How old is bagan

Let's work together to keep the conversation civil. You have been successfully added to the mailing list of Times of India Travel. To complete the subscription process, kindly open your inbox and click on the confirmation link which has been emailed to you. Thank You for sharing! Your friend will receive the article link on email mentioned.

From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, and The many thousand temples of Bagan. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, and the political, economic and cultural nerve centre of the Pagan Empire. During kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, the wealthy Pagan rulers commissioned thousands of temples to be built in the Bagan plains. It is estimated that over 10, Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries once stood on this sq km plain in central Myanmar, of which the remains of over temples and pagodas are still present.

Bagan became a central powerbase in the mid 9th century under King Anawrahta, who unified Burma under Theravada Buddhism. Over the course of years, Bagan's rulers and their wealthy subjects constructed over 10, religious monuments in the Bagan plains.

The prosperous city grew in size and grandeur, and became a cosmopolitan centre for religious and secular studies. Monks and scholars from as far as India, Ceylon as well as the Khmer Empire came to Bagan to study prosody, phonology, grammar, astrology, alchemy, medicine, and law. Bagan's golden age ended in when the kingdom and its capital city was invaded and sacked by the Mongols. Its population was reduced to a village that remained amongst the ruins of the once larger city.

Bagan's temples are best viewed from a high vantage-point, and there's no higher or more jaw-droppingly gorgeous perspective than the one you'll get from a hot air balloon gliding 2, feet in the air.

Unlike helicopter and ultralight flights, balloon flights are relatively silent and static, combining with the reddish angled light of the sunrise to create the best conditions for viewing Bagan's temple plain.

Flights can last between 45 minutes to an hour, not including the pre-dawn pickup from your hotel. If balloon flights are beyond the reach of your budget, you can still climb on a dwindling number of multi-tiered temples to see Bagan's gorgeous sunsets reflecting off the Irrawaddy River in the distance.

Before tourism became a major Bagan concern, most temples permitted visitors to climb to their upper decks. But after increased tourist traffic and not a few accidents marred the temple-climbing experience, the government has cracked down: visitors may only climb five temples in Bagan , and additional closures can be announced without notice.

Two temples alongside the Irrawaddy River will never be affected by these closures, as they lack tiers to climb, thus making them excellent and much safer candidates for sunset viewing. If you're mobility-challenged, lacking travel insurance or just prefer riverside views, head off to the gourd-shaped Bupaya Pagoda and the sacred Lawkananda Pagoda for your sunset fix.

You'll find two major town settlements outside the Bagan Archaeological Zone. To the north is the older town of Nyaung-U, site of the Bagan Airport and some of the area's most interesting local color.

You can't miss Mani Sithu Market in Nyaung-U — it's located next to the main road near a central roundabout. For a non-temple break to the stupa cycle in Bagan, Mani Sithu is top-notch: a working morning market full of locals buying and selling fresh meat and dry goods. Forget about souvenir-hunting in Mani Sithu; come here to do more sightseeing than shopping. Stalls selling live animals, freshly-butchered meats, packages of areca nut and betel leaf, cooking oil, and dried fish — you'll see, hear, and smell them all, altogether an authentic Bagan people-watching experience worth making a detour for.

When the weather in Bagan is just right, hit the dirt trails around Bagan's temples on two wheels , and roam at your own pace. Self-powered bicycles are cheap and available at almost every corner on New Bagan town. Unfortunately, their range is only as great as your stamina — as temples are spaced out widely in the Bagan Archaeological Zone, expect to visit only a handful of temples a day.

Dispensing with the need for pedals, e-bikes let you visit more temples and take your time at each stop — assuming you don't push the bikes past their eight-hour battery limit!

When traveling by bike, factor in distance between destinations, battery life where applicable and the daylight hours available to you. Toss in a GPS-capable phone and a Bagan temple guidebook, and you'll enjoy a Bagan temple experience far removed from the usual package tours roaming the local highways.

Lacquerware feels like it belongs to the past — non-microwave-safe, hand-carved, and crafted using traditional materials and centuries-old formulas. But like many ancient crafts, lacquer has a beauty that few modern equivalents can reproduce. The town of Myinkaba near Bagan has been a center for lacquer production for centuries, having been introduced by Siamese and Lanna emigres in the s.

The present-day lacquer workshops use techniques little changed from their ancestors' time—from curing lacquerware in underground cellars to hand-carving designs into the lacquer with styluses. Unlike other handicrafts, lacquerware improves with age: colors brighten as the years go on, making antique lacquerware particularly prized by collectors.

Dhammayangyi Temple, the largest temple in Bagan, stands among other pagodas and temples. A view of one of Bagan's temples from directly overhead. Ancient temples and pagodas in Old Bagan, photographed at sunrise. Boys apply gold leaf onto a Buddha statue at a temple in Bagan on November 9, Tourists visit Bagan's historical site on December 9, Plants grow on several ancient Bagan pagodas.

The 12th-century Thatbyinnyu Temple left sits among other temples in Old Bagan, as seen from the air. People are transported in a cattle-drawn cart as they pass in front of the ancient pagodas at Bagan, Myanmar, on February 3, We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters theatlantic. A Hindu festival in Bangladesh, snowfall in northern China, fighting in Yemen, a plane crash in Brazil, a gathering of pelicans in Israel, Bonfire Night in England, and much more.

One last look at the colorful beauty of this autumn, seen across the Northern Hemisphere. Images of an foot-tall puppet, depicting a Syrian refugee girl, that has traveled 5, miles in recent months.

Diwali celebrations in India, a walk through a pond in Belgium, a glacier in Argentina, anti-government protests in Bangkok, a foggy sunrise over San Francisco, and much more. I want to receive updates from The Atlantic about new products and offerings.