The Ananda Temple, the first Buddhist temple in Bagan

Built in the 12th century, the Ananda Temple is not far from the Shwezigon Pagoda. These two temples are probably the most popular among the 3,000 pagodas and temples in Bagan. The architecture and sculptures of the Ananda Temple are more exquisite than those of the Shwezigon Pagoda, which makes me believe that it is the premier Buddhist temple in Bagan. Let's compare the two temples: The Shwezigon Pagoda places an early Indian-style stupa, like the Sanchi Stupa from the 3rd century BC during the reign of Emperor Ashoka, on a multi-tiered platform and covers it with gold leaf. This most traditional type of stupa, which does not contain Buddha statues, is a relic stupa. The platform symbolizes Mount Meru. The Borobudur in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from the 8th and 9th centuries, also places stupas on a high platform, but there are many small stupas with seated Buddha statues inside. Of course, the pagodas commonly seen in China are another form. I believe the prototype of the Ananda Temple is the later cave temple, which is also found in many early domestic caves, such as Dunhuang, Yungang, and Xiangtangshan. Caves are carved into the mountain walls, with a central stupa pillar in the middle, allowing for circumambulation or meditation in the carved niches. This style also comes from India, as seen in the famous Ajanta Caves. The core design of the Ananda Temple is this central stupa pillar style, which is already a more complex upgraded version. The pillar part has tall Buddha statues in all four directions, and niches are opened on the surrounding corridors to place Buddha statues (but without any murals), and exquisite sculptures are placed on the exterior, which is particularly rare in Myanmar. On the other hand, the stupa and cave temple styles do not exclude each other; the roof of the Ananda Temple is decorated with many stupa-like structures with spires. Of course, the Ananda Temple is not carved out of a mountain. On the vast plains of Bagan, mountains are rare and far away. I'm not saying it's a cave temple, but that it adopts the style of a cave temple. After the Song Dynasty, Chinese people rarely carved cave temples, mainly focusing on building temples. The national treasure cave temple in Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Silla in Korea (8th century), is more interesting. It is built on the mountainside, but because the granite is too hard, they built a cave temple with stones and placed a large seated Buddha inside. This shows the extent of imitation of Indian cave temples (through China). Returning to the Ananda Temple, besides the architectural prototype, its doors and exterior sculptures are all in Indian style. Perhaps the entire temple was built in imitation of Indian temples (but by the 12th century, Buddhism had already declined in India), and it is even possible that Indian craftsmen were involved in the construction—however, this is speculation, as I do not have written materials about the temple at hand. But one thing is certain: after the Ananda Temple was damaged by an earthquake in 1975, the restoration work was done by an Indian archaeological team, as evidenced by an exhibition room in the temple. The temple's name, Ananda, is that of one of Buddha's ten great disciples, Ananda, who is known as the foremost in hearing, and is commonly seen in Chinese temples; the word means 'joy' in Sanskrit and other Indian languages. Ananda was Buddha's cousin and the attendant who took care of Buddha's daily needs for the last twenty-five years of his life. Therefore, he heard many of Buddha's teachings and, with his extraordinary memory, recited scriptures that became an important basis during the first Buddhist council after Buddha's nirvana. It is not surprising that important temples are named Ananda, because Buddhists, especially Burmese Buddhists, highly revere the scriptures. In the National Museum of Myanmar and the Cultural Museum of Mandalay Palace, I saw particularly many artifacts related to scriptures, such as treasure scrolls made of various materials, treasure boxes for storing scrolls, and palanquins for carrying scrolls, and so on. In the courtyard of the Ananda Temple, there is also a Bodhi tree, under which there is a circle of statues, which I guess are the Indian zodiac.