Nanpaya Temple- Myanmar (Burma)

Address

Nanpaya Temple- Myinkaba (a village south of Bagan) Myanmar (Burma)

Diety

Brahma

Introduction

Nanpaya Temple is a Brahma temple located in Myinkaba (a village south of Bagan) in Burma. The temple is adjacent to the Manuha Temple and was built by captive Thaton Kingdom King Makuta. It was built using mud mortar, stone, and brick, and was used as the residence of Manuha. The temple contains intricate carvings of Brahma, and also contains depictions of other gods. Because Manuha was a Mon, there are many figures and symbols of the Mon within the temple, including hinthas.

Puranic Significance

Nanpaya Temple, Lies close to the Manuha temple. According to tradition, it was used as the residence of the captive Mon king, Manuha. It is built of brick and mud mortar and surfaced with stone, and is square in plan with a porch projecting on the east face. Flanking the sanctuary in the main building are four stone pillars on the sides of each of which are carved triangular floral designs and the figures of the Brahma holding lotus flowers in each hand. Like other earlier temples at Bagan it has perforated stone windows to admit light into the building. The arch pediments over the windows and the carvings of the frieze are fine examples of architectural motifs in stone. There but also some say that the temple was built by Manuha’s grand-nephew known as Prince Naga Thaman in the late 11th century. It is made of sandstone masonry block facings integrated over a brick core. It consists of perforated stone windows which are typical of earlier Bagan architecture. Nanpaya is in fact Bagan’s first “gu-style” (cave) shrine. It also features interesting arches over the windows. In the central sanctuary the four stone pillars have finely carved sandstone bas-relief figures of four-faced Brahma. The creator deity is holding lotus flowers, thought to be offerings to a free-standing Buddha image once situated in the shrine’s centre, a theory that dispels the idea that this was ever a shrine. The sides of the pillars bear ogre-like heads with open mouths streaming with flowers.