Manuha Temple
The Manuha temple is on the right side of the
main road going south from Bagan, and right in
Myinkaba village. King Manuha's inscription says
that it was built in AD 1067 about a decade after
the Mon king was brought to Bagan. The name of the
temple was given after the name of the captive King
Manuha. Traditionally, Manuha was considered one of
the earliest temples at Bagan. Legend says that it
was built by a Mon king named, Manuha, who had been
defeated and brought to Bagan as a captive by
Anawrahta. In Bagan the kings and queens, the
princes and princesses all built pagodas large and
small.
Manuha the Mon king, detained in Bagan, also
wanted to build a temple of his own. He did not have
ready money in cash, so he sold his priceless Manaw
Maya jewel to a rich merchant of Myinkaba and
obtained six cartloads of pure silver. He used this
to build the impressive Manuha Temple. It is still a
place of worship for the Buddhists.
Structure
The temple is a series of reduplicated squares
with the lower storey larger than the upper. There
is a large seated Buddha image, 46 feet high, with
the right hand touching the earth. Two smaller
Buddha images, each 33 feet high, flank this large
image on each side. For devotees there is barely
room to sit down to pray, the large image and the
two smaller ones filling up nearly all the space in
the cramped interior. Some say that Manuha purposely
put the images in such cramped positions to denote
his feelings under detention in Bagan. There is also
a huge reclining Buddha image 90 feet long, in an
adjoining chamber at the back, with the head
pointing to the north which symbolises the dying
Buddha about to enter Parinibbana, the Demise.
This image too is in a very cramped enclosed
place and not in an open shed like the reclining
Buddha image in Bago.At one time visitors could
climb a tiny, winding stairway built into one of the
side walls and view through an open aperture, the
head of the huge seated Buddha. One can climb to the
top of this pagoda via the stairs at the entrance to
the reclining Buddha chamber, at the back of the
temple. Through a window you can then see the face
of the sitting Buddha, and from up at this level
you'll realize that the gigantic face, so grim from
below, has an equally gigantic smile. During the
earthquake of 1975, the central roof collapsed,
badly damaging the largest, seated Buddha, which has
since been repaired.
An outdoor corner of the temple compound is
dedicated to Mt Popa's presiding nats, Mae Wunna and
her sons Min Lay and Min Gyi. Devotees of Manuha
Paya celebrate a large paya pwe (or pagoda festival)
on the full moon of Tabaung (which falls between
February an March, depending on the Lunar Calendar).
A short path leads past two recent statues of
King Manuha and his wife, Queen Ningala Devi to
Nagayone.
Nearby Attractions
Nanpaya
Built in the 12th Century this attractive pagoda
is a combination of sandstone and brick,
particularly noteworthy is the elegant perforated
stone windows. More >>
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