Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c42.6

c42.6

The two temples at Pagan, are those of Patothamya and of Nanpaya in the village of Myinpagan both comparatively early examples of temple building in Burma, as they appear to date from the 11th century, thus illustrating an intermediate phase of some significance. The Nanpaya temple, attributed to Manuha, the last king of Thaton when a prisoner of war, may therefore be a survival of the style of architecture favoured by the Mons or Talaings as this mode existed just previous to the great classical movement which subsequently developed on the same site. Constructed of stone masonry over a brick foundation it is decorated both inside and out with carving, that on the exterior being of a bold simple order confined to the pediments over the stone lattice windows, while in the interior the pillars are ornamented in low relief with figures of Brahma.