Ananda Temple at Bagan: King Kyansittha's Masterpiece

The Ananda Temple is one of the largest and best-preserved monuments of Bagan, the medieval capital of the Pagan kingdom in central Myanmar. It was built by King Kyansittha and is usually dated to around 1105. With its symmetrical cross-shaped plan, four colossal standing Buddhas and gilded spire, it is often called the masterpiece of early Pagan architecture.

Background: Kyansittha and the Pagan kingdom

The Pagan kingdom rose to power under King Anawrahta, who took the throne in 1044 and united much of the Irrawaddy valley (see Pagan Kingdom). Kyansittha was one of his leading generals. After Anawrahta’s death and the short reign of his son Sawlu, Kyansittha became king in 1084 and ruled until about 1112/13.

Kyansittha’s reign was a period of consolidation. He completed the Shwezigon Pagoda begun by Anawrahta, promoted Theravada Buddhism and maintained ties with Mon culture in Lower Burma. His inscriptions, written partly in Mon, present him as a righteous Buddhist king and a protector of his people.

Legend and dating

A well-known story in the Burmese chronicles says that eight monks arrived at Kyansittha’s court from India and described a cave temple called Nandamula in the Himalayas. Moved by their account, the king decided to build a temple modelled on it. This is a legend rather than a documented fact, but it reflects the strong Indian influence on early Pagan art.

The name Ananda may come from the Buddha’s cousin and attendant Ananda, or from a Pali phrase meaning “endless wisdom”; scholars are not sure. The date is also uncertain. Tradition places construction around 1090, while many historians favour completion around 1105.

Architecture

The Ananda is a temple rather than a solid stupa: visitors can walk inside it. Its plan is a square of about 53 metres on each side, with a large projecting porch on each of the four sides, giving the shape of a Greek cross. Above the main body rise six receding terraces topped by a curved tower in the Indian shikhara style and a gilded finial. The whole building reaches roughly 50 metres in height.

Inside, a solid central core is surrounded by two parallel corridors. Each face of the core holds a deep niche containing a standing Buddha image about 9.5 metres tall, made of wood and covered in gilding. The north and south images are believed to be original; the east and west images were replaced after earlier ones were damaged.

The corridor walls have small windows that let in controlled light, so that the gilded faces of the Buddhas glow in the dim interior. Hundreds of smaller stone sculptures in niches show scenes from the life of the Buddha.

Glazed plaques and decoration

The outside terraces and base are decorated with glazed terracotta plaques, many of them green, illustrating the Jataka tales, the stories of the Buddha’s former lives. Captions in Mon and Pali explain the scenes. The plaques were an important teaching tool, allowing worshippers to follow the stories as they walked around the temple.

In the western sanctum, two kneeling figures are traditionally identified as Kyansittha and the monk Shin Arahan, his religious adviser. A pedestal there also bears carved footprints of the Buddha.

Later history

The Pagan kingdom declined after Mongol invasions in the late 13th century (see Battle of Ngasaunggyan), but the Ananda remained an active place of worship. Later kings and donors repaired and regilded it many times; the outer walls were whitewashed, and the spire was regilded in 1990 for the traditional 900th anniversary.

The temple suffered damage in the earthquakes of 1975 and 2016, and restoration has been carried out with international help, including from the Archaeological Survey of India. In 2019 Bagan, with more than 3,000 surviving monuments, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The temple today

The Ananda is one of the most visited sites in Bagan and a working religious building. Its annual festival, held around the full moon of the Burmese month of Pyatho (usually December or January), draws pilgrims, monks and traders from across the region. The temple shows how Pagan combined Indian architectural forms with local taste to create a distinctive Burmese style.

Timeline

• 1044: Anawrahta becomes king of Pagan.
• 1084: Kyansittha takes the throne.
• c. 1090: Traditional start of work on the Ananda Temple.
• c. 1105: The temple is generally considered complete.
• c. 1112/13: Death of Kyansittha.
• 1975: A major earthquake damages the temple.
• 1990: The spire is regilded for the 900th anniversary.
• 2016: Another earthquake causes damage, followed by restoration.
• 2019: Bagan is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Why it matters

The Ananda Temple is a high point of the building programme that made Bagan one of the great religious landscapes of Asia. It reflects King Kyansittha’s ambitions as a Buddhist ruler and the meeting of Indian, Mon and Burmese traditions, and it remains a centre of faith nine centuries after it was built.