Archaeological Sites
Tagaung City
Tagaung is situated on the east bank of the river
Ayeyarwady, 127 miles north of Mandalay and 56 miles
north of Shwebo. Its civilization dates back to the
early Christian era with Pyu culture.
The ruins of the fort walls and traces of a moat
are the only remnants of this ancient site. The
western wall appears to have washed away by the
river. Being in close proximity civilization of the
Bagan era, a large ruined pagoda called the Shwe
Zigon is an evidence that Buddhism prevailed at this
site since those early days. As the new town
occupies almost the whole of the ancient site,
excavations of archaeological interest could not be
carried out except for a few plots in 1967-69. The
excavations showed evidences of habitation sites and
religious edifices, which yielded many votive
tablets of seated Buddha. Large images were
completely absent. A civilized settlement existed
within the fortified walls.
While planning to visit Shwebo and Hanlin,
Tagaung should also be included in the itinerary.
Images of ancient Tagaung
We have been in love with Tagaung as a bedtime
story or history since our childhood days. However,
the ancient ruins and artifacts of Tagaung city do
exist in Myanmar till now. Nowadays, Tagaung is a
town in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Division.
Located on the east bank of Ayeyawady River on
Mandalay-Nga-O-Bhamo Road about 127 miles north of
Mandalay, the largest city in upper Myanmar, the
present-day Tagaung has 950 households and a
population of over 6,500. It is starting to become a
busy town.
The modern-day Tagaung lies on the east bank of
the Ayeyawady; but according to the ancient
treatises, the ancient Tagaung was located on the
west bank; thus, the change of its location would be
a wonder for today's youths as well as researchers.
But many strange things often occur in this world.
So, before asking a question "How did Tagaung jumped
across the river from the west bank to the east
bank?, I would like to urge personnel concerned to
study the changes in the course of the river first.
It is known that in the olden days, the mighty
Ayeyawady flowed from north to south in the east of
Tagaung bank. The ox-bow lakes that can be still
found at the place lying between the foot of Tagaung
Hill and the town are the proof to the fact. If the
area is studied with the use of advanced techniques
and equipment, we will be able to confirm the fact.
The ox-bows lakes were formed by the changes in the
Ayeyawady River course. We can also roughly draw a
conclusion reconfirming the fact if we thoroughly
study the Tagaung area on the military map. Besides,
if we can study the soil layers to know the age of
the ox-bow lakes, we can calculate the nearest age
of the ancient city.
Names of ancient Tagaung
There is a saying which goes "Flowers indicate a
season, and treatises solve the miseries of
history". In this regard, we have to rely only on
the records and treatises of the various fields
compiled by the learned researchers in the olden
days. We should not discard the treatises on
medicine, chemistry, astrology, puram and religion
of the past. The Glass Palace Chronicle or the Great
Royal History Book of Myanmar said that the city
state, Tagaung, was founded since the time of
Kakusan Buddha. Sadly, the status of Tagaung fell to
the level of a hamlet, with only 40 or 50 houses,
inhabited by poor people earning their living
through fishing or lumbering during the colonial
period. In reality, Tagaung was a royal city of
Myanmar glory during the ancient days. The Tagaung
city state was known as Than-tha-ya Pura state
during the time of Kakusan Buddha; Ratha Pura state
during the time of Konagon Buddha; and Thin-dwe
state during the time of Kasapa Buddha. According to
religious treatises, these three ages are eons
earlier than in the history of the world's
civilization. It was said that the Great King
Abhiraja founded Tagaung about 700 years before the
Lord Buddha attained the enlightenment. In addition
to the four names - Than-tha-ya Pura, Ratha Pura,
Thin-dwe and Tagaung - the city has other titles.
During the different eras of the history, it was
also called Ratha Pura, Thaw-ma-na-tha, Thin-ga-tha-ra-hta,
Pyin-sa-la-riz and Pyin-sa Tagaung.
