Content uploaded by Bob Hudson
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Bob Hudson on Jan 30, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
| 1
The Journal of Burma Studies Vol. 22 No. 1 (2018), pp. 1–30 © 2018 Center for Burma Studies
Northern Illinois University
Buddha’s life in Konbaung
period bronzes from Yazagyo
Bob Hudson
Pamela Gutman
Win Maung (Tampawaddy)
This is a study of a collection of narrative bronzes retrieved
from a cluster of ruins (see gure 1) at Yazagyo, in the Kabaw
Valley, in a remote area of Northwestern Myanmar/Burma.
The valley lies between the Upper Chindwin River and the
hills which separate Burma from Manipur. Yazagyo is on a
side road from the Myanmar-India Friendship Highway, 35
kilometres north of Kalaymyo. It was formerly protected by
several kilometres of earth banks and moats, surmounted by
a stockade. The bronzes come from a total of six ruined build-
ings, ve of which have since been demolished.
The Yazagyo collection (see gure 2) is kept at the Min-
kyaung (royal monastery). Figures in this distinctive style,
generally posed on rectangular open-frame bases and repre-
senting events in Buddha’s life, are a near-ubiquitous feature
of reliquary deposits of the 1752–1885 Konbaung Period.1 The
ruins also yielded oval silver boxes lled with small frag-
ments of an uncertain substance which are now preserved in
1 We take the periodisation published in Chew 2005 pp. 256–257 as the
standard for art periods in Post-Bagan Upper Burma. These are First Ava
Period (including the latter half of the 16th century when Ava was subsid-
iary to Toungoo), 1364–1597; Second Ava Period (also called the Nyaung
Yan period after the rst king of that dynasty), 1597–1752; Early Kon-
baung Period (in which the capital moved from Shwebo to Sagaing, Ava
and Amarapura), 1752–1819; Late Konbaung Period (in which the capital
moved back to Ava, again to Amarapura and nally to Mandalay, where the
last king, Thibaw, was deposed and exiled by the British), 1819–1853.
2 | B H, P G, W M (T)
Figure 1. One of the ruined pagodas near the Min-kyaung monastery.
fragrant oil. They are believed to be signicant religious rel-
ics. Two silver scrolls inscribed with the opening paragraphs
of the Vinaya were found. One of these was dated 1883 (see
gure 3).
e enshrinement of relics
A relic chamber2 is a cavity in a pagoda, sometimes topped
with a stone lid. Pagodas may have several such chambers.
The earliest relic chamber in Burma to survive relatively intact
into modern times was underneath the Khin Ba mound, a
7th–8th century CE ruin excavated in the 1920s just inside the
southeast wall of the Pyu city of Sri Ksetra. Two stone covers
were found in the mound, indicating that the structure may at
some time have held two relic chambers, or that a single cham-
ber may have been re-used. Contents of the brick chamber
included a silver reliquary with Buddha images in high relief
2 We use the term “relic” to describe any item placed in a relic chamber.
This can include pieces of organic or inorganic material believed to be phys-
ical remains of Buddha Gautama, of past Buddhas, or of other holy people,
sculptural representations of Buddha, votive deposits such as scriptural
extracts, and personal objects such as gemstones or pieces of jewellery.
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 3
Figure 2. The contents of the relic chambers.
inscribed with the names of the four Buddhas of the present
world cycle,3 silver stupas and models of trees, several dozen
Buddha images mostly in dhyana-mudra, embossed dvarapa-
las, gold leaves bearing scriptural extracts in Pali, coins, beads
and gemstones (ASI 1927: 171–181; Stargardt 2001).
