Bagan Sein-Nyet-Ama & Nyima Temples, Myanmar

Address

Bagan Sein-Nyet-Ama & Nyima Temples, Myanmar

Nyaung-U, Bagan

Myanmar (Burma)

Moolavar

Buddha

Introduction

Sein-nyet-ama Temple and Sein-nyet-nyima Stupa (12th-13th centuries) are a rare pairing of large monuments set within a single enclosure. Literally meaning “Elder Sister” and “Younger Sister”, respectively, the monuments are oriented east-west and stand on a small hill on the east side of the road running between Myinkaba village to the north and New Bagan to the south.

Puranic Significance

Sein-nyet-ama (The “Elder Sister”)

Typologically, the Sein-nyet-ama on the west side of the compound is a gu, whereas the stupa on the east is a zedi or zeidi. The plan of the gu comprises a central H-shaped core with large east and west-facing seated Buddha images, each nestled in the legs of the “H”. A continuous ambulatory runs around the core, surrounded by an outer shell shaped like a Greek cross, with the east porch projecting boldly outward toward the stupa. Strachan, notes that the west side of the temple is stylistically closer to the later period with the broad window openings, whereas the east-facing porch retains features of the earlier era including tight, perforated windows on the north and south walls. From the exterior, the monument displays a pleasing geometrical formality with a solid rectangular core topped by a pyramid-like set of terraces, capped by a tall sikhara (conjecturally rebuilt in the 1990s). Miniature stupas crown the corner terraces and the tops of the pediments.

The interior of the east porch is covered with barely legible mural paintings comprising the full set of jataka tales, detailing the Buddha’s past lives. The paintings cover the north and south walls, and wind, film-strip like, in 11 tiers featuring a vignette from each of the 500+ tales. Unfortunately, the paintings are so badly damaged that they are barely discernable, though earlier conservators were able to recover Burmese ink inscriptions that detail at least some of the scenes. Stadtner notes that these captions are typically brief, such as “The Buddha-to-be being a lion”. The ceiling was also once decorated in a bold geometric arrangement of circles and diamonds within square frames, of which only a few fragments remain 14-1. The best preserved paintings in the entrance hall are the sides and ceilings of the niches leading to the windows their sheltered position may have better protected them from exposure to the elements and casual contact.

The two seated Buddha images in the interior of the sanctuary are recent restorations with fragments of the original painting. The other sides of the core (the long sides of the “H”) once included gigantic painted images of the Buddha set within arched frames, but these are in even worse condition than the jataka scenes in the east entrance.

Sein-nyet-nyima (The “Younger Sister”)

The Sein-nyet-nyima is widely considered to be among the finest stupas at Bagan. However, as of July 2017 the dome was completely covered by scaffolding set up to conserve the monument following the moderate earthquake of August 2016, which damaged a number of temples. Once the restoration work is complete, visitors will again have an unobstructed view of the finely decorated dome, which prior to the earthquake retained over 50% of its original stucco. The dome also includes niches facing the four cardinal directions that house images of the Buddha in a “teaching gesture” with hands cupped across the chest. The corners of the terraces below the dome include 12 sculptures (three at each corner) that Stadtner describes as “Perhaps the finest sculpture at Bagan…”Most are in various states of disrepair, but are still worth a look.

Prior to the original restoration work following the 1975 earthquake, damage on the southeast side of the dome showed that the the current monument encases an older stupa of unknown age, suggesting that the entire complex was built atop an earlier, smaller temple.