Henry and I had Manuhar Paya on our tour list the first day we were in Bagan. It is listed among the top ten important sites to see on the local map we purchased. We made an attempt to get there by taxi, but turned back when we saw the busloads of villagers arriving by foot, by horse cart, by bus, an on-rooftops-and-hanging-out-of- windows kind of bus, or trucks packed sardine-style with loads of people. The celebration, which occurred on Thursday, was the first day of the full moon over Thidingyut annual festival. Instructing our taxi to turn back, we placed this temple on the top of the list for a visit here the following day. The temple is small scaled, with its main attraction being an over scaled seated Buddha filling an entire room. A tiny tiled  area, measuring no more than 200 square feet/18 square meters was the only space where worshippers could kneel in prayer. This temple was not meant to host a huge crowd! History: Legend holds that King Manuhar, the Mon king from Thaton, sent a monk to convert  King Arawrahta of Bamar to Theraveda Buddhism in the 11th century. The conversion was a great success, and King Arawrahta asked King Manuhar for some Buddha relics and scriptures for his kingdom. When King Manuhar refused, King Arawrahta marched his troops south and took everything in sight, including precious relics and scriptures ... and King Manuhar himself.  The king was held in the kingdom of Bamar, where he had to endure captivity and a ferocious building activity of temples and pagodas, befitting Buddha. According to this story, King Manuhar sold a piece of his jewelry for a handsome sum, and built a shrine in Bagan. The small size of his low and narrow shrine and the extra large Buddha housed within, are said to purposely convey King Manuhar’s experience and sense of confinement as a prisoner of war. When Henry and I finally made it to this shrine, the rain was pelting down. White marble tiles were slick with water, as we carefully walked barefoot toward the open pavilion, where a large urn stood, complete with children playing around it. Inside the small room, the faithful gathered in front of the enormous  golden image of Buddha. I crept around a wall, sharing space with a maroon robed monk and flickering candles to get the best camera angle possible, though its mass was impossible to capture. Buddha’s hand, in “touching earth” posture, touched often by his followers since the gilt has been worn away, was so large that each finger must have been 9 inches/22 cm across.

PHOTOS: Upper Left:  Sign announcing the shrine. Lower Left: Buddha’s fingers on this hand in “touching earth” posture. Center: Chidren playing on a latter at the top of an over scaled urn/cup. Upper Right:  Buddha and side windows, Lower Right: Buddha and arched doorway.

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                        BACK TO MAP  PAGE