Zeya - Looking towards Bagan again

Looking back towards Bagan

"Teacher... are you okay?"

"I'm not feeling well, I'm just taking a break for a while. What do you want to do?"

"Let's go to Bagan"

The obsession with Bagan-Bagan-Bagan-Bagan is huge among us. Our land

It is not just the Burmese who are obsessed with Bagan, but also foreigners who have been to Bagan from other countries and have heard about it. Last October, when I was in London, I met Professor Luce at the Burmese Embassy and the Burmese Ambassador U Kasi at a luncheon. As soon as I greeted him, he asked if your department had any photographs of Bagan. Another time, I went into a bookshop on Charing Cross Road and asked if they had any books about Burma. A book buyer, like me, turned around and said,

“Are you from Burma?”

"that's true"

“Have you ever been to Bagan? I have studied the ancient Burmese masonry structures in Bagan a lot.”

He said again.

The fascination with Bagan is strong for those who know it. It has been over 700 years since Bagan was destroyed. However, the influence of Bagan is still strong, spreading from Burma to Europe, some 7,000 miles away.

Bagan, Bagan... Bagan... When the name Bagan was heard, during the reign of King Sinda of Sugyinyanagara in Sri Keshtera, the king and the people of the land ate what was not allowed to be eaten, took what was not allowed to be taken, did not even avoid the Buddha's property, and after saying "I am dead," they would eat and drink the gold that others had donated, and they would do whatever they wanted to do. The country was in chaos, and they could not control themselves. A woman, with her heart trembling involuntarily,

"My school, my school"

How they were destroyed and destroyed, and after that, they could not find a place in Taungnyo or in Pantaung. After running away, they ran up the mountain and reached the forest called Yonhluat Kyun, about a mile east of the foot of Tuyen Mountain, where they gathered with 19 villagers. After that, they found a safe place to stay and gradually grew and established the first-class cities in the world at that time, namely, Thiripisaya, Tampawaddy, Pugarama, Pookkan, Bagan, and Arimaddana. How the great monks who practiced with thirty thousand disciples in the village of Minnan, east of Bagan, practiced the Buddhist monks, and how they built five caves, including the pagodas built by the great monks. Then, during the reign of King Anawrahta, how they established the great Buddhist religion with the Arhat who came from Thaton, how they built great pagodas such as Shwe Si Khon Pagoda, Shwe San Taw Pagoda, Sapada Pagoda, Mingalar Pagoda, how they built Nanda Gu, Sabbanyu, Gautama Thammarat, Dhammaram Gyi, Shwe Gu Gyi, Manuha, Nan Pagoda, Sahe La, and the four-faced Pagoda and the cave pagodas, all came to mind.

Once, King Saw Lu was playing a game of pong with Ngaraman Kang, a Pegu eater, and Ngaraman Kang was the one who won and was about to fight. King Saw Lu said, “You can win a single pong against me, but you are a man, so why don’t you fight with the Pegu eater?” Ngaraman Kang asked, “Is that so?” King Saw Lu said, “Our king is not

"What is the meaning of the word 'what

The voices of great heroes who shine brightly.

"This golden Buddha is for my master, my servant. The three villages of slaves, my master gave to this golden Buddha, my servant gave to this golden Buddha. That song is pleasing to the king, good song, good song," he said.

His son Raja Kumara dedicated himself to his father, King Anawrahta, and offered the three villages of slaves he had inherited from his mother, and the soldiers praised him, saying, "King Anawrahta, how good he is!"

“In the year 597, the year of Asin, on the 4th day of the lunar month, Thursday, King Kyaswa ascended the Golden Mountain and said, ‘I do not know my mother, but I have a stepmother, and I am the eldest, and if I have a stepmother, she is my mother.’ He also gave me a servant and a field.

"I live in a house. I have servants. I have fields. I have food. I live in a house. I have a monk who is wise and wise, I have a friend." And so on, King Kshatriya spoke, and how he paid his respects to his stepmother who raised him, and how his stepmother, without using the house, fields, and servants given to him by the king, donated the three jewels with reverence and faith, and so on

In 646 CE, after the Chinese invaded and destroyed the great kingdom of Bagan, the Chinese exiled king traveled from Pathein to Pyay, where his son, Pyay Yak Thihath, poisoned him.