At Bagan, Buddha images and votaries have been recovered
from ruined buildings, but there is no record of a relic chamber
surviving with its contents intact. This may be due either to
pillaging through the centuries (Than Tun 1996) or to the recy-
cling of enshrined materials. Buddhists across Southeast Asia,
praying that their donations would last for thousands of years,
have at times enshrined remarkably large quantities of reli-
gious materials. In CE 1480, more than 16,000 images of Bud-
dha were enshrined in a single building at Phichit, in Thailand
(Woodward 1997: 21). Unlike wall paintings in temples or Jataka
3 The reliquary is on display with other nds from the excavation at the
National Museum, Yangon.
4 | B H, P G, W M (T)
plaques on the exterior walls of pagodas such as those seen
at Bagan, the contents of relic chambers were not meant to
be viewed, except on the occasion of their enshrinement. The
insertion of relics related to Buddha or Buddhism (the latter
might be in the form of scriptural excerpts, for example) con-
secrates a building. In the Burmese context, it is now a phaya
or holy thing. The same term is used for a Buddha image.
Reliquary contents represent a single dedicatory event.
While the event may be datable, some of the contents may
Figure 3. Reading the 1883 silver scroll.
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 5
be the result of redeposition. When devotees in the past have
recovered objects from a ruin they have generally proceeded
to re-enshrine them. Today, this does not necessarily mean
the objects will disappear from view. The Botataung pagoda
in Yangon, bombed in World War II, was rebuilt in concrete
with an internal corridor after its concealed relic chamber was
excavated (Ohn Ghine 1953). Its relics and various donated
items remain on display in glassed-in compartments.
e earliest directly dated group of relics
The Konbaung period began in 1752 when the provincial
leader Alaungpaya of Shwebo defeated a Mon army that
had captured the capital, Ava, and founded his own dynasty.
Silver scrolls dated CE 1763 describe the construction of the
Shwebawgyun pagoda complex at Shwebo and mention
the contents, including the scrolls, of several relic chambers
endowed by Alaungpaya’s four widows and his son and suc-
cessor, Naungdawgyi. These chambers yielded hundreds of
items ranging from granular material considered to be cor-
poreal relics of Buddha, to votive offerings of gold and silver
owers, gemstones, and models of boats, guns and soldiers
(ASI 1904: 145–167). The treasures included a set of 28 silver
Buddhas with Bodhi trees, the Buddhas of the present and pre-
vious world cycles. Representations of the principal incidents
of Buddha Gotama’s life included the First Sermon in the deer
park, the Mucalinda lake with a silver naga, Buddha under a
jewelled shelter, Brahma offering owers, the evil Mara rid-
ing an elephant, Buddha protected by a naga and Cincamana
falsely claiming that Buddha had made her pregnant. The
inclusion of these well-developed narrative elements sug-
gests that this practice derived from an earlier period. Texts
such as the Mahavamsa had provided at least since the 11th to
14th century Bagan period a model for the enshrinement of
relics in its description of the construction of Buddha’s stupa:
(t)he events during the seven weeks he commanded
them to depict duly here and there in the relic chamber
6 | B H, P G, W M (T)
. . . the encounter with the elephant . . . the subduing of
Alavaka . . . of the robber Angulimala . . . the naga-king
(Geiger and Bode 1908: 204–205).
e historical context of the Yazagyo images
The reign of King Bodawpaya (1782–1819), a period of polit-
ical and economic expansion, was accompanied by religious
fervour and reform, a hallmark of which was a program of
construction of religious buildings. When Bodawpaya estab-
lished his capital at Amarapura in 1783, one of his earliest
orders was that a Shwe Gu, a Golden Cave Temple, be con-
structed in every town in the kingdom. More than 200 were
built (Royal Orders 1: xxv). The author of the Sasanavamsa,
Pannasami, gives a long list of the monasteries Bodawpaya
built for monks who were reputed for their piety, and adds
that he could give a more extensive list, but his book would
be too long (Ray 1946: 233; Law 1952: 131ff).
