PAGAN, a ruined Burmese town, in lat. 21° 10' N., long. 94° 34' E. Captain Yule found the details of its architecture of Hindu origin ; and it is known that Anoratha Saumen, when he established Buddhism in Pagan, built all its pa and temples after the exact models of pathen existing in Thatung or Satung, of the size, and in the same order. Such is the testimony of Talaing tradition, and ho believes of Talaing history. The name of this town is also written Paghan, and it was a royal city about A.D. 700. The remains of 800 to 1000 Buddhist temples are to be seen, the most remarkable being the Ananda, Tha-pin-ya or Thai-pin-yu, Gauda-I'alen, and Dhamayangyee.
Gauda-Palen signifies the throne of Gaudama. lIeight, 180 feet. It is cruciform in plan, and is very conspicuous in approaching Pagan from the southward. It has numerous pinnacles and a tall central spire; it is seen glistening with its white stucco-like plaster far down the Irawadi river, rising like a dim vision of Milan cathedral. It is compact in structure, and elevated in proportion to its bulk. It has a massive basement, with porches, and rising above in a pyramidal gradation of terraces, crowned by a spire Tee. From the top of the terrace, just below the spire, is a fine prospect of the vast field of ruined temples, stretch ing north-east and south-west.
The Ananda temple is supposed to have been built about the time of the Norman conquest. Ananda means the Infinite. The plan of the building is a square of nearly 200 feet, having on each side a projecting vestibule, which converts it into a perfect Greek cross. These vestibules are lower in perpendicular height than the body of the temple, which rises to 35 feet in two pairs of windows. Above this rise six successive terraces,
diminishing as they ascend, connected by carved converging roofs, the last terrace just affording space enough for the spire which crowns the edifice. The gilded Tee caps the whole at a height of 168 feet above the ground. The outer corridor is roofed with a continuous flying buttress abutting on to the massive outer walls.
Thai-pin-yu, or Omniscient, is the second great temple of Pagan, and is stated to have been built about A.D. 1100. It forms a massy square edifice of 200 feet on each side, rising to a height of 210 feet from the ground. The characteristic of the Thai-pin-yu is the elongation of the building, before any considerable diminution of spread takes place, and also the position of the principal shrine, which stands high above the ground.. There is first a spacious two-storeyed basement, similar to that of the Ananda, then two receding terraces, but here the usual gradation is interrupted. The third terrace, instead of rising by terraces, like the others, projects at one leap aloft to a height of some 50 feet in a truly massive and stupendous cubical donjon, elongated again at the top by a renewal of the pyramidal gradation of terraces, and the usual culminating spire. Colonel Fytche (p. 31) suggests that there was an Upper Pagan, near Pagoung, and a Lower Pagan, in lat. 21° 12' N., on the banks of the Irawadi.•—Fergusson, p. 618; Yule; Fytche, p. 30.