IRRAWADY (Featuring Rudyard Kipling )

The Burmese River named after the Elephant Vehicle of INDRA

Dr Uday Dokras

The ancient Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata are embedded in

the cultural matrix of Southeast Asia. @SushmaSwaraj, Ex Foreign Minister
INDIA.

The Irrawati from the Sanskrit word AIRAVAT is a major river in Myanmar (formerly
Burma) and holds a special place in the hearts of the people of this region. The name
''Irrawaddy'' comes from the Sanskrit word Airāvatī, which means ''elephant river'

“Cultural highways linked rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra, Meghna, Irrawady, ,

Mekong. It is important to note that this inter-mingling happened
without any ‘conquest or colonization.”

Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the

worst,
Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a
thirst;
For the temple -bells are callin', and it's there that I would be—
By the old Moul me in Pagoda,looking lazy at the sea.
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
'Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!'

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 RUDYARD KIPLING

Aira
wat on a Thai Standard

2
This is a low-resolution version of Photograph of Moulmein
(Mawlamyaing) taken in Burma (Myanmar) in the 1870s by Samuel
Bourne (1832-1912), part of the Gladstone Collection. Moulmein, the
chief town of the Mon State, lies on the coast of south-east Burma
at the mouth of the Thanlwin (Salween) river where it meets the
Gulf of Martaban (Mottama). It developed as a colonial town
between 1827 and 1852, when it was the administrative capital of
British Burma. During this period, it became a major centre for the
export of teak, and remains an important seaport for coastal
shipping. A number of shrines and monasteries like the
Kyaikthanlan Pagoda (referred to in Rudyard Kipling's poem
'Mandalay') were built on a ridge of hills running north-south in east
Moulmein, commanding a view of the town and river. In this view,
the Jail buildings are seen with the Thanlwin in the distance.

In his article, Tracing the combined influences that created the Khmer
identity,Jean-Michel Filippi says: https://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-
plus/tracing-combined-influences-created-khmer-identity

“From the first centuries of the Common Era, there has been a huge moving
of men, techniques and of course ideas from India to peninsular and insular
Southeast Asia. As soon as the end of 6th century AD, the results of the
process can be truly seen: centralised conception of the state, creation of a

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script, new religious and artistic forms. This shows the efficiency of the
Indian contribution, but on the other side it shows also the ability of the
Khmer land to absorb it and, far more important, to transform it through a
slow adaptation to local conditions.

Thus, the face of the Khmer land was first of all a new conception of the
state. Local chieftainships of which the authority didn’t exceed the limits of
the village were going to be replaced by much stronger state entities- a new
vision of the state was to be coupled with new religious forms and the
emergence of a script.The religious dimension was also to play an essential
part. Predominating animist religious forms, without disappearing at all, were
progressively replaced at an official level by Indian religions: Hinduism and
Buddhism.”

The artistic creations by which I mean the hindu centric temples of both
Indonesia dn Cambodia as well as the host of other countries which began at
the end of the Kingdom of Funan (style of Phnom Da, 6th century AD) and
went on after the 15th century with a very original Hindu art with the
Temples impregnated with Hindu ideology.

The dance still has Indian elements that you see in the apsaras and
traditional Khmer dance. The food has changed but you can see it's influence
from India's culture and China.

Cambodians are possibly a mix of Various Indian and Naga tribes.

Resulting from a marriage of both families producing the "Khmer" people.
This could be further explored in a topic of Cambodian marriages. Since it
delineates the origin of Khmer people as a marriage ritual. There is a legend
in Khmer folklore that through the union of a princess and a foreigner. The
foreigner was an Indian Brahman named Kaundinya and the princess was the
daughter of a dragon king who ruled over a watery land. One day, as
Kaundinya sailed by, the princess paddled out in a boat to greet him.
Kaundinya shot an arrow from his magic bow into her boat, causing the
fearful princess to agree to marriage. In need of a dowry, her father drank up
the waters of his land and presented them to Kaundinya to rule over. The
new kingdom was named Kambuja.

