The Gawdawpalin Temple ( my, ကန်တော့ပလ္လင်ဘုရား, ) is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple located in Bagan,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Construction of the pagoda began in 1203 during the reign of Sithu II (1174–1211)Coedès 1968: 178 and completed on 26 March 1227Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 1724: 213 during the reign of Htilominlo (1211–1235). At , Gawdawpalin Temple is the second tallest temple in Bagan. Similar in layout to the

Thatbyinnyu Temple The Thatbyinnyu Temple ( my, သဗ္ဗညု ဘုရား, ; pi, Sabbannu or "the Omniscient") is a Theravadin Buddhist temple in Bagan (Pagan), Myanmar. The temple is recognized as a monument in the Bagan Archeological Area, a UNESCO Wor ...

, the temple is two storeys tall, and contains three lower terraces and four upper terraces. The temple was heavily damaged during the 1975 earthquake and was reconstructed in following years. Gawdawpalin 1855

The Gawdawpalin Temple belongs to the style of the hollow ''gu''-style temple. In contrast to the ''stupas'', the hollow ''gu''-style temple is a structure used for

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

, devotional worship of

Lord Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

and conduct other Buddhist rituals. The ''gu'' temples come in two basic styles: "one-face" design and "four-face" design—essentially one main entrance and four main entrances. Other styles such as five-face and hybrids also exist. The one-face style grew out of 2nd century

Beikthano Beikthano ( my, ဗိဿနိုး, , also known as Panhtwa city), is situated in the irrigated Magway Region, near present-day Taungdwingyi. In the era of the Pyu city-states it was a city of considerable significance, possibly a local capital ...

, and the four-face out of 7th century

Sri Ksetra , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Sri Ksetra , common_name = Kingdom of Sri Ksetra , era = Classical Antiquity , status = City-state , event_start = Founding of Kingdom , year_start = c. 3rd to 9th century CE , date_start = , ...

. The temples, whose main features were the pointed arches and the vaulted chamber, became larger and grander in the Bagan period.Aung-Thwin 2005: 224–225 (Paragraph on "Hollow Temples" copied from Bagan).

Notes

References

* * * * * Buddhist temples in Myanmar Religious buildings and structures completed in 1227 Bagan 13th-century Buddhist temples {{Buddhist-temple-stub