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Wat Wora Chet Tha Ram
Wat Wora Chet Tha Ram is one of the many temple ruins that dot Ayutthaya, the ancient seat of power in Thailand. This region was once a thriving metropolis at the heart of the Thai civilization, boasting over 1 million inhabitants in 1700. Traders and merchants from all over Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe came here to peddle their wares and broker trade agreements. But all of that came to an end in 1767. In 1767,King Tong-U of Burma invaded Ayutthaya and decimated the kingdom. Very few buildings were spared as they razed the capital. After the invasion Ayutthaya was all but abandoned and the few remaining…
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Sule Pagoda
In the geographical and religious center of Yangon, Myanmar, is a site that holds importance for both religious and political groups. It is as ancient as it is important to the Myanmar people. The site is Sule Pagoda, a 2,500-year-old Burmese Stupa shrouded in legend. According to Burmese legend, the site where Sule pagoda now stands was once the home of a powerful spirit named Sularata. The king of the spirits, Sakka, wished to help the legendary Burmese King Okkalap build a shrine for the Buddha’s sacred hair-relic on the same site where three previous Buddhas had buried sacred relics in past ages. Unfortunately, these events had happened so long…
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The Ruins of Pre Rup
Pre Rup is an ancient Khmer temple in Angkor, Cambodia, just outside Siem Reap. It was built about 961 AD and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Not much is known about this temple, but the common belief is that this temple was used for funeral ceremonies. “Pre Rup” translates to “turn the body”, which coincides with ancient Khmer funerary practices of rotating a person’s ashes during the funeral ceremony. When you first arrive at Pre Rup, this is what greets you. From a distance is just looks like a pile of disordered rubble, but as you get closer you can see the detail and precision that went into creating the…
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Photo Essay: Sunset From A Forgotten Monastery
On our first day in Bagan, Myanmar, we spent a lot of time riding our bikes from temple to temple. We thought it was the best experience ever and didn’t think there was anything that could surpass it. But then we were talking to a shop keeper at one of the tourist stalls in front of Ananda Temple and he said that we should come back there at sunset. Well, why?, we asked. We’d already seen the temple in the daylight. Why would we want to come see it in the dark? That’s when he told us that we could get a wonderful view of the sunset from the top of…
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Sunset at Shwe Sandaw Pagoda
Shwe Sandaw Pagoda was built in Bagan, Myanmar, in 1057 AD by King Anawrahta. It consists of five levels of red brick and a large stupa that is topped with a golden umbrella. The white color you see on the temple now wasn’t always there. Up until 1957, Shwe Sandaw Pagoda had retained most of its original design, aside from aging, minor repairs and upkeep. But in 1957, the Pagoda Trustees decided to renovate and modernize the temple by adding plaster embellishments and limewash on the upper half of the temple. When full-scale restorations began in the 1990’s, they restored the plaster and limewash finish instead of removing it to make it…
