History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s5.7

v2.c33.s5.7

There seem to be no data to enable us to fix with certainty the date of this or of other similar pagodas in this place, and no photographs to enable us to speak with certainty as to their details, which is to be regretted, as it is just in such an old city as this that we may expect to find those early forms which may explain so much that is now unintelligible in subsequent examples. Thatôn was coeval with Anurâdhapura in Ceylon, and if examined with care, might do as much for the square form of temple as the island capital may do for the round form. Their greatest interest would, however, arise from the light they might throw on the square temples of Pagân and other Burmese cities, whose origin it has hitherto been impossible to explain. Meanwhile it is a fact worth bearing in mind that we find here square three-storeyed pagodas, which certainly were erected before a.d. 1080, when the city was destroyed, and possibly before the 7th century, when it was practically superseded by the rise of the new city and kingdom of Pegu.