rolled sour plum paste dipped …

Bagan was a powerful kingdom from the 11th to the late 13th century: the empire stretched over almost all of what now is Myanmar. The remains of its ancient capital city comprise over 2,000 temples, monasteries and pagodas. They were constructed in a religious construction frenzy by Bagan’s rulers and wealthy subjects. Bagan at this time also became a center for religious study, attracting devotees from afar. Although it lost its prominence in the 14th century, the site was never abandoned and has stayed a pilgrimage destination throughout.

Nowadays Bagan is Myanmar’s tourist central, and it delivers proof that even the gentle Burmese can turn into annoying souvenir sellers & touts given a steady influx of wealthy tourists. In 2015, I stayed in Bagan for 4 nights, using it also as a base for a side trip to the wooden monasteries of Pakhangyi and Pakhannge. It was the end of the rainy season, and I experienced mostly partly cloudy weather during the day and a daily heavy downpour around 3.30 p.m. I ‘did’ two longer trips of exploration among the monuments, once by mountain bike and the other time cruising around on an e-scooter (a rightly popular mode of transportation at the site).

There’s no clear ‘Angkor Wat’ among Bagan’s religious monuments, no flagship temple or monastery that serves as the site’s iconic image. I would say that the two best contenders are the Ananda and Sulamani Temples. The Ananda was built in a fusion of Mon and …

I visited Bagan just recently in April 2014. While I can observe that adding gold leaf is one of the rituals given to Buddha, and constant renovation by the government of Myanmar instead of preservation, I still wish that Bagan will go into World Heritage List. Perhaps, this is the reason why the temples, pagoda, stupas survived time because the Myanmarese take care of them by doing renovation. One can still get awed by the frescoes and stuccos as well as Buddha images found in the temples. While, tourists can climb up the stupas right now to get an aerial view and a good view of the sunset or sunrise, I believe this should be regulated as it will eventually ruin the structure. If this archaelogical zone be included in the WHS list, I believe UNESCO will help a lot in its preservation.

It most definitely is the first WHS Myanmar will have on the heritage list in the near future hands down. Thousands of temples, monasteries, stupas, pagodas, ordination halls, libraries, murals, Buddha images. The rural life in the plains adds to the overall experience. My favourite temple is Sulamani for its architectural beauty and murals. Had quite a few reservations against the constant temple reconstructions but a UNESCO WHS listing will surely help in managing the magnificent site,

The Bagan Archaeological zone stretches across 42 sq kms of the Irrawaddy plain and contains literally thousands of temples, pagodas, monasteries and other structures from the 11th to 13th centuries built in the golden age of the first great united kingdom of Burma. King Anawrahta (1044-1077), having overcome the rival Mon kingdom of Bago, embarked upon a massive construction program in support of Buddhism (primarily of the Theravada variety but also accepting influences from Mahayana, Hinduism and local animist “Nat” religions) which continued under his successors until 1297 when, as a result of Mongol invasions and other contributory factors, the kingdom disintegrated. A few of the largest remaining structures continued as pilgrimage destinations to this day whilst the others (the vast majority) gradually fell into disrepair.

The joy of visiting such a site is to be found both in taking in the grand buildings but also in exploring the numerous smaller structures scattered among the agricultural landscape. It is a site one could easily give 3 or 4 days and still be benefiting from new experiences, but in Nov 2012 we had only 1 full day plus half an afternoon! However, this was not my first visit as I had spent a full day there way back in 1977 and the comparison across those years identified a series of interesting issues.

My first visit had been by horse and cart and it was nice to see that these were still operating but, on this second visit, we made full use …

So many areas of Myanmar (Burma) should be World Heritage Sites, but Bagan is definitely unlike any other location in the world. We visited in May, right after the cyclone, and not only were we the only Americans we saw, but the only tourists. So of course, this made this wide plain of hundreds of temples even more awesome. And access to them is too easy...we climbed to the top of some to see sunsets & sunrises. No one guards the area & the treasures in many of these temples are priceless. The Irawaddy River flows nearby & the pottery markets & people were a pleasure.

We have been lucky to visit many sites in the world from Angor Wat to Tikal to the Pyramids. And Bagan is as impressive in its own right. We hope the Myanmar generals & government will see the benefit of allowing Unesco to grant WH status to Bagan.