These royal construction programs were repeated in a
smaller scale at the village level. In 1912, bronzes described
by the Archaeology Department as possessing “. . . no interest
from the aesthetic point of view and very rough in workman-
ship” were recovered from the rain-damaged Hledauk pagoda
at Nyaunggon, a few kilometres north of Mandalay. This col-
lection parallels that of Yazagyo. A glass vessel contained
“seed-like things which pious Buddhists assert are relics of
Buddha.” The bronzes included Dipankara and Sumedha, the
28 Buddhas, the Nativity, the Bodhisatta in his chariot and the
four ominous gures he saw, the jewelled walk, the jewelled
shelter, Buddha sitting near Mucalinda Lake sheltering under
the coils of the naga, the offering of the grass-cutter, the rst
sermon, and a “lying in state” version of the mahaparinirvana
(ASI 1912: 149–151).4
4 Plate 69, Figure 4 of this volume provides a good quality photographic
record of the nds. In 2008, the authors inspected a similar collection of
bronzes, similarly recovered from ruins, at the Dipankara monastery at
Kalaymyo. In 2005, Win Maung and Bob Hudson were shown a collection
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 7
From the time of Bodawpaya onward, bronzes were man-
ufactured just north of the Amarapura palace complex, in
the craft quarter of Tampawaddy, “copper-town,” where the
lost wax bronze-casting tradition has continued until today.
The old Ava period bronze-making site across the river at
Sagaing may still have been operating and a regional pro-
duction center has been recorded on the outskirts of Monywa
(Fraser-Lu 1994: 128; Hardiman 1912: 122). With at least three
centers containing individual workshops, it can be expected
that there would be variations within the broad convention
of producing identiable gures or scenes, either as individ-
uals or as a tableau on a base. The crude nature of the bronze
images suggests that they were not made for display but for
enshrinement.
Each object represents a scene in the narrative of Buddha’s
life. The challenge for the craftsman was to represent a dis-
tinct event in three dimensions, without the aid of the cap-
tions often found in murals or Jataka plaques. Generally this
involved a simple, literal presentation of the core elements
of the story. The First Sermon in the deer park, for exam-
ple, may be indicated5 by two deer sitting at Buddha’s feet
among his disciples (see gure 4). One departure from this
approach is the presentation of the 28 Buddhas. These are
often portrayed in murals each sitting under a distinctive tree,
of 221 items from a rain-damaged pagoda at Legyi village, 55 km south of
Mandalay, which included dozens of repousse silver images of Buddha as
well as a program of bronzes similar to those at Kalaymyo, Hledauk, the
Shwebawgyun and Min-kyaung. The large volume of these bronzes depos-
ited during the Konbaung period is also attested by the prevalence of the
artifacts in antique shops in Burma. The British Museum holds a collection
of bronzes of this period. Variants of the Great Departure and other scenes
appear in Karow 1991.
5 In the depictions of the First Sermon, the Buddha is portrayed incor-
rectly in earth-touching mudra rather than in dhamma-cakka, with two hands
at the chest, his ngers setting the wheel of dhamma in motion. The deer
tell the canonical story. The technically incorrect Buddha gure is an indica-
tion, along with the holes in the bronze frames in which gures appropriate
to a particular narrative can be inserted, of a workshop turning out generic
bronzes in response to high demand (see also note 13).
8 | B H, P G, W M (T)
accompanied by the name of the Buddha and perhaps the
name of the tree.6 The bronze casters, like the silversmiths
who supplied images to the Shwebawgyun (above), gener-
ally took a simpler approach, providing multiple gures with
identical stylized trees above their heads (see gure 5).
6 The trees as depicted at Bagan are described in Luce 1969 I, 392ff and II,
317ff. I.B. Horner extensively discussed this topic with Luce in the prepara-
tion of her edition of the Buddhavamsa (1975), see esp. her introduction and
pp. xxxvi ff. For the 18th century, Chew 2005 pp. 211–212 and Munier and
Myint Aung 2007.
Figure 4: The First Sermon (h. 13 cm).
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 9
e Yazagyo Images7
The images illustrate the Buddha narrative accepted in Burma
from at least the Bagan period, and closely follow texts such
as the Buddhavamsa.