Hinduism and Buddhism exerted an enormous influence on the civilizations

of Southeast Asia and contributed greatly to the development of a written
tradition in that area. About the beginning of the Common Era, Indian
merchants may have settled there, bringing Brahmans and Buddhist monks
with them. These religious men were patronized by rulers who converted to
Hinduism or Buddhism. The earliest material evidence of Hinduism in
Southeast Asia comes from Borneo, where late 4th-century Sanskrit
inscriptions testify to the performance of Vedic sacrifices by Brahmans at the
behest of local chiefs. Chinese chronicles attest an Indianized kingdom in

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Vietnam two centuries earlier. The dominant form of Hinduism exported to
Southeast Asia was Shaivism, though some Vaishnavism was also known
there. Later, from the 9th century onward, Tantrism, both Hindu and
Buddhist, spread throughout the region.

Beginning in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, many of the early
kingdoms in Southeast Asia adopted and adapted specific Hindu texts,
theologies, rituals, architectural styles, and forms of social organization that
suited their historical and social conditions. It is not clear whether this
presence came about primarily through slow immigration and settlement by
key personnel from India or through visits to India by Southeast Asians who
took elements of Indian culture back home. Hindu and Buddhist traders,
priests, and, occasionally, princes traveled to Southeast Asia from India in
the first few centuries of the Common Era and eventually settled there.
Enormous temples to Shiva and Vishnu were built in the ancient Khmer
empire, attesting to the power and prestige of Hindu traditions in the
region. Angkor Wat, built in the 12th century in what is now Cambodia, was
originally consecrated to Vishnu, although it was soon converted to (and is
still in use as) a Buddhist temple. One of the largest Hindu temples ever
built, it contains the largest bas-relief in the world, depicting the churning of
the ocean of milk, a minor theme of Indian architecture but one of the
dominant narratives in Khmer temples.

Despite the existence in Southeast Asia of Hindu temples and iconography as

well as Sanskrit inscriptions, the nature and extent of Hindu influence upon
the civilizations of the region is fiercely debated by contemporary scholars.
Whereas early 20th-century scholars wrote about the Indianization of
Southeast Asia, those of the late 20th and early 21st centuries argued that
this influence was very limited and affected only a small cross section of the
elite. It is nevertheless certain that divinity and royalty were closely
connected in Southeast Asian civilizations and that several Hindu rituals
were used to valorize the powers of the monarch.

The civilizations of Southeast Asia developed forms of Hinduism and

Buddhism that incorporated distinctive local features and in other respects
reflected local cultures, but the framework of their religious life, at least in
the upper classes, was largely Indian. Stories from the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata became widely known in Southeast Asia and are still
popular there in local versions. In Indonesia the people of Bali still follow a
form of Hinduism adapted to their own genius. Versions of the Manu-
smriti were taken to Southeast Asia and were translated and adapted
to indigenous cultures until they lost most of their original content.

Claims of early Hindu contacts farther east are more doubtful. There is little
evidence of direct influence of Hinduism on China or Japan, which were
primarily affected by Buddhism.

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Hinduism, along with Buddhism, arrived in Burma during ancient times.
The name Myanmar is the regional language transliteration of Brahma,
where b and m are interchangeable.
Both names of the country are rooted in Hinduism; Burma is the British
colonial officials' phonetic equivalent for the first half of Brahma Desha, the
ancient name of the region. Brahma is part of Hindu trinity, a deity with four
heads. Arakan (Rakhine) Yoma is a significant natural mountainous barrier
between Burma and India, and the migration of Hinduism and Buddhism into
Burma occurred slowly through Manipur and by South Asian seaborne
traders. Hinduism greatly influenced the royal court of Burmese kings in pre-
colonial times, as seen in the architecture of cities such as Bagan. Likewise,
the Burmese language adopted many words from Sanskrit and Pali, many of
which relate to religion.
While ancient and medieval arrival of ideas and culture fusion transformed
Burma over time, it is in 19th and 20th century that over a million Hindu
workers were brought in by British colonial government to serve in
plantations and mines. The British also felt that surrounding the European
residential centre with Indian immigrants provided a buffer and a degree of
security from tribal theft and raids. According to 1931 census, 55% of
Rangoon's (Yangon) population were Indian migrants, mostly Hindus
The rise of devotional Hinduism (4th–11th century)

The medieval period was characterized by the growth of new devotional

religious movements centred on hymnodists who taught in the popular
languages of the time. The new movements probably began with the
appearance of hymns in Tamil associated with two groups of poets:
the Nayanars, worshipers of Shiva, and the Alvars, devotees of Vishnu. The
oldest of these date from the early 7th century, though passages of
devotional character can be found in earlier Tamil literature.

