Countries Myanmar | Buddham SHARANAM Gachchhami

About Myanmar

The Land of Pagodas

In Myanmar, Buddhism is not merely a religion practised on certain days or in certain spaces. It is the organising framework of daily life — in the care given to monks, in the merit-making rituals that mark births, deaths, and transitions, in the white-clad nuns walking in procession at dawn, in the thousands of pagodas that stud the landscape from the Irrawaddy delta to the Shan hills. The country has more Theravada Buddhist monks per capita than any other nation, and the density of its sacred architecture is unequalled.

About Myanmar

Historical Background

The Pyu people, who inhabited parts of present-day Myanmar from roughly the 1st to the 9th centuries CE, were among the earliest Buddhist communities in mainland Southeast Asia. Archaeological evidence from Pyu cities — Beikthano, Halin, and Sriksetra — shows substantial Buddhist structures dating to the early centuries of the Common Era.

The first great Buddhist empire in the region was that of the Bagan kingdom, founded in the 9th century CE and reaching its height in the 11th and 12th centuries under King Anawrahta (r. 1044–1077) and his successors. Anawrahta unified the country, embraced Theravada Buddhism, and began the construction programme at Bagan that would produce, over the following two centuries, more than three thousand temples, pagodas, and monasteries on a plain beside the Irrawaddy River.

1st Century CE

Early Buddhist communities emerge in the Pyu city-states.

4th–9th Century CE

Pyu cities flourish with monasteries, stupas, and Buddhist learning.

849 CE

Bagan Kingdom founded on the banks of the Irrawaddy River.

1044 CE

King Anawrahta ascends the throne and unifies Myanmar.

1057 CE

Anawrahta embraces Theravada Buddhism after the conquest of Thaton.

11th–13th Century CE

More than 3,000 temples, pagodas, and monasteries are constructed across Bagan.

1287 CE

Bagan Kingdom declines following Mongol invasions.

2019

Bagan is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

About Myanmar

Key Sites

Bagan

Even today, with many of the structures ruined or restored in varying degrees of fidelity, Bagan remains one of the great concentrations of Buddhist architecture anywhere on earth. At sunrise or sunset, when the temples emerge from morning mist or glow against a darkening sky, the experience is one that few places in the world can replicate.

The most significant structures at Bagan include the Ananda Temple (1105 CE), a masterwork of Mon-Burmese architecture with four standing Buddhas of gilded teak; the Dhammayangyi Temple, the largest single structure at Bagan, built by King Narathu in the 12th century; the Sulamani Temple; and the Shwezigon Pagoda, begun by Anawrahta and completed by his successor Kyanzittha, which enshrines relics of Buddha.

Yangon — The Shwedagon Pagoda

The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon is the most sacred Buddhist site in Myanmar and one of the most significant in the Theravada world. The central stupa rises 98 metres above its platform on Singuttara Hill, entirely covered in gold plate from base to spire. The precise date of its original construction is debated — tradition places it two and a half thousand years ago; scholars suggest the current structure dates to the 15th century CE, with many subsequent enlargements and restorations.

The pagoda enshrines relics said to include hairs of the historical Buddha and relics of three previous Buddhas. Its upper terraces are ornamented with thousands of smaller shrines, statues, and pavilions, and worshippers are present at every hour of the day and night. A visit to the Shwedagon — entering barefoot, walking the tile-covered terraces as monks chant and bells are rung and flowers are offered — is one of the defining experiences in Buddhist travel.

Mandalay and the North

Mandalay, the last royal capital of the Burmese kingdom, contains important monasteries, the Mahamuni Pagoda (housing a highly venerated Buddha image), and the Kuthodaw Pagoda with its 729 stone slabs inscribed with the complete Tripitaka — the Pali Canon — giving Mandalay the description, sometimes applied to it, of the “world’s largest book.”

The surrounding area offers Amarapura (with the U Bein teak bridge and monastic complex), Inwa (ancient capital ruins), Sagaing (a ridge of hills covered in white stupas and active monasteries that is one of the most important centres of meditation practice in Southeast Asia), and Mingun (a vast unfinished stupa and a massive cracked bell).

Buddham SHARANAM Gachchhami - Mandalay and the North