How old is Tagaung?
Because of its very long existence that is said
to be countable by years in the millennium, we found
it much difficult to measure Tagaung's age.
Treatises vary from 0ne another in mentioning the
founding date of the city. Some said that its was
founded about 700 years before the Lord Buddha
attained the enlightenment; some, about 930 years;
and some, over 1,300 years. Another treatise, the
Wuntah Nipati, compiled by Mehtee Sayadaw I Parama
Sirivan Bhidhaja Maha Dhamma Raja Guru tells a
different story about the city. On its page 75, the
treatise said that since Maha Era (the era
preceeding the time of Buddha) 7,700, a son of the
King of Thin-tha Nago city state in Majjima region
founded Thin-dwe (Tagaung) in Myanmar where Buddhism
flourished; that the 77th king of the dynasty passed
away 20 years after King Bodaw Insana dissolved the
old Maha Era and started the new Maha Era from year
one; that when Buddha visited the country, a large
number of people including Maha Punna-hte became
Buddhist monks, practised Dhamma and vipassana in
various parts of Thuna-parana state and Tamya-dipa
state and attained Nirvana; and that in the 20th
year of the Buddhist Era, King Thadoe Zabudipa Dhaja
passed away, and his son, Thadoe, Shwe-yit ascended
the throne.
Siddhattha (the would-be Buddha) was born on the
68th year of the Buddhist Era; Siddhattha attained
the Buddhahood in the 103rd year of the Buddhist
Era; and the Buddha passed away in the 148th year of
the Buddhist Era.
According to the treatise, Thin-dwe was founded
1,050 years before Siddhattha attained enlightenment
or in about 1588 BC. Thus, we can say that the age
of the city is over 3,590 years. During that time,
Than-thaya-yahta Thin-dwe or Tagaung was on the west
bank of the Ayeyawady.
Pyu-gama before the establishment of Tagaung
Historical records said that before the
establishment of Tagaung, there was a large village
of the Pyu people called Pyu-gama (Pyu-gan) lying in
the plains in the area. Later, the village was
called Bagan (not the present-day Bagan in the
central Myanmar); and Tagaung was also named the
Bagan royal city. The announcement to repair and
renovate the Shwezigon Pagoda in Tagaung was printed
and distributed by Hanthawady Press in 1300 ME. The
announcement said that in the 98th year of the
Buddhist Era, Maha Raja ruled Bagan which was also
called Ton-nge or Tagaung; that during the time,
precious stones came down from the sky like rain; as
the King wanted to build a pagoda for posterity, he
ordered every house to supply one brick each to him;
that with the bricks totalling 337,779 he received
from each house, the King built the Shwezigon
Pagoda, which was 394 feet high, and whose
foundation was 24 feet deep; and in that year, the
King entered monkhood at Thadoe Winsana Taung hill
together with his 10,000 officials and attendants.
The announcement also stated the names of 20
supervisor Sayadaws, the chairman, the first
secretary and the second secretary of the pagoda
renovation board, and the address of the press at No
29 Yekyaw Street, Yangon. Many of the things the
announcement had stated really existed on the land.
For example, the Shwezigon Pagoda and Thado Winsana
Taung hill actually lie in the area. In the military
map, the hill was marked as Thaung Bwet Taung hill.
Locals called it Thaung Phwet Taung or Thaung Whet
Taung. As the King had collected a total of 337,779
lumps of bricks, we can imagine the large population
and good business of the ancient Tagaung. We can
also presume that Ton-nge, Tagaung and Pyu-gama were
the names of the royal city. Besides, there is a
saying which goes "Tagaung started from Ton-nge".
Today's new generation can also imagine that the
Pyu-Myanmars of that time were busy cutting trees
and selecting and carrying logs to build Tagaung and
the royal palace, and actively baking and
transporting bricks and pounding limestone to build
the Shwezigon Pagoda.
Author : Einda Swe
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