The term bhakti, in these early sourcesrepresents a devotion still somewhat

restrained and unemotional. The new form of bhakti, associated with singing
in the languages of the common people, was highly charged with emotion
and mystical fervour, and the relationship between worshiper and divinity
was often described as analogous to that between lover and beloved. This
devotional cults further weakened Buddhism, which had long been on the
decline. The philosophers Kumarila and Shankara were strongly opposed to
Buddhism. In their journeys throughout India, their biographies claim, they
vehemently debated with Buddhists and tried to persuade kings and other
influential people to withdraw their support from Buddhist monasteries. Only
in Bihar and Bengal, because of the patronage of the Pala dynasty and some
lesser kings and chiefs, did Buddhist monasteries continue to flourish.
Buddhism in eastern India, however, was well on the way to being absorbed
into Hinduism when the Muslims invaded the Ganges valley in the 12th

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century. The great Buddhist shrine of Bodh Gaya, the site of the Buddha’s
enlightenment, became a Hindu temple and remained as such until recent
times.

In Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia or Burma today, many symbolic

remnants of India’s influence are clearly visible in their art, culture and
civilisation. Through the centuries, India has been a source of inspiration for
art and architecture in countries belonging to the present day ASEAN. The
eleven countries of ASEAN are
1. Myanmar,
2. Thailand,
3. Singapore,
4. Malaysia,
5. Indonesia,
6. Vietnam,
7. Cambodia,
8. Laos,
9. Brunei, the
10. Philippines and recently added
11. Timor Leste.

1941 School Girls They were to go topless those days.

Some of Temples of Angkor Wat, Pagan, Borobudur and Prambanan

surpass the grandeur of Indian temples from the same period because of
their scale, extensive stone bas relief carvings and expanse. Thanks to the

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contact with Indian civilisation they bear evidence to the deep penetration
of Indian art and architectural forms in these famous Southeast Asian
monuments and therefore lands

Southeast Asia did not accept all foreign influences in an indiscriminate

manner. accepted only those influences and practices that were suitable to
their local cultures. Almost every country accepted Ramayana because it is
easy to retell, understand, modify and apply to contemporary culture It is
said that folklore singers and artistes played a very important role in
popularising and modifying Indian literary works in Southeast Asia. Retelling
of the stories from generation to generation, the great epics of Ramayana
and Mahabharata were popularised by artistd marking the beginning of
the formation of new texts like
1. Seri Rama ( Malaysian adaptation of Ramayana) and
2. RamKer ( Ramayana Khmer) in Cambodia.

Similarly sculptors and artists copied and combined original Indian motifs
with local artistic motifs to arrive at something distinctively Southeast Asian
and produced stylised masterpieces of their own. Copying the Gupta period
architecture and art, the Cambodian ( Khmer) sculpture of 8th to
13th centuries are very different in appearance and form yet they are
beautiful creations representing stylised figures of Hindu gods, goddesses,
Buddha, Apsaras and demons with Southeast Asian features.

Some say that India’s civilisation and culture spread peaceful without
forced conversions in many parts of the world due to singing and dance
forms.

Ancient land and Sea Trade Routes: Southeast Asia was particularly
attractive to Indian mercantile class and they named the faraway lands
Swarnabhumi or land of gold, Tokola or land of cardamoms or Narikeldeep ,
land of coconuts. They followed two routes—one through land via Bengal,
Assam, Manipur and Burma to reach different parts of Southeast Asia. The
maritime route was from Coromandel coast or the coast of Bay of Bengal to
Cape Comorin and via Malacca strait to reach the Malay Peninsula, trade
between India and Southeast Asia which was seen as a land of spices and
rice growing fertile lands, flourished. Funan in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam
was the first trading post of Indian traders. Traders took residence there
and from there spread to other countries of the region
.
Missionaries ?

