Tayok Pye Buddhist Temple, Myanmar (Burma)

Address

Tayok Pye Buddhist Temple, Myanmar (Burma)

Nyaung-U, Bagan

Myanmar (Burma)

Moolavar

Buddha

Introduction

Tayok Pye is a large temple which is located in Minnanthu. It was built by Narathihapate (1256-1287) also known as the king who fled from the Mongolian invasion. This is the meaning of Tayok Pye in Myanmar. It is a one of the best temples decorated with beautiful stucco. People are still allowed to climb up at this temple to view the sunset of Bagan.

Puranic Significance

Tayok Pye Temple (Tayok-pyi) is one of the larger temples in the eastern part of the Bagan Archaeological Zone. It’s notable for intricate stucco ornamentation on the outside (much of it renovated) and its painted murals inside. Precisely when it was built isn’t clear, but it is believed to have been before the middle of the 13th century.

Based on ruins around it, it was believed to have been part of a monastery, which would have added to the temple’s significance. The layout of the temple is a large central core from which statues of the Buddha face outward in each of the cardinal directions. They feature figures heavily, with some of the best depicting the 28 Buddhas. Others depict specific miracles and Buddhist stories.

As impressive as it is, this temple is also a good example of one of the reasons UNESCO is conflicted about adding Bagan to its list of World Heritage Sites. The stucco on the outside is certainly impressive, but not all of it is original. And the main tower was completely rebuilt in the 1990s and is considered to be conjectural restoration. So the line between restoration and rebuilding has been blurred here, as at a number of other sites