0686, 2951 MYANMAR (Mandalay Region) - Bagan Archaeological Area and Monuments (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

0686 Bagan Archaeological Area and Monuments

Posted on 19.06.2013, 14.02.2017
Capital of the Kingdom of Pagan (the first kingdom which unified the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar) from the 9th to 13th centuries, Bagan is considered by many as equal in attraction to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. During the kingdom's height, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed here, of which the remains of over 2500 still survive to the present day. Several of these monuments are still higly venerated by the population, and attract numerous pilgrims and devotees from all over the country, particularly at festival times, but also many tourists.

2951 Ananda Temple in Bagan

The Bagan temples falls into one of two broad categories: the stupa-style solid temples and the gu-style hollow temples. The original Indic design of the stupas (zeidi or zedi in Burmese) was gradually modified first in Pyu city states, and then in Bagan, where they developed a longer, cylindrical form, become the prototypes for later Burmese stupas in terms of symbolism, form and design, building techniques and even materials. In contrast to the stupas, the hollow gu-style temple is a structure used for meditation, devotional worship of the Buddha and other Buddhist rituals.

Built in 1105 during the reign of King Kyanzittha, Ananda Templte is one of four surviving temples in Bagan. The temple layout is in a cruciform with several terraces leading to a small pagoda at the top covered by an umbrella known as hti, which is the name of the umbrella or top ornament found in almost all pagodas in Myanmar. It is said to be an architectural wonder in a fusion of Mon and adopted Indian style of architecture. The name is derived from the Venerable Ananda, Buddha's first cousin, personal secretary, one of his many principal disciples and a devout attendant.

About the stamp
On the postcard 0686
About the stamp, issued to commemorate 65 Years of diplomatic relations between Myanmar and Russia, I wrote here.

On the postcard 2951

The first stamp was issued on January 4, 2014 to mark The 66th Anniversary of Independence.

The second stamp is one of the two of the series The Republic of Myanmar, about which I wrote here.

References
Bagan - Wikipedia
Bagan - Asian Historical Architecture
Bagan Archaeological Area and Monuments - UNESCO official website

Sender 0686: Xu Wei (direct swap)
Sent from Yangon (Yangon / Myanmar), on ??.04.2013
Sender 2951: Pumipat
Sent from Bagan (Mandalay / Myanmar), on 12.12.2016