Ananda Temple အာနန္ဒာ ဘုရာ - The Westminster Abbey of Burma - Began Myanmar 2023

The Ananda Temple အာနန္ဒာ ဘုရာ located in Bagan Myanmar is a Buddhist temple built in 1105 AD during the reign of King Kyansittha of the Pagan Dynasty. The temple layout is cruciform with several terraces leading to a small pagoda at the top covered by an umbrella known as hti.

The temple is said to be an architectural wonder in a fusion of Mon and adopted Indian style of architecture. The impressive temple has also been titled the "Westminster Abbey of Burma". The temple has close similarity to the Pathothamya temple of the 10th–11th century, and is also known as “veritable museum of stones”.

The name Ananda of the temple is derived from the Venerable Ananda, Buddha's first cousin, personal secretary, one of his many principal disciples and a devout attendant. It was once known as Ananta Temple, coming from the phrase 'ananta pinya' in Sanskrit, which translates as "endless wisdom". However, the word 'Ānanda' in Pali, Sanskrit as well as other Indian languages mean "bliss".

The architectural history of the temple has been widely analysed. While the Mon architecture of Burmese origin is noted, strong influence of Indian Architecture from many temples of Bengal and Orissa is very clear. In this regard archaeologist Duroiselle has made these observations: "There can be no doubt that the architects who planned and built the Ananda were Indians. Everything in this temple from Shikara to basement, as well as the numerous stone sculptures found in its corridors, and the terra-cotta plaques adorning its basement and terraces, bear the indubitable stamp of Indian genius and craftsmanship...In this sense we may take it, therefore, that the Ananda, though built in the Burmese capital, is an Indian temple." It is also said that the architecture of this temple greatly represents the Ananta cave temple in Udayagiri hills in Odisha.

This is probably the most beautiful temple in the Bagan area. It was one of the temples I was most excited about seeing and I was not disappointed at all.

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