7 The images held at the Min-kyaung monastery, bronze unless other-
wise indicated with numbers of each version found, include: Dipankara (4),
Nativity (3), the carriage (4), the old man (4), the sick man (4), the corpse
(4), the monk (4), the Great Departure (5), death of Kandika (1), cutting the
hair (5), Sotthiya (2), First Sermon (8), Buddha’s funeral bier (5), repousse
silver Buddha (6- two with silver trees), Buddha under a tree (22), Buddha
standing on Mount Animiksa (5), Buddha walking on the jewelled path (5),
Buddha sitting in the jewelled shelter (5), Buddha protected by the naga (4),
Mara on an elephant (1), Alavaka (1), Nalagiri elephant (1), Cincamana (1),
Nandopananda (1). There were also two repousse stupas, ve silver boxes
containing relics, two silver scrolls and the set of 28 Buddhas under dia-
mond-shaped trees shown in gure 5. The images were collected from the
ruins by local devotees. There is no reliable information about which items
came from which structure.
Figure 5: The 28 Buddhas (h. 7 cm).
10 | B H, P G, W M (T)
1. Previous lives
e 28 Buddhas
The 28 Buddhas already referred to sit at the base of the trees
under which they reached Enlightenment, an event which can
only occur when this world is in a relative state of harmony
and when they have succeeded in their determined endeav-
our, lasting for aeons, to full the perfections to the highest
degree (see gure 5).
Dipankara and Sumedha
This story is told both in the Sanskrit Mahavastu and in the
Pali Buddhavamsa. In his previous life, the Bodhisatta was an
ascetic called Sumedha. In the story, he offers owers to the
Buddha Dipankara, who was the rst of the 28. The ow-
ers are represented in this image by the garland held by the
kneeling ower seller, who will be the Bodhisatta’s wife in his
nal incarnation as Gotama. Sumedha, his hands in a prayer
Figure 6: Dipankara and Sumedha (h. 11 cm w. 16 cm).
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 11
position above his head, is offering himself as a human bridge
over a patch of mud. Dipankara prophesised that Sumedha
would become a Buddha in a future life. Here, Dipankara, the
ame of enlightenment projecting from his head, is accom-
panied by monks carrying their bowls. This image shows a
characteristic technological feature of Konbaung bronzes in
which the problem of moulding a complex scene with a num-
ber of characters is solved by casting separate gures which
are then placed in holes made for them in the base (see g-
ure6). Figures found loose in the Yazagyo reliquaries will t
several different bases representing different scenes. It may be
that generic devotees in various poses were supplied by the
bronze workshops.
2. Scenes from the life of Gotama Buddha
Nativity
Two consecutive events are depicted in this image. The mother
of the Buddha-to-be, Maya, leans against the sala tree in order
to give birth, supported on her other side by her sister. In the
foreground, the child has taken his rst seven steps, announc-
ing his arrival to the world (see gure 7).
e Four Omens
The future Buddha, sheltered from the realities of life by his
royal upbringing, leaves the palace in his carriage and sees an
old man, a sick man, a corpse and a monk (see gure 8). These
gures are cast separately. Four of each were recovered from
the Min-kyaung pagodas. The old man leans on a stick. The
sick man sits with one hand to his head, or with both hands
on his knees, his misery communicated by the simple pose.
The monk carries a fan. The corpse, often shown in gruesome
detail in illustrations of the Konbaung period, and in modern
illustrations that decorate monasteries or pagodas, is repre-
sented here by a cofn. The cofn style varies (see gure 9).
The small cofn sitting alone, without bearers, still tells the
story. The variation in poses suggests that the images in the
Yazagyo reliquaries may have come from different suppliers.
Figure 8: The Bodhisatta confronted by the Four Omens (h. 4cm–16cm).
Figure 7: The Nativity (h. 10 cm).