While they were surrounded by the king, threatening to kill him with a knife if he did not eat the royal feast, the queen said, “King Alaung did not listen to what I said before, so he has to be like this. It is better to end your life by eating the food that is laced with medicine than to die from the sound of blood and swords.” I vaguely heard the echoes of the Bagan epic in my ears. Therefore, “If you go, I will go.”

He promised.

They don't want to go in a hurry, they want to go in a relaxed and easy way. Then

Feeling relieved, they decided to board the large ship "Princess" for the eight-day journey from Yangon to Nyaung Oo, more than 460 miles.

Bagan is now a very ancient place. But when we think about it carefully, we are going from the most ancient place, Yangon, to a place that can be said to be modern. Yangon dates back to the time of King Okkalapa, the first king of the Buddha. On the other hand, the city of Sri Kshetra, which we will pass before reaching Bagan, began to flourish in the year 101 of the Sasana Era. Bagan was a city that was founded after the destruction of Sri Kshetra in the year 651 of the Sasana Era. Okkalapa is about 700 years later than Yangon.

So, we boarded the ship that was docked at Botahtaung Port on the night of November 4. November 4 was a Thursday. We heard that the ship would leave at 12:30 at night.

"It's better not to go sailing on Friday."

They were already on board the ship at about nine o'clock, ready to set sail on Thursday.

When we arrived on the ship, we saw that the entire Sumava family, including the monks and nuns, were being escorted by a large group. After arranging their belongings, making their beds, and exchanging greetings, it was more than 11 hours before the Sumava family returned. Then, we looked at the ship carefully. In the upper deck, in the area reserved for monks, there were four or five monks, a hermit and three laypeople, and a woman by the head of the ship.

We found about ten men, about five men and women not far from the stern where we had taken the ship, and about seven people in the forward part of the ship, where the cargo was loaded. That was all.

"Hey... the ship is small, how many of us are there?"

“One teacher, U Zeya, one Shuma Oo Kyaw, one U Sein Kaw, one student, Maung Swe Tint, and one student, Athun, all five of them.”

“U Sein Kaw is going down to Maupin, and we will follow him to Bagan, with a net of four people.”

“Ha... If there are four of us, then we are few. During the reign of King Anawrahta of Pakkan, Utsya Bago was surrounded by skilled warriors, and the King of Bago asked for reinforcements, so the remaining four soldiers, Nga Khru, Nga Lone Lep Phae, and Nyaung U Phi, went from Bagan. There are no more than the four of us. Just go calmly and fear nothing. What kind of camera do you have?”

“One for Maung Swe, one for Athun…” “I have one, three for four, that’s enough. I’m not very good at taking pictures. If there’s a big crowd, I just aim with a guide and a scope and press the button. When I think of taking a picture, I think of it, and when I don’t, I don’t think of it. Are you good at taking pictures too?”

"I've taken pictures two or three times, Dad, but I've never gotten a good picture."

"Ha... Our team is top-notch when it comes to photography. We'll put a lot of fun in Shumawa Magazine."

"Aung. We'll have a good fight when we get to Bagan," he said, as the ship blew its horn and began to leave the harbor.

"Hey.. we're leaving at twelve thirty, isn't it eleven forty-five minutes from now? Are our watches wrong? Let's go check the clock in the engine room," he said, and one of them got off and came back on after a while...

"That's right, Babar, but I'm afraid I'll be late on Friday, so I'll leave fifteen minutes before midnight."

Well... I thought to myself, "Maybe I won't go on Friday, maybe the ship will be as Burmese as I am."

The next morning, they arrived at Maupin. They stopped at Maupin for about an hour and then continued on their way, arriving at Danuphyu at 8:30 p.m. They left again and sailed all night long, arriving at Hinthada at 7:10 a.m. on the 6th. When they calculated the length of the journey, they found that the ship was travelling at about 5 miles per hour.

On the third day, I got up early, took a shower, read the newspapers I had bought from Hinthada, had breakfast at 10 o'clock, ate lunch, and sipped my green tea while talking about everything I could find. I was tired and took a nap. I woke up two hours later and had tea and lunch at the restaurant on the ship.

After drinking a cup of coffee, I had nothing else to do. I strapped on my camera and went to the top of the big hill, taking in the beautiful views of the river and the left and right sides.

"This is our land, this is our land," I thought.