Manuha and Nanpaya Paya

 What is amazing about Bagan it is that around it there are a lot interesting places to see.I started with Myinkaba. 

 

In Myinkaba village , stands the still active Manuha Temple.

 Manuha was one very strange experience for me.

It is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Myanmar .

 The name "Manuha" was given after the Mon king from Thaton who was held captive in Bagan by King Anawrahta.

Legend says that Manuha was allowed to build this temple in 1059, and that he constructed it to represent his displeasure at captivity.

The exterior and overall floor plan resemble the more remote Kyaukgu Umin Pagoda (means “Rock Cave Tunnel”) a rectangular box topped by a smaller rectangle.

 

Inside I saw three seated Buddhas face the front of the building, and in the back there was  a huge reclining Parinibbana Buddha.

All seem too large for their enclosures, and their cramped, uncomfortable positions.

 I did search a lot to find the Temple floor plan to make it more easy to understand.

 

This is said to represent the stress and lack of comfort the 'captive king' had to endure.

The story in short goes like this : 

Manuha, king of Thaton. 

 His regnal title was "Thiritivavanaditya pavara thudhamma raja."The king sold his ruby ring named " Mano Maya" to the rich man of Myin Kaba who paid six bullock carts' load of fine pure silver as price for it. 

With that money the king made a big Buddha on a highland named "Thiri Zeya Bumi" which was on the north-east of Loka Nanda, the jetty where the sacred Buddha's tooth relic arrived.

He did this religious merit in cause he wished to attain Nivirna. But before attaining Nivirna, during the course of Samsara (Cycle of endless rebirths) he wished he would also be king whom enemies could never conquer. 

The inscription goes on to mention that on Thursday the second waxing moon of the month of Wakhaung in the Sakarit year 429 (M. E) sacred relics were enshrined in the Image.

It took 6 months and 6 days to complete the Image making.

Around the Image were grown coconut, palm, mango, and jack fruit trees and flowering plants which the king dedicated to the sacred Image.

Facing east are three immense images of sitting Buddha. The middle image is 46 loot high whereas the two on its sides, each measuring 10.1 meters (33 feet) in height. At their back, facing west lies an incumbent. Buddha statue of 27,43 meters (90 feet) long, with the head laid towards the north. It is in Parinibbāna (dying posture).

One of the Sitting Buddhas of Manuha

One more amazing Statue in Manuha

The last of the Three sitting Buddhas in Manuha

It was not easy to take photos of those gigantic statues and also same time I was trying to get used to the feeling of Enclosure and Claustrophobia  that stayed with me until I  left the Temple.These three images are so big and massive that it looks as if they had been pressed into narrow chambers.

Only the reclining Buddha,has a smile on its face, showing that for Manuha only death was a release from his suffering. 

The reclining Buddha of Manuha Temple

The face does look like smiling

 I had my back against the wall at 10mm to fit this giant in the frame!

One can climb to the top of this pagoda via the stairs at the entrance to the reclining Buddha chamber, at the back of the temple. Through a window you can then see the face of the sitting Buddha, and from up at this level you'll realize that the gigantic face, so grim from below, has an equally gigantic smile.Courtesy of the different view angle.

I read that during the earthquake of 1975, the central roof collapsed, badly damaging the largest, seated Buddha, which has since been repaired.
I can not imagine the effort of work this needed to be fixed.

Sadly I was there on December so I missed the Festival of Manuha.

Manuha Pagoda Festival is held annually one day before the Full Moon Day of Tawtalin. Depending on the Lunar Calendar, the festival is held in end of September or start of October. Manuha Pagoda Festival is celebrated for three consecutive days.

 During the festival, rice cakes and pickled winter melon are served to all comers from near and far. The Myinkaba region dwellers donate these to all visitors. 

 " Wheresoever I migrate in Saṃsāra, may I never be conquered by another ! "

Manuha ,ex-king of Mon , the builder of this temple .


 After spending sometime looking around and admiring the architecture of this Temple and the statues in it,I moved to the smallest building that was behind Manuha Temple.

Nanpaya Temple

 Close behind the Manuha Pagoda, there is a shrine mostly known as "Nanpaya". 

 From the outside this is just a unattractive square-shaped temple. What’s interesting about Nanpaya is the sandstone bas-relief figures inside.

 It consists of perforated stone windows which are typical of earlier Bagan architecture.

  
Nanpaya is in fact Bagan's first "gu-style" (cave) shrine.

The temple has four stone pillars have finely carved sandstone bas-relief figures of four-faced Brahma.

It is said to have been used as Manuha's prison although there is little evidence supporting the legend.

 

 It is made of sandstone masonry block facings integrated over a brick core.and after so many years it is particularly fine. 

It also features interesting arches over the windows.

The creator deity is holding lotus flowers, thought to be offerings to a free-standing Buddha image once situated in the shrine's centre, a theory that dispels the idea that this was ever a Hindu shrine.

The sides of the pillars bear ogre-like heads with open mouths streaming with flowers. According to the Myanmar legend, the face of the ogre represents the guardian and eats flowers instead of meat. 

I could not stop taking photos in Nanpaya.
Such a unique experience!
For a few hours was like going back in time.
For sure an amazing and so important historical site to love.