Hindu priests and Buddhist monks accompanied mercantile class

and assumed a leading role in spreading the message of Indian thought and
culture to the entire Southeast Asian region. Since they had no political

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ambitions and were living in hermitages and ashrams, the local people
welcomed them.
Thus merchants, monks and Hindu Brahmin priests travelled to faraway
kingdoms like Cambodia and Indonesia in large numbers and India’s
culture, religion and civilisation spread to different parts of Southeast Asia.
The kings of the region wore Indian made silk and brocade textiles during
ceremonious occasions and donned jewels imported from India. Printed and
woven textiles were eagerly sought after by the common people.
Indian religion, political thought, literature, mythology, artistic motifs and
style, were absorbed deeply into local culture as greater interaction with
Indians who settled in the courts of South East Asia took place. Buddhism
came to Southeast Asia from India in 3 rd century BCE when Buddhist monks
were sent by king Ashok.
In medieval times, from sixth to fourteenth century, there existed a great
maritime empire based in the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. Many
Indian artisans came to work temporarily in the courts and were from
Kalinga (modern day Orissa).They helped in building great temples and
monuments. Many of the motifs on the walls of Borobudur and Angkor Wats
resemble carvings of Konarak and other medieval temples of eastern India.\

Brahmins also played an important role in the Siamese court as

experts in Astrology and in conducting ceremonies. They were not
only experts in performing religious rites but were also
knowledgeable in political affairs, art and architecture. They were
invited by rulers to serve as advisors, administrators and priests.
They were experts in Sanskrit.

Sanskrit scripts are the first form of writing known to have reached
Southeast Asia. Similar alphabets were adopted for local languages as well.
The alphabets used today for Burmese, Thai, Laos and Cambodia derive
originally from Indian prototype. A large number of ancient inscriptions
which have been discovered are in Sanskrit.

Sanskrit terminology was used in all legal aspects of court procedures and
only the factual aspects were described in vernacular. The use of Indian
framework of code of law was mentioned by these inscription. Codes of law
and public administration especially the concept of “God King” was adopted
by many kings of Southeast Asia. They considered themselves to be
incarnation or a descendant of one of the Hindu deities. Later when
Buddhism came, this view was modified. The kings of Cambodia,
Jayavarman VII (the founder of Angkor) and his successors were addressed
by the people as king of the mountain and they built their palaces and
temples on hill peaks ( Bayon temples).

Traders were also accompanied by Shudras (the lowest caste according to

the Hindu caste hierarchy) who migrated in search of a better life from India

9
and many settled in Bali. The caste system was modified when adopted by
Southeast Asians as they had a class system of their own. They also did not
adopt the Manusmriti which relegates women to an inferior place. The
Indonesians still have matriarchal society in Sumatra (Minangkabau) where
women are head of the family and inheritance is through the daughters’
lineage. The rise of India’s influence had taken place when the Khmer kings
spread it to other regions and decline began with the coming of Islam. But
even though it was a long time ago that India’s influence on Southeast
Asia’s culture and civilization more or less halted, the impact can be seen
and felt even today on its customs, culture, architectural designs.

The syncretic culture of Southeast Asia is evident in Buddhism being

practiced in Hindu temples in Cambodia, Muslim wedding rituals and dress
in Malaysia which are based on Hindu rituals and attire, Garuda –the vehicle
of Hindu God Vishnu, is the name of Indonesian Airlines, and Naga and
Kuber which are prevalent in both Hindu and Buddhist cultures can be seen
carved in many places. A Mahabharata Monument depicting Krishna and
Arjun riding a chariot pulled by eleven horses is placed prominently in a
park in central Jakarta. Southeast Asia absorbed and retained its past Indian
influence in a very distinctive manner over the centuries and today it has
melded into the Southeast Asian culture.
A Balinese Hindu temple offering

Spices were common between Indian and Southeast Asian foods recipes.
Nearly all the people of Southeast Asian region eat rice and curry like the
people of Eastern India with many common ingredients. Indian herbal
medicines also reached Southeast Asia from ancient times and are used
even today in many countries
https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/indias-cultural-and-
civilizational-influence-on-southeast-asia/

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The Irrawaddy River, officially, Ayeyarwady River- erawa.ti- Ayeyarwaddy,
is actually derived from the Sanskrit word revatī meaning "abounding in
riches” Iravati is also a Sanskrit name for girls meaning Daughter of the
ocean is a river that flows from north to south through Burma. It is the
country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating
from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight
North-South before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta in the Ayeyarwady
Region into the Andaman Sea. Its basin of about 404,200 square kilometres
(156,100 sq mi) covers a large part of Burma. After Rudyard Kipling's poem,
it is sometimes referred to as 'The Road to Mandalay'.
As early as the sixth century, the river was used for trade and transport.
Having developed an extensive network of irrigation canals, the river
became important to the British Empire after it had colonized Burma. The
river is still as vital today, as a considerable amount of (export) goods and
traffic moves by river. Rice is produced in the Irrawaddy Delta, irrigated by
water from the river.

