Scattered around the world there are plenty of buddhist temples of great beauty, places worth visiting even if Buddhism is not your thing. If we talk about places with these temples, we must mention Burma, which is currently officially known as Myanmar and where there is a spectacular valley that concentrates more than 10,000 Buddhist temples from the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.
They are in the Bagan valley, in the Mandalay region, one of the most tourist areas of the country. Bagan is also an area that does not have security problems for foreigners, something that other places in the country do, although in any case it is advisable to take precautions so that no problem arises. Bagan is about 200 kilometers north of Naipyidó, the country's capital, so it is worth getting close if you are going to visit that city.
Bagan valley
This valley was the cradle of the ancient civilization of Bagan, which emerged in the 9th century and began to spread throughout the country until the Mongol invasions came in the 13th century. The Buddhist religion was very important in this area, and many Bagan kings They built their temples there, in addition to churches or stupas. It is estimated that 10,000 temples, 3,000 monasteries and 1,000 stupas were built at that time, which are spread over an area of just over 100 kilometers that extends over the valley.
The temples today
Many of the temples and other religious buildings have been lost due to abandonment or because of more than 400 earthquakes that the valley suffered last century, and currently more than 2,000 of them still stand. Despite that, the Bagan Valley remains the most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in Asia. Among the most important temples are some like the shwezigon stupa, covered in gold leaf and said to house a tooth of the Buddha himself.
They also highlight the Shwesandaw pagoda (it houses some of the hair of the Buddha and from there you can enjoy a spectacular sunset), the Mingalazedi stupa (on its walls it has engravings that relate some of the scenes of the Jataka, the historical stage of the life of the Buddha ) or the Ananda temple, which is considered the holiest of Bagan.
MYANMAR: The biggest pyramid ???? and Buddhist temple in Bagan (April 2024)
- temples
- 1,230
