|
 |
Page 10 |
 |
|
 |
1 | 2
| 3 | 4
| 5 | 6
| 7 | 8
| 9 | 10
| 11 | 12
| 13 | 14
| 15 |
|
 |
|
| The gu, like the stupa,
could contain sacred relics, images of the Buddha, made from precious and
costly materials, or precious manuscripts. Such enclosures were protected by
Hindu or even Tantric guardian figures, that could include images of
contemporary members of the royal family, courtiers and soldiers." Before the
shrine was sealed devotees would throw gems and various other precious items
into the shrine."All this would be bricked up, never to be seen again and the
donations were recorded on stone in
|
| scriptions that often
meticulously detail the costs.-'" The significance of this enshrinement was
that the relics and valuable images, the actual hpaya, emanated a force out
from the central mass that benefited not just the donor and his immediate
circle, but all mankind. In addition to within the sealed tabena, further
images were placed in recesses on the oyster sides of the central block,
usually made of brick and stucco, for large stone blocks are not easily
quarried in this part of Burma. In the Early Period, the hallfacing recess of
the Pyu, and Nat-hlaung-kyaung, was cut Into the block and formed a complete
cella unit, however, by the beginning of the 12th century the original Pyu
type, namely the lei-myet-lzna, was reverted to, with exceptions. Precious gems
were placed with the spiritually sensitive areas of the body: within the head,
chest, abdomen and upper arms (this accounts for the widespread vandalism and
disembowelment of so many temple images). Pagan Buddhists measured the sanctity
of a hpaya, whether it be an entire structure or an individual image, in terms
of the expense lavished on it. The more expensive an image, the mom merit
earned and, thus, the hpaya became more sacrosanct and beneficial for mankind.
The spending of one's wealth on creating a potent hpaya was in itself a
symbolic act, reflecting the Buddha's own act of renunciation and the
Vessantara-Jataka. The hoarding of treasures within the hpaya, thus increasing
the hpaya's potential, was therefore an act benefiting all who would worship
the image. In one known instance, an outer image actually encases an inner one
made of a more valuable material: like in the Lotus Sutra, buddha emanates out
from buddha. Likewise, as discussed above, stupas may he periodically
re-encased, structure radiating from structure.
|
| Just as the conceptions
behind these two types of monuments are shared, the design of a gu is related
to that of the stupa. Stupa motifs or zeidi, were placed at various points on
the temple terraces and a stupa finial crested the sikhara. sikhara is, in
essence, no more than an evolved adaption of the stupa.anda and chattravali,
crowning, like a jatamukuta diadem, the hpaya. The sikhara was, though, not
always preferred on temple superstructures and following the Pvu. who do not
seem to have used this form on their temples, a current runs through our
periods where a stupa, either concave or convex in shape, rose from a temple's
terraces; in the periods after the Pagan dynastic ones this form was to become
established as the norm.
|
|
Fig.l above: Sein-nyet Nyi-ma stupa plan
Fig.2 right: Myin-pya-gu plan forming a lei-myet-hna
|
| Thus, both temple and
stupa have . a common symbolism and cosmology, each being hpaya. They differ in
function, for the gu is conceived as a cave-like house for an image before
which daily rituals were enacted and, judging by the pictorial schemes on the
interior walls, they served a didactic role, at least in the early,
proselytisin, part of the Pagan dynastic periods. Didactic or devotional, most
likely both, the Early Period gu was an impressive instrument of the Buddhist
faith at this time in Burma.
|
| To understand something
of the devotional life that went on within the gu a quotation from one of the
contemporary inscriptions is illuminating. In this excerpt, translated by U Pe
Maung Tin, the donor records the offerings of provisions for the slaves,
responsible for the enactment of the daily rituals going on about an
anthropomorphised image of the Buddha or buddhas:
|
| Let my Lord, the Elder
consider all these slaves, fields,cattle and gardens that I have offered to the
cave and the monastery. Let him repair the cave, monastery and hall of the Law,
should they fall into ruins ...The offering of betel to the Buddha is 10 nuts
per day, 300 per month, 3600 per year ...135 baskets of paddy are for all the
pagoda slaves who sleep in the cave, drummers, xylophonists, and naracana.
