The Bagan Pitakataik (, ) is a library in
Bagan
Bagan ( ; ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that w ...
. Pitakataik means "library of Buddhist Scriptures". The library in Bagan was created after a conquest of
Thaton
Thaton (; ) is a town in Mon State, in southern Myanmar on the Tenasserim plains. Thaton lies along the National Highway 8 and is also connected by the National Road 85. It is southeast of Yangon and north of Mawlamyine. Thaton was the capit ...
, where
Anawratha
Anawrahta Minsaw (, ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077) was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that ...
seized 30 elephant-loads of Buddhist scripture. He then built a library in 1058 to house these documents. He used a style known as "Gu" which is an early Bagan Cave Style. The material was light-sensitive so the building had limited windows decorated with ''
chinthe
''Chinthe'' ( (); (); ()) is the Burmese language, Burmese word for 'Asiatic lion, lion'. The wiktionary:leograph, leograph of ''Chinthe'' is a highly stylized lion commonly depicted in Burmese iconography and Myanmar architecture, architectur ...
'' imaged on each side. There are three windows on each side. There are three doors which are all on one side (front). The library is square-shaped with each side measuring long.
It was restored in 1738 by
King Bodawpaya of the
Konbaung Dynasty
The Konbaung dynasty (), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်), was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in history of Mya ...
. The architecture of this library is notable because of its square shape, perforated stone windows and the plaster carvings that are on the roof which are examples of
Myanmar architecture.
See also
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Tipiṭaka
There are several Buddhist canons, which refers to the various scriptural collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures or the various Buddhist scriptural canons.
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Pitakataik
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Pitakataik (Mandalay)
The Mandalay Pitakataik (; also Pitaka-taik) was the royal library in Mandalay, commissioned by King Mindon Min in 1857 during the founding of Mandalay as a royal capital. The library was one of seven structures built to mark the foundation and ...
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Tripiṭaka tablets at Kuthodaw Pagoda
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U Pho Thi Library
References
Ancient Bagan
External links
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{{Authority control
Bagan
Buildings and structures in Mandalay Region
Libraries in Myanmar
Buddhist libraries