Bagan South Guni Temple, Myanmar

Address

Bagan South Guni Temple, Myanmar

Taung Guni, Bagan,

Myanmar (Burma)

Moolavar

Buddha

Introduction

South Guni (built 1190) (Taung Guni) is located just 400 meters SSW of Dhammayangi Temple. It is a large two-story structure enclosed in its own walled courtyard alongside Monument 767, a small stupa likely dating to the same period. Both structures share a common boundary wall with North Gun which stands immediately to the north.

Puranic Significance

Epigraphic evidence allows us to date the temple to the year 1190 during the reign of Sithu II (r. 1174-1211), placing it firmly within Pagan’s “Late Period” monuments (c. 1170-1300). Strachan describes the South Guni and its northern counterpart as “emblematic of the mature Pagan style, grand yet never flamboyant” (p. 115). The heart of the temple comprises a solid block measuring 4.99 x 4.62 meters, surrounded by a continuous ambulatory with a single east-facing Buddha image. Seven stucco bas reliefs were set along the other three sides (one each on the north and south, and three on the west), completing the central shrine. To the east is fairly large antechamber measuring 7.24 x 7.70 meters, connected to the central shrine by a large arched doorway. The exterior of the temple includes four primary entrances (one on each side) and two secondary entrances on the north-south axis of the antechamber. The roof the temple, accessible from a single staircase set in the south side of the antechamber, boasts a second-floor shrine topped with a sikhara tower. Numerous small chattri–like projections are dotted about the cornes of the roof.

The temple is in reasonably good structural condition though it has lost over 85 percent of its external stucco ornament and all but 5% of its interior murals. Earthquake damage from the 1975 temblor was repaired from 1985-87, though the monument suffered little damage in the August 2016 earthquake.

From an aesthetic standpoint the temple is notable for the seven niches inside the central chamber. Though not unique (a similar arrangement is found at the Kubyauk-nge temple at Myinkaba), these niches are not a common feature. The niches depict episodes from the life of the Buddha, beginning with his birth (the northeast scene) and continuing counterclockwise with a meditation scene, the descent from Tavatimsa heaven (the abode of the Buddha’s mother), and the parinibbana (the death of the Buddha and his passing into nirvana) on the west-central panel. The final three scenes show the Parileyyaka forest (where a monkey gave the Buddha a gift of honeycomb), the varadamudra (hand gesture indicating a dispensing of gifts), and the Deer Park at Sarnath (site of the Buddha’s first sermon). All of the scenes are in somewhat poor condition with the reliefs partially reconstructed with modern interpretations.