Figure 9: Stylistic variations on the omen of the corpse (tallest gure
9 cm).
Figure 10: The Great Departure (h. 18 cm).
14 | B H, P G, W M (T)
e Great Departure
Siddharta has resolved to become an ascetic. He leaves the
palace on his horse, Kanthaka, spirits mufing the horse’s
steps. The spirits, which in some other bronzes are shown
as humanoid gures, are suggested here by sinuous lines
extending from the hoofs of the horse. The servant and char-
ioteer Channa clings to the tail of the horse, while the evil
Mara unsuccessfully tries to block the way. The bronze illus-
trated (see gure 10) has two gures missing from the front,
and there is no guarantee that the gure sitting in the third
hole is original. In the ve versions of the Departure found at
Min-kyaung, Channa and the spirits are moulded or brazed
to the frame of each, while there are between one and ve
holes in the frames for extra characters in the story.
Figure 11: The horse Kanthaka (h. 7.5 cm).
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 15
Kanthaka dies
The faithful horse who pulled the carriage from which the
Bodhisattva saw the four omens, and then carried him from
the palace, dies of grief because he knows his master will
never return. A similarly grief-stricken Channa kneels beside
him (see gure 11). While the scene is often portrayed in
paintings, this bronze version is uncommon.
Handfuls of grass
Sotthiya8 offers the Buddha-to-be eight bundles of grass to sit
on while meditating (see gure 12).
3. e Seven Weeks
Buddha spent a week meditating under the bodhi tree. At the
end of this period, he attained enlightenment, indicating his
defeat of Mara and the demon army by touching the ground
with his right hand, calling the earth to witness. Several repre-
sentations of this most signicant moment, in repoussé silver
over lacquer moulds, were found at Yazagyo (see gure 13)
as well as bronze versions (see gure 14). In the second week,
he stood looking unblinkingly (in Pali, animisa) at the bodhi
tree (see gure 15). In the third, he walked along the jewelled
pathway, or Cankrama. In the fourth, he sat in the Ratanagara
or jewelled pavilion (see gure 16). In the fth, he sat under a
banyan tree9 belonging to the goatherd Ajapala.10 In the sixth,
8 Sotthiya is variously described as a Brahmin or a man collecting mate-
rial to thatch his house or to feed horses.
9 There are more than 20 images at Yazagyo of Buddha sitting under
trees, which come in several different shapes. These may have been under-
stood at the time they were enshrined to represent particular instances,
and may have been placed next to gures such as Alavaka or Cincamana.
However, the relic chambers when excavated were lled with mud, and
any information about the placement of the images is lost. If contemporary
practice is any guide, the placement of items in relation to each other and to
auspicious directions would have followed a strict scheme.
10 Karow (p.155) has a bronze described as a “farmer taking his goats to
the meadow,” and it is tempting to suggest, despite its lack of provenance,
that it may have been a reliquary item illustrating this episode.
16 | B H, P G, W M (T)
he sat protected by the hood of the naga Mucalinda (see gure
17). During the seventh week, he sat under the linlun tree.
Two merchants, Tapussa and Bhalika, who in the Burmese/
Mon tradition are the founders of Rangoon, offered food.11
11 A 15th century Burmese version of the seven weeks is described in
detail in Stadtner 1991.
Figure 12: Sotthiya offers a handful of grass (h. 9 cm).
Figure 13: The Enlightenment: repoussé silver over lacquer
core (h. 18 cm).
Figure 14: The Enlightenment (h. 12 cm).
Figure 15: The Buddha looks back at the bodhi tree (h. 15 cm).
Figure 16: The Buddha meditates in
the jewelled pavilion (h. 24 cm).
Figure 17: The Buddha protected by the naga (h. 10 cm).