|
| In another inscription,
also translated by U Pe Maung Tin, the requisite objects that the actual image
required were listed in detail:
|
| ] The requisite things
are for the lower Buddha his wearing apparel- 1 outer robe, 1 inner garment;
for the upper Buddha his wearing apparel: 1 embroidered inner garment, 1 gold
couch, 1 apartment for his dwelling place, 1 high cot complete with bed covers
arrd pillows, 1 betel box, .copper oil lampstands, copper spitoons, ,1 elephant
lotus from which the bell is hung, gold bowls, silver bowls, 2 pestals ....
|
| As U Pe Maung Tin notes,
the Buddha in this dedication, was attired not in royal regalia, as was common
at this time, but in an attitude of royal ease wearing only his under-robes,
relaxing as if at home as a real king might. Thus, the now spartan brick gu
interiors should be regarded in this light: cluttered with regal objects and
requisites, a clamour of activity as food offerings were shuttled from the
kitchens down passageways crowded with chanting devotees, to be offered to the
rousing din of xylophones, drums and castanets, amidst the lustrous blaze of
brightly coloured wall paintings, gilted furnishings and flapping banners and
hangings. Like in certain of the popular shrines of Burma today, the usual
plain, seated; Buddha image, found in the deserted temples of Pagan today,
would have been bathed, perfumed and dressed with the finest arid most costly
of garments.'
|
| The Early Period temples
are composed of two units: the hall and the shrine, which are usually
orientated in an east or northfacing direction, though there are numerous
exceptions, and it would appear that the Pagan architect was less concerned
with cosmologically arranged orientation, than his Indian counterpart. The hall
may be said to be the Indian mandapa built up and covered with a vault. At
Pagan's first surviving temple, the Nat-hlaung-kyaung., there is a mandapa, the
only extant one at Pagan and now solidly restored by the Archaeology
Department. In other temples this paved area, projecting; from the front, is
transformed into a hall that would protect assembling devotees from the sun's
glare. By the construction of the Shwe-gu-gyi in 1131, temples tend to be
raised above subsidiary constructions on a plinth and this was to become the
standard pattern for most middle-to-large size temple dedications.
|
| Between hall and shrine,
whether set in a recess or cella, is an ambulatory that runs continuously
around the central block. In the Early Period the two architectural units were
separated: joining arches regulate the units. Within, the shrine or cella
deepened from the niche recess on the central block's east face, that at the
Nat-hlaung-kyaung held an image of Vishnu, and in the Pyu types an image of the
Buddha, or buddhas. In the Early Period temple the niche is cut into the
central block which is opened out to form a cella. Thus, the devotee is
admitted into a previously closed sanctum to participate in a spiritual
communion with the hpaya. Buddhism was being consciously developed into a
popular movement by the Early Pagan kings. and their preceptors, at this time.
Temple planning, though aiming, at least in the Early Period, at creating a
spiritually charged atmosphere, in no way marked an esoteric movement, as was
then current with the Vajrayana Himalayan kingdoms,, or maritime SouthEast
Asia, rather, it was exoteric. The creation of a cella and the role of this
unit in contemporary religious life may be said to be comparable with the
development of the garbha greha in Indian temples.
|
| The psychological role of
light in the Early Period temple is of some interest. The quantity of light
permitted to enter each architectural unit of the building was skilfully
managed. Entering from the glare of the outside into the cool, balanced light
of the hall, one crosses into the ambulatory and makes a or ritual
circumambulation, about the central block. Here, the light is rationed by
elaborately perforated windows, yet is sufficient enough to follow the scenes
and glosses of the mural paintings. Having completed the pradaksina, the shrine
is faced and within the almost pitch-dark interior a massive image of the
Buddha awaits worship. Secret skylights and long, narrow ducts pass through the
mass of the superstructure, to throw a gentle beam of filtered light on the
'Enlightened One's' face.
|
No.S: re-encased stupa S.
of Myinkaba
No.6: hidden arches in the Nat-hlaung-kyaung
No.7: pitaka taik - Late Period
No.B: stupa forms in stucco relief - Pa-hto-tha-mya
No.9: gateway to enclosed sanctuary west of the south
Kyanzittha Umin
|
| This Early Period temple
type was to be phased out by the early 12th century when the Pagan builder
unconsciously reverted to the cosmically-orientated ground plan types of the
Pyu ei-myet-hna. The distinction between hall and shrine gradually becomes
-reduced; though rarely eliminated, and the temple's components become balanced
into a unified whole, an integration evident both from the exterior and
interior.`' The admittance of light was no longer rationed and it is easy to
forget that this is supposed to be an artificial cave. This architectural
movement is a reflection of prevalent religious beliefs. The dark, mystical
Early Period gu interrors, that were contrived to inspire a personal devotion,
as part of a national movement directed at propagating a purified form of
Buddhism, were no longer required, for the process of purification had been
completed by the reign of Sithu I (1113-1155) when, architecturally, the
transition into the Middle Period takes place. There was, by this time, less
need to psychologically spur the believer with architectural inducements.
