The Bagan Archaeological Museum was opened on
17th April 1998 in the world renowned ancient city Bagan, in
Mandalay Division, Upper Myanmar. It is situated near the Gawdawt
Palin Pagoda.
buddha images displayed inside the museum
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Five Metal Alloyed Buddha Image
The image was found on the east face of Sikhara
of Nagayon Temple at Sint-Gu, Nyaung U, Bagan. The
image age back to the 11th Century. |
The first archaeology museum in the true sense of the term was built
near the northern covered cause way of Ananda Temple in 1904, in a
very modest way. A small oblong one storey brick building of 60 feet
by 30 feet in which some ancient stone inscriptions, Buddha images
and other cultural objects collected from the Bagan area were
haphazardly displayed. After some years as a large number of new art
objects and antiquities were added, the museum looked like an
overstocked storehouse.
BUDDHA IMAGES DISPLAYED INSIDE THE MUSEUM
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Five Metal Alloyed Buddha Image transferred
from Ananda Temple. It is a 11th Century Buddha
Image.
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A wooden carving of Buddha descent from
Tavatimsa. It is a 12th Century and was recovered
from Ananda Temple |
In 1976 the site to the south of Gawdawt Palin Pagoda was selected
and designated for Archaeological Museum Compound in which an
octagonal shaped museum building was constructed. In it were
displayed very rare and fragile artifacts excavated from ruined
Bagan monuments. Three big oblong sheds were built near it as
annexure under which stone inscriptions and stone statues of the
Bagan Period were displayed. It was called Archaeological Site
Museum Bagan and was officially opened in October 1979.
SOME ANCIENT ARTIFACTS AND PLAQUES FROM THE
MUSEUM
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A bronze lotus of the 11th Century Bagan,
recovered from a temple northeast of Upali Thein. |
Dolomite plaque made of hard limestone,
recovered from temple no- 2118, northeast of Upali
Thein, from the 11th Century. |
There are many display rooms. On the ground floor there is a fully
decorated and air-con hall large enough to hold international
conference, symposium, seminar or meeting. On this floor are the
display room for objects of visual arts of the Bagan Period such as
terra cotta, stucco works, wood carvings, stone sculptures, metal
works, lacquer works, etc., the showroom exhibiting models of 55
different coiffeurs used by fashionable court ladies of the Bagan
Period, the display room in which originals, replicas and ink copies
of Bagan stone inscriptions and other forms of epigraphy, the
gallery where paintings by famous Myanmar artists of to-day
depicting the social life and military might of ancient Bagan, as
well as copies of frescoes on walls and ceilings of ancient temples,
and the display room in which models of Bagan monuments of
architectural and artistic wonder.
Going up to the second floor by grand marble floored stairways, we
reach the display rooms on religious themes. Here we find that
exhibits are Buddha statues and images of various makes, postures,
and styles providing us some knowledge of Buddhist iconography. In
the room of Buddhist Art are displayed objects of all visual
Buddhist arts. Viewers of these objects may well appreciate the
depth and extent of Buddhist influence upon Myanmar culture. Here on
the second floor is another art gallery, but it specialises in
religious themes. Paintings by artists of to-day and murals by
master painters of Bagan’s time on display in the gallery all
represent Bagan pagodas and monuments or depict Buddhist stories -
jatakas.
Next above the second floor is the flat roof of the whole building
from where pilgrims, visitors and tourists can enjoy a panoramic
view of the entire "pagoda land" of Bagan and patiently wait for the
right moment to watch the "large orange coloured globe" gradually
sinking behind the Tantkyi Taung hill range on the west bank of the
mighty Ayeyawaddy River.
To crown the pleasures of your visit to Bagan a big bronze statue
awaits your attention in the centre of the round-about lawn in the
front of the museum’s portico. The statue represents the hero king
Pyusawhti (A.D.167-242), the third king in the Bagan dynasty of 55
kings. Legend has it that he conquered the five enemies who had been
molesting Bagan by slaying them with his mighty bow and arrows. The
enemies were the big bird, the big boar, the big tiger, the big
flying squirrel and the wild weed bu (gourd). The Bupaya Pagoda
standing on the brink of the Ayeyawaddy River at Bagan is attributed
to Pyusawhti. It stands on the site where the hero king finally
eradicated the troublesome weed.
Visitors to Bagan have now two grand museums. The entire area of 16
square miles of Bagan Archaeological Zone itself is a field museum
of nearly ten centuries old and a splendid modern museum of very
recent time.
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