| Burmese poem
which compared him with Shin Disapramuk who intervened with the Mongol Khan to
save Pagan from destruction at the end of the 13th century:
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Arid we, like
orphaned children, Were helpless to protect Pagan
Singly stood Pramuk Velu,
A fortress like Mount Meru,
Guarding Pagan's golden rayed
Temples, stupas, arches, sikharas.
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| Pagan folk
still talk much of their great saya, remembering how, in his explorations, he
would always circumvent a field for fear of damaging a crop.
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| Since Luce, little that
is original on Pagan's art and architecture has appeared. His disciples and
friends, whom he trained or encouraged for. the task, have continued his work
though much hampered by lack of resources and encouragement. 37 With Burma's
independence, exploration has tended towards the Pyu sites and as a consequence
surprisingly little remains known of the material culture of the Pagan periods.
Dr Than Tun, a Burmese historian, has contributed much to our knowledge of
Pagan's history, social and economic life, in, firstly, a brilliant doctoral
thesis and then a series of articles published in various learned journals,
through the detailed study of epigraphic sources. Meanwhile, at Pagan, the work
of conservation and restoration continued under the direction of the Burma
Archaeology Department.
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In 1975 a disaster of tragic and monstrous proportions
struck the city that had so narrowly escaped destruction in the last war, in
the form of an earthquake. Entire temples, like the Bu-hpaya, were demolished,
the superstructure of the Gadawpalin was completely destroyed, perhaps the
worst sufferers were the numerous Konbaung period structures, like the Upali
Thein, whose brickwork was less sound than that of the Pagan periods and
cracked in many places ruining the once vivid mural paintings. Thus, in
addition to restoring a vast number of already decayed monuments, the
department was faced with the task of initiating a number of large scale
building operations. Fortunately, UNDP / UNESCO came to Burma's assistance with
funds and expertise and rebuilding has proceeded not only speedily but
accurately, following the original designs. Following from these restorations,
UNESCO have sponsored the Ecole Francaise d' Extreme-Orient to assist the
Archaeology Department in the ambitious scheme of making a complete inventory
of all the monuments, with the intention to publish the plans, photographs and
descriptions of each monument in the near future."' This vast work will greatly
assist the scholar of the future in a study of Pagan architecture, and record
less well-known structures in case of future destruction. Thus, there is some
hope for the art history of Pagan.
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