22 | B H, P G, W M (T)
4. Eight Challenges, Eight Victories
Buddha faced eight challenges. These were: 1, his ongoing
battle with, and ultimate defeat of, the evil Mara; 2, converting
the child-devouring demon Alavaka; 3, taming the wild Nal-
agiri elephant that had been sent to attack him; 4, converting
Angulimala the nger cutting bandit; 5, disproving a claim by
Cincamana, a woman from a rival ascetic group, that Buddha
had got her pregnant; 6, converting the hermit Sisaka, a great
philosopher who knew a thousand religions but was shown
the true path by Buddha; 7, subduing and converting the
celestial naga Nandopananda; and 8, travelling to heaven to
convert the Brahma Baka.12 There are representations of some
of these among the Min-kyaung bronzes. Complex stories are
reduced to simple images.
Mara is often shown in wall art mounted on his elephant
Girimekhala and leading a vast army,13 but at Yazagyo the
mounted elephant with an aggressively upraised trunk tells
the story (see gure 18). The ogre Alavaka, identiable by
his protruding fangs, kneels in homage (see gure 19). The
Nalagiri elephant, who had been encouraged by Devadatta to
attack Buddha, is overcome by the Buddha’s spiritual power
and, like Alavaka, falls to his knees (see gure 20). Cincamana
is often shown in Konbaung period wall art as pointing an
accusing nger at Buddha. She was sent by heretics to claim,
falsely, that Buddha had made her pregnant. In some versions
of the story, a rat runs up her skirt and bites the string holding
the object she has put there to pretend pregnancy. The bronze
gure simplies the imagery: breasts and belly are enough
to identify her (see gure 21). Her punishment seems severe
compared to the fate of some of the other “challengers.”
Alavaka, who ate his victims, and Angulimana, who wore a
12 These events appear in a medieval poem, the Jaya-mingalar-gatha or
“song of victory and blessing,” with a slightly different list of participants
(see Houtman 1990: 120).
13 Plaques around the base of the Ananda temple at Bagan show various
monstrous members of Mara’s army of evil. Some have snakes coming out
of their ears, mouths, noses or eye sockets.
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 23
garland made from the ngers of those he murdered, both
became arahats following their conversion. Cincamana went
to hell.
5. e death of Buddha: lying in state.
The death of Buddha is represented here not as Buddha lying
on his side propped up on one hand, but lying in state, his
body prepared for cremation. Around the base of the bronze
are perforations in which would be placed the separately-cast
gures of devotees (see gure 22). In all the Konbaung period
relic collections we have been able to inspect, the death of
Buddha is represented by a funeral pyre.
Figure 18.
Figure 19.
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 25
Conclusion
On the assumption that the six buildings in the cluster from
which these bronzes came were constructed around the same
time, we suggest that they can be dated on the basis of the
1883 scroll to the latter half of the 19th century. At this time,
the Kabaw Valley was becoming depopulated due to attacks
by Chin tribesmen. Some villages were destroyed, others
were abandoned, their residents moving to larger centers for
protection (Carey and Tuck 1896). Yazagyo, surrounded by
earthworks and a palisade, was one such refuge. While there
are several clusters of Konbaung period pagodas at Yazagyo,
the Min-kyaung group is in the geographical center, an aus-
picious position. The construction of the pagodas and the
enshrinement of the bronzes to sanctify the structures was a
standard expression of religious behavior, a means of accu-
mulating merit for future existences. The timing and location
hints that as they placed the images in the relic chambers, the
donors might also have been hoping for a little protection
from present dangers.
Figure 20.
Figure 21.
Figure 22: The funeral pyre (h. 14 cm).
28 | B H, P G, W M (T)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Don Stadtner for his advice
and the Abbot of the Min-kyaung monastery at Yazagyo for
his hospitality and permission to study the artifacts.
Bob Hudson is an associate of the Asian Studies Program,
University of Sydney, Australia. He is an adviser to UNESCO
and the Myanmar Ministry of Culture on World Heritage
nomination for Bagan and the Pyu Ancient Cities. His archae-
ological research in Myanmar includes excavations, map-
ping, radiocarbon dating and studies of ancient populations
through DNA analysis. He can be reached at: bob.hudson@
sydney.edu.au.
