Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c42.9

c42.9

All these comparatively early examples of Burmese architecture show Indo-Buddhist influences, but none more so than the general scheme of the Nanpaya temple, referred to above, which recalls at once, both in its plan and elevation, the lay-out of similar buildings of an earlier or corresponding period in parts of India. There is the rectangular body of the temple surmounted by a sikhara, with a portico in front, all according to the arrangements found in the early examples at Aihole in Dharwar, or Bhubaneshwar in Orissa, and yet with a difference. It is an Indo-Aryan temple conceived according to Burmese ideals, but that it is based on an Indian model there can be little doubt. The other temple at Pagan, the Patothamya, although designed on much the same plan, with rectangular body and projecting portico, differs, in its architectural treatment, yet all these structures, whether stupas or temples, while appearing to be fundamentally derived from Indian sources, disclose an attempt to effect in their design something original and indigenous, and in them are implied the racial sentiments of their creators.