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The British at the palace in Mandalay in the Third Anglo-Burmese
War, The Illustrated London News, 1887//

12
Rudyard Kipling portrait from 1881

Most Hindus in Myanmar are Burmese Indians. Hinduism, along with

Buddhism, arrived in Burma during ancient times. Both names of the country
are rooted in Hinduism; Burma is the British colonial officials’ phonetic
equivalent for the first half of Brahma Desha the ancient name of the region.
Brahma is part of Hindu trinity, a deity with four heads. Rakhine Yoma is a
significant natural mountainous barrier between Burma and India, and the
migration of Hinduism and Buddhism into Burma occurred slowly through
Manipur and by South Asian seaborne traders. Hinduism greatly influenced
the royal court of Burmese kings in pre-colonial times, as seen in the
architecture of cities such as Bagan. Likewise, the Burmese language

13
 adopted many words from Sanskrit and Pali many of which relate to religion.
While ancient and medieval arrival of ideas and culture fusion transformed
Burma over time, it is in 19th and 20th century that over a million Hindu
workers were brought in by British colonial government to serve in
plantations and mines. Many Hindu gods and goddess are likewise
worshipped by many Burmese people, such as Saraswati (known as
Thuyathadi in Burmese), the goddess of knowledge, who is often worshipped
before examinations. Lakshim also worshiped by some Burmese people.
Thus, it is recognized that the historical account of Hinduism is important for
The Burmese people live through their Buddhist faith and have built the
means to worship whatever their surroundings.

Some 4,000 temples rise from the plain at Bagan. They're the country's
equivalent to Angkor Wat, and if you travel to Myanmar for the first time it's
almost inconceivable that you won't visit here.

 Nathlaung Kyaung Temple.

 Shri Kali Temple, Burma.
 Sri Varatha Raja Perumal Temple.
 Shree Maha Lakshmi Temple.
 Sri Kali Amman Temple.
 Kartayri Temple.
 Sri Radha Mandalayshwar Temple.
 Shree Ram Temple.

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The Shwedagon is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar, as it is
believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present kalpa.
These relics include the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Koṇāgamana,
a piece of the robe of Kassapa, and eight strands of hair from the head of
Gautama. Pic above left

The Nathlaung Kyaung Temple नाथ्लौंगक्यौंग literally "shrine confining

the spirits") is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. The temple is located
inside the city walls of old Bagan, Burma (Coordinates: 21.168965° N,
94.862738° E). Only Hindu temple in Bagan, Myanmar

This is the only Hindu temple in Bagan right next to the biggest temple in the
complex. It is from around the 10th century and has some very old artifacts.
Some were destroyed in the major earthquake of 2016 which destroyed a lot
in The historical place of Myanmar. The lady describes a lot and is a little
hard to understand but I will take you through with a small tour in this short
video.

It lies to the west of the Thatbyinnyu Temple, and it is the only

remaining Hindu temple in Bagan. Nat-Hlaung Kyaung temple is one of the
oldest temples in Bagan, and was built in the 11th century, during the reign

15
of King Anawratha. Some historians believe the temple was built in the 10th
century, during the reign of King Nyaung-u Sawrahan (also known as
Taungthugyi). The temple was originally built for Hindu Burmese Indians of
the 11th century, including merchants and Brahmins in the service of the
king. Many structures of the original temple have disappeared, although the
main hall remains. Originally, the temple contained statues of the
10 Avatars of Vishnu, including Gautama Buddha; however, today, only
seven remain. The brick temple was isolated and unrepaired for many years,
damaged by earthquakes.

The temple is set on a square template with steep-rising upper terraces. It

may have been built by Indian artisans brought into Bagan (Pagan), during
the 10th century AD, to work on it and other temples. As the oldest temple in
Bagan, its style influenced and inspired the numerous other Buddhist
structures that followed.[2] Another legend states that the temple was built to