Bhakti had given way to a more rational Theravada philosophy. In temples,
lighter environments came to be preferred, and the predominant architectural
tendency was in the upwardly directed possibilities of the exterior, or
elevation, rather than the mystical possibilities of the 'cave' interior.
|
| From the four-face type a
five-face type (nga-myethna) develops. Though not very common, a number of
examples are to be found dating from the late 12th century and continuing to
occasionally be built up to the present. This pentagonal represents an
extension of the four buddhas of this time span, or bhadrakalpala, to include
the future buddha Mettaya. Mettaya's cult was popular at Pagan, judging by a
number of finds of his image in bronze, and may be associated with the
contemporary kingship cult, in that kings self-styled themselves as lon, or
bodhisattva.The ultimate expression of, this theme was the magnificent
Dhamma-yazika stupa near the village of Pwasaw built by Sithu II in 1196."'
|
| The inscriptions, the
great bulk of which belong to the Late Period, that recorded each dedication
offer much valuable information on the monuments of this time. A large
dedication centred around a stupa or temple would have monastic complexes
attached, rest houses for visitors and accommodation for the pagoda slaves and
monastic servants. Few monastic structures .survive from before the Late
period, however, from the mid-12th century onwards such dedications abound.
Water tanks were dug and groves of shading palmyra planted: All this was built
and laid out with astonishing speed, often within a year. Entire villages, and
the lands connected to them, were dedicated and their taxexempted incomes were
offered into perpetuity for the maintenance of the establishment."z Musicians
were also offered to play music to the. hpaya and slaves were responsible for
the ritual washing of the image and daily offerings-of food and flowers. These
hereditarily-bonded slaves were also responsible for the' general upkeep of the
shrine and to serve the monks, who themselves were living hpaya. The senior
monk resided within the inner enclosure in a brick house known as kala kyaung,
or 'Indian Monastery', possibly because the craftsmen who built them were
Indians. The form of this type of structure may be described as a 'block house'
on account of their: shape. The junior monks, novices and other members of the
community lived in the outer enclosure. Attached to brick structures, that most
likely acted as talk, were lean-to wooden halls, or dhamma yon, used for the
preaching of sermons.
|
| These now desolate
enclosures should be viewed as once having been the centre of a hub of
activity, revolving around the glorification of the hpaya and scholarly
pursuits, and the larger establishments, particularly in the outlying Minnanthu
and Pavasaw areas, were akin to the ancient Buddhist universities of India,
such as Nalanda. Inscriptions make mention of the fact that a set of the Pali
canon, the Tipitaka was more costly than the building of a temple itself." A
donor could also choose whether to have the 'cave' painted and in accordance
with the advice of the monk who was to receive the dedication formulate a
suitable programme of subjects to be illustrated.
|
| The great dedications
were usually offered by a senior member of the court or the royal family. Often
dedications were made by women, widowed and anxious to earn merit for their
loved ones. Those lacking the financial resources to build their own hpaya
could join in the national preoccupation with earning merit by serving a
dedication and its monks; voluntarily, as kappiya, or involuntarily, as a.
hereditarily-bonded slave-hpaya-kyawn. It would be mistaken to think of these
pagoda slaves as pawns in the merit-making process of the higher classes, for a
major dedication was built with all mankind's salvation in mind, not just the
royal donor's, and the benefits of a lesser one extended out to the donor's
family circle." Pagan society was hierarchically regimented into
occupation-defined groups and all groups were bonded and socially immobile
whether part of the crown and military sector or agricultural and services
sector. It is arguable that life as a pagoda slave could have been a good deal
softer than in the service of the crown.
|
| No.10: detail of the
Ananda Ok-kyaung bronze image of the buddha Gotama
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
More Info:
|
|
|
|
Religious
|
|
|
|
12 Months' Festivals
|
|
|
|
References
|
|
|
|
Travel & Tour
|
|
|
|
|
