The massive Dhammayangyi temple

Dhammayangyi temple

Largest temple on the plains of Bagan

BAGAN TEMPLES OVERVIEW

Name

Dhammayangyi temple, Dhammayangyi pahto, Dhammayan-Gyi

Date

1170

King

Narathu

Location

About 1 kilometer South East of the old Bagan walls

Style

Late period
One storey

Nearby

Sulamani, Shwesandaw

The Dhammayangyi is the largest temple on the plains of Bagan. From a distance it resembles the early step pyramids of Egypt.

The enormous structure that was never completed consists of a massive square base topped by six receding terraces.

King Narathu, builder of the temple

The Dhammayangyi temple was build by King Narathu in 1170. Narathu became King of Bagan after murdering his father and his brother, who was next in line to become King. Narathu was probably worried about bad karma and build to massive temple to gain merit and to compensate for murdering his father and brother.

The King was later murdered himself. There are several stories going around about the death of Narathu. One storey goes that the King was murdered by a group of Indians sent by the King of Pateikkaya. The murder was in revenge for the killing of one of Narathu’s wives, who was a Princess of Pateikkaya. Another is that Narathu was killed by invaders from Sri Lanka.

Construction debris in the temple’s interior

The Dhammayangyi temple was never fully completed. Construction was probably halted right after the death of the King. Much of the temple’s interior was filled with construction debris, including three of the four sanctums in the inner core and and most of the two corridors that run around the temple’s central core.

It is possible that the temple’s interior was intentionally filled with debris by resentful workers because of Narathu’s very harsh rule or possibly to prevent the ghost of King Narathu from leaving the temple.

The brick work of the Dhammayangyi was done with great precision. The storey goes that King Narathu had the laborers killed or their hands chopped off if the work was not done perfectly.

Buddha images inside the Dhammayangyi

Structure of the Dhammayangyi

The sides at the base of the structure are almost 78 meters long, while the central core of the temple measures 25 meters long. There are four entrances that each contain a seated Buddha image on a pedestal, the main entrance is the Eastern one. The Western sanctum contains images of the Gautama Buddha and the future Maitreya Buddha, side by side.

Collapsed shikhara

The shikhara, a tower like structure originating from North India, that was once on top of the Dhammayangyi has collapsed.

The temple grounds are surrounded by a wall with huge arched gates that lead to the pagoda. To prevent further deterioration the terraces of the temple are closed to the public.

Getting to the temple

Check out Getting around Bagan for ways to get to the Dhammayangyi.

Other temples in Bagan

Among the other temples & pagodas in Bagan are:

History

History of Bagan