Pamela Gutman was a pioneer scholar of Arakan, and an
expert in the historical links between South Asian and South-
east Asian art. Her research ranged from Arakan to the “Pyu”
system of Upper Burma, and from the rst millennium CE to
the nineteenth century. She died in 2015.
Win Maung (Tampawaddy) is a heritage architect who has
restored buildings in Myanmar ranging from the Mandalay
Palace to ruined pagodas. He has wide-ranging interests in
Myanmar history and antiquity, and has published with inter-
national collaborators and among local research groups. The
parenthetical addition to his name, Tampawaddy, distinguishes
him from other people named Win Maung. It points to the sub-
urb of Mandalay in which he lives, Tampawaddy or “bronze
town.” Bringing a historical link to the theme of this paper,
Win Maung is also a descendant of a minister responsible for
bronze production in the government of the Konbaung kings.
He can be reached at: winmaung.tampawady@gmail.com.
Bibliography
ASI. Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, Manager of
Publications, Delhi, 1902–1936.
Buddha’s life in Konbaung period bronzes from Yazagyo | 29
Carey, Bertram S. and H. N. Tuck. The Chin Hills: A History of the
People, our dealings with them, their Customs and Manners, and
a Gazetteer of their Country, Tribal Research Institute, Aizawl,
Mizoram, 1896.
Chew, Anne-May. The Cave-temples of Po Win Taung, Central Burma,
Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2005.
Fraser-Lu, Sylvia. Burmese Crafts. Past and Present. Kuala Lumpur:
Oxford University Press, 1994.
Geiger, William, ed. The Mahavamsa or the Great Chronicle of Ceylon.
Oxford: Pali Text Society and Oxford University Press, 1912.
Hardiman, J.P. Burma Gazetteer, Lower Chindwin District, Volume A.
Rangoon: Central Press, 1912.
Horner, I.B. The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, Part III. London:
The Pali Text Society, 1973.
Houtman, Gustaaf. Traditions of Buddhist practice in Burma, Unpub-
lished Ph.D. thesis, School of Oriental and African Studies,
London, 1990.
Karow, Otto. Burmese Buddhist sculpture: the Johan Mogër collection.
Bangkok: White Lotus, 1991.
Law, Bimala Churn. The History of the Buddha’s Religion (Sasanav-
amsa). London: Luzac and Co, 1952.
Luce, G. H. Old Burma–Early Pagan. New York: Artibus Asiae and
the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1969.
Munier, Christophe and Myint Aung. Burmese Buddhist Murals.
Bangkok: White Lotus, 2007
Ohn Ghine. “The Botataung Pagoda.” The Light of Dhamma, vol. 1,
no. 2, 1953.
Ray, Niharranjan. An introduction to the study of Theravada Buddhism
in Burma. Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1946.
Stadtner, Donald M. “A Fifteenth-Century Royal Monument in
Burma and the Seven Stations in Buddhist Art.” The Art Bulle-
tin, vol. 73, no. 1, 1991, 39–52.
Stargardt, Janice. “The great silver reliquary from Sri Ksetra: the
oldest Buddhist art in Burma and one of the world’s oldest
Pali inscriptions,” in Fruits of Inspiration. Studies in Honour of
Professor J.G. de Casparis. Edited by M. Klokke and K. R. Kooij.
Groningen: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences,
Egbert Forstern, Gonda Indological Studies, 1991, 488–518.
Than Tun. The Royal Orders of Burma (in 10 volumes). Kyoto: The Cen-
ter for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 1983–1990.
30 | B H, P G, W M (T)
Than Tun. “Defacing Old Bagan.” Bagan Lak Thit (“new hand”) and
other essays. Mandalay: Tun Yin Bookshop, 1996, 182–204.
Woodward, Hiram W. The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand. Seattle: The
Walters Art Gallery, University of Washington Press, 1997.