Ananda Temple

It is said that every Myanmar should visit Bagan and without visiting Ananda you cannot be saidto have visited Bagan.

Ananda Temple is like a museum. You can study all kinds of Myanmar arts here — architecture,stone sculpture, stucco, glazed plaques, terra cotta, wood carving, artwork of blacksmith etc.

There are three different versions regarding the name of this temple.

1. When King Kyansittha asked eight Arahats (Saints) to provide him with a design for thereligious monument he was about to build, they created the image of Nanda Mula Cave Hallheld to be in the Himalayas. So the temple was constructed on the model of that image and itcame to be known as "Nandamu" which in course of time corrupted to sound "Ananda.

2. The Sanscrit word "Anand” means "very beautiful." The name "Ananda" must have beenderived from this Sanscrit word. The Temple is extremely beautiful.

3. There is a Pali word " Ananta Panna" which means " the endless wisdom of the Buddha."The temple sym¬bolizes this attribute of the Buddha. Hence it is called "Ananta Temple."

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Ananda Temple

Grace that is Ananda

A beautiful view of Ananda Temple

It cannot be said for certain which version is correct because the original stone inscription wassilent about its name. But "Ananda" is the traditional name known to the Myanmar people forgenerations.

Ananda Temple was constructed in Koza Sakarit 452 M. E (A. D. 1091) by King Kyansittha. Hewas also known as Hti Hlaing Shin. His regnal title was " Sri Tribuvanaditya Dhamma Yaza"meaning "the King of Justice who shines like the sun over three auspicious worlds."

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{tab=Architecture}According to modern archeologists, the ground plan of Ananda Temple is similar to Paha PuZedi in Bangladesh and Nakhonpahton Zedi near the ancient city of Dwaravati in the west ofBangkok, Thailand.

The ground plan is in the form of a cross with four devotional halls, each on one side, facingfour cardinal direc-tions, and the main structure in the center. In Bagan there are' only twoTemples with such ground plan. The other Temple of this type is Dhammayan Gyi which wasbuilt by King Kyansittha's grandson, King Narathu. It seemed that the grandson copied theground plan of his grandfather's Temple. But it was found that for some unknown reasons theinner circumambulatory corridor of Dhammayan Gyi was blocked.

The cross section of Ananda Temple

The horizontal section of Ananda Temple

The size of Ananda Temple is 289 feet from one end to the other and 168 feet in height from thebase to that portion atop, which was decorated with plaster mouldings of down-turned andup-turned lotus petal motifs. The fencing wall measures 596 feet from East to West and 592 feetfrom North to South.

It is said that there are 10000 surrounding Zedis, 1000 niches, and three vaulted corridors.10000 surrounding Zedis include zedis on the fencing walls, those on the walls of the vaultedcorridors and those around the main stupa. 1000 niches include niches on four sides of theSikhara (pyramidal spire) those niches on the walls of the vaulted corridors and those niches onthe inner walls of the four devotional halls, totalling over one thousand. These niches wereinstalled probably to reduce the echo. Regarding the three vaulted corridors, the inner most onewas meant for the monks to walk around and worship the shrine, the middle vaulted corridor forthe princes, royal sons and nephews and the outer vaulted corridor that passes through thedevotional halls was meant for the com-moners.

One architectural wonder of Ananda Temple is the natural ventilation system by means ofwindows built inside the thickness of the walls. There are light wells in the very high ceilingthrough which beams of light fall directly on the faces of the four, gigantic statues of Buddha instanding posture facing four cardinal points. On each side of the structure are eight light wellsthrough which light comes, passing through the three tiers of wall for a distance of 108 feet andfalls directly on the Buddha images inside the niches. These light wells also serve as ventilatorsince fresh air constantly enters through them into the whole structure.

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On four sides of the Sikhara are niches, five on each side. The roof of the structure is not flatbut dome-like and sloping, thus indicating the architectural style of the early period of Bagan.Ananda Temple is the best architectural accomplishment in Bagan. The earthquake of 1975damaged only the finial and top zedi above the Sikhara, and surrounding slim and small zedis.No crack was caused to the main structure.

As a result of that earthquake one architectural secret was brought to light. Due to the quake,some cements were pealed off revealing the system of brick laying, with stone bricks wedged inbetween them. The arch span was formed by laying the baked bricks in a radiating pattern andplacing stone bricks as wedges between them. These places where cement fell off were leftunplastered so that the visitors can see and appreciate the architectural technique of Bagantime. Similarly key stones cut with precision were used in the corners of the wall. They werewedged in at an interval of 4 or 5 feet. This technique was a kind of strengthening the wholestructure for longer durability.

To strengthen the corners of the ceilings above the vaulted corridors, there are two vaultedarches at/each corner joining the inner and outer walls and also buttressing the upper vaultedarches. 

{tab=Glazed Works}Among the monuments in Bagan which have glazed works, Ananda Temple has the best.Thanks to the special cart* taken by successive Pagoda Trustees and public co-operation inmaintenance, almost all glazed works at this Temple are in good condition. Originally there wasno stairway going up to the top. So artworks were secured from vandalism. But those at thebase of the structure are effected by human hands, Glazed layers have been pealed off due toyears of touching.

All kinds of glazed works are found at Ananda Tomple. In the glazed plaques which adorned thebase of the structure from the southern to the western entrances are depleted the hordes ofMara's warriors marching out to attack the Lord Buddha, and in those glazed plaques thatadorned the liana from the western to the northern entrances, are seen the warriors beingdefeated by the great miracle of the Lord Buddha. They were fleeing in fright. There arecaptions below the plaques describing the events presented.

Mara's commanders rode several kinds of animals such as elephant, tiger, horse, lion, camel,makara (sea monster), Byala, antlered deer, rusa, bird and so on. Although camel is notMyanmar's native animal, camel figure is found in five glazed plaques.

Along the base of the structure from the northern to the eastern entrances and from thesouthern to the eastern entrances are glazed plaques in which pilgrims from other worlds aredepicted. They are Yakkhas the commanders, Asuyas, Garudas, Nagas, gods, godesses,Brahmas, Sakkas, holding flags, penons, Kalatha pots, door post, two fishes, auspicioussymbols, mirror, yaktail fly whisk, plates of meal and several other objects.

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Rows of plain coloured glazed tiles above and below are meant to produce reflection of thesunlight on the structure.

At the terraces above are also glazed plaques depicting the Jatakas (Buddha's birth stories).Beginning from the south-west corner of the first terrace to the northern side of the third terraceare depicted in glazed plagues 537 Jatakas, each plaque presenting one story. The greencolour plaques are still in perfect condition. Beginning from the northern side of the secondterrace where the glazed plaques depicted Tey Mi Jataka to the fifth terrace where the glazedplaques depicted Vessantara Jataka, the last ten lives of the Buddha' are fully told in greencoloured glazed plaques. Below each glazed plaques are inscribed the name and number of theJataka depicted. It will take about two days to study in detail all the glazed plaques on fiveterraces above and those on either side of four devotional halls.

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The stone sculpture works inside the outer vaulted corri-dors are considered the best of its kindin Bagan. Especially those stone works depicting 80 episodes from Buddha's biography arevery excellent works of art. Each piece measures on average 3 feet 6 inches high, 2 feet 5inches broad and one foot thick.

Each work is a piece carved out of a single block of stone. Forty episodes from the last life ofthe Lord Buddha, starting from Setaketu deva to Prince Sidattha lifting the curtain to take a lastlook at his wife Yasodaya and newly bom son Yahula before he left the palace for a recluse'slife in the forest, are depicted in the stone sculptures found in the niches at the lower base of thestructure, near the northern and western wooden doors.

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Stone Image of Buddha's disciple, carved out of a single pice of stone. It is located near the standing Buddha statue facing north, in Ananda Temple

Stone Image of King Kyansittha on the south

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side of the imposing standing Buddha statue facing west at Ananda Temple. It was sculpted out of a single piece of stone. On its back are intricate floral designs

On the upper base are also similar stone works, 80 in total, each depicting an episode from theJatakas up to the time of Buddha's enlightenment. These are also fine sculptural works. Amongthem are four replacements of later period.

In the niches of the devotional halls are stone works presenting eight important events from thebirth stories of the Buddha. On both walls of the inner vaulted corridor, on the right side of theouter vaulted corridor and on either side of the four huge statues of Standing Buddha are overone thousand niches in which are Buddha images with the gesture of preaching Suttas (theDiscourses), the Vinnaya (the Discipline) and the Abidhamma (the Buddha's philosophy). Withvarious hand postures, these images were sculpted out of sandstone. They stand witness to thehigh artistic skill of the Bagan sculptors.

By the side of the statue of standing Buddha facing west is the statue of King Kyansittha,sculpted out of a single piece of stone. On its back are found floral motifs, exquisitely executed.Facing this statue is Shin Arahan in stone. He was a great learned monk who introduced thepure form of Theravada Buddhism to Bagan.In addition there are stone images of Buddha inside the niches of the Sikhara of the main Stupaand those of the surrounding zedis.{tab=Mural Paintings}

Originally all the walls of devotional halls were adorned with paintings. As a result of therestoration of Bagan frescos by the Department of Archeology, paintings on the south-westcolumn of the northern devotional hall were recovered. Also on the walls and ceiling of theeastern devotional hall, north of the statue of standing deva re-appeared the pictures ofBuddha, Arahats and lotus flowers. At other places on the wall of this hall original paintings arefaintly visible under the veneer of lime wash.

On the walls of the western entrance appeared floral designs. The Department of Archeologyhas plans to remove all lime wash to recover ancient mural paintings.

Mural paintings on the wall of Ananda Temple

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Traces of wall paintings under white wash

{tab=Plaster Mouldings}

Plaster mouldings are found at Ananda Temple. Orna-mental backdrops above the archedwindows in the walls of outer and inner vaulted corridors are original stuccos of ex-cellent skill.Besides two statues of deva on either side of each of the four entrances totalling 8 in all, thestatues of Duara pala the guardian devas at the entrances, statues of lion and Chakaravangods inside the niches of the big statues of standing Buddha are plaster works of Bagan time. Inthe ornamental backdrops above the arched entrances are found statues of Makara (seamonster) and flying devas made of fine cement.

A statue of Duara-pala deva, the gurdian god at the eastern entrance of Ananda Temple. It was a plaster moulding.

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Miteya, one of the two Deva Statues on both sides of devotional hall at Ananda Temple.

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The original eight carved wooden door leaves, two at each of the four entrances, are over 900years old. But King Bayint Naung (A. D. 1551—81) re-embellished them by adding floral andtoenaga motifs to them.

Big iron rings atop are original. They keep the massive door leaves upright and stable. Below,two big stone slabs with grooves cut in, in the shape of a cross press the iron rings tight. Theidea of a cross shaped grooves cut in the stone slabs was to keep the big door leaves frominclining during opening and shutting. The big iron rings atop on four sides also keep the doorleaves in vertical position.

The main door posts rest on the sockets of sandstones in which they evolve flexibly. To preventthe door leaves from going off during shutting a big long oblong sandstone was placed as ablock.

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Kakusanda Buddha facing north in Ananda Temple. (Original)

Konagamanda Buddha facing east in Ananda Temple. (18th century replacement)

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The standing Buddha Statue facing south in Ananda Temple. It represents Kassapa Buddha. A close up view gives a stern expression of the face but a distant view from the devotional hall provides a smiling face. (Original)

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Gautama Buddha facing west in Ananda Temple. (18th century replacement)

The four imposing statues of standing Buddhas facing four cardinal directions are wood worksexecuted by skillful carvers. They are well proportioned. Those facing south and north are theoriginal statues. The one facing south is in perfect condition whereas the one facing north hasthe hand in a preaching gesture, which is a later renovation. The glass-mosaic frontlet on itsforehead was installed in 1903.

It is said that the four statues of Standing Buddha represent the four Buddhas who hadappeared and reached Nivirna. They are Kakusanda Buddha facing north, which was carvedout of a Saga wood (Michetia Champaca), Konagamana Buddha facing east, which originallywas carved out of a sandal wood presented by the Raja of Malayu. As it was destroyed by fire,U Hpo, the governor of Bagan in the time of King Mindon (A. D. 1852—78) made a replacementmade of teak wood, which still stands today. Kassapa Buddha facing south, carved out of a pinewood and Gautama Buddha facing west, which originally made of alloy of five metals wasvandalized by alchemists. About 200 years ago, U San Nyein, a great merchant of Bagan set upthe present statue of teak wood. Thus we have the original statues on the north and southwhich were carved out of a single log of wood. The unique characteristics of these two originalsare their facial expressions, which change with the change in the eye level of the looker.Close-up view gives you stern expression but from a little distance you see smiles on them.

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A beautiful view of Ananda Temple

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Ananda Temple at night

A stone work found inside Ananda Temple.It depicts Prince Sidattha, the future Budha,handing over to his attendant Channa thebejewelled ear-plugs he wore.

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A stone relief depicting Queen Maha Maya,giving birth to a son, Prince Sidattha. It wasexecuted on a single piece of sandstone.It is the best of its kind. It is found in thenorthern vaulted corridor of Ananda Temple.

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A stone sculpture depicting the Lord Buddhajourneying to Rajagaraha. The left handgestures his great compassion and the rightleg stepping forward.It is found in the northernvaulted corridor of Ananda Temple.

The big wooden door leaf at the westernentrance of Ananda Temple. It revolves withinthe iron rings above and stone socket below.

Plaster mouldings of floral designs adorning the spire of Ananda Temple

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A view of the entrance and wall of Ananda Temple.At this wall are seen small surrounding zedis.

A circumambulatory vaulted corridor insideAnanda Temple.

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The architectural technique of brick layingwith intervals of sandstones being inserted,seen on the brick span on the upper reachesof the outer vaulted corridor of Ananda Temple.A.D. 11th century

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