C O M PA S S
awestruck
With the help of our trusty rented e-bike, we weaved
through the dirt roads lined with these world-famous
religious monuments, wanting to stop at every corner
to admire the structures and take countless photos and
videos, in an effort to capture not just the image but
the feeling of awe the places imparted to us.
It is perhaps only in Bagan where ubiquity is an emblem of
reverence and not a tragedy of the commonplace.
In contrast to the exhausting feeling of oversaturation one gets when bombarded
with the commercials and billboards of the same tired love team, or another LSS-
inducing ditty; the sight of literally thousands of magnificent temples in what was
once Myanmar’s most prosperous city inspires an unexpected feeling of peace.
The time has long gone when Bagan was still teeming with wealthy
inhabitants whose idea of utmost veneration (or atonement for sins) was to build
monasteries, temples and pagodas all across the great plains in which they thrive.
The temples were of many kinds, each with features as distinct as that of their
builders. There were temples that can fit only one worshipper, with a solitary
humble stone Buddha smiling down upon the visitor, and there were temples so
massive that it contained several Buddha relics in its corridors, its main chambers
housing four richly gilded Buddha figures more than twice as tall as the average
man, each facing north, south, east and west. There were temples that came with
a twin, temples with frescoes of everyday Burmese life, and temples that had
courtyards even more spacious than the inside of the main structure. One was
even purported to be haunted by a Burmese king, whose reign was marked with
cruelty and violence.
In this manner, Bagan’s past inhabitants—by most accounts, a very learned
people—were architects in their own right, expressing not just their personalities,
affluence or sphere of influence, but their very spirit, their essence of being.
Sadly, only a fraction of the original monuments remain, as steadfast
devotion could not impregnate mere brick and mortar and render them immune
to the ravages of time and nature. Still, the beauty and sheer number of those
remaining, especially when viewed from atop one of the better-placed ones, were
enough to strike wonder into even the most well-traveled adventurers. Though
we explored more temples than we thought we could explore, the feeling never
wavered—an uncanny sensation of tranquility in ubiquity, not unlike the feeling
of gazing upon the innumerable stars above us.
Find out where Sibyl's off to next on Instagram @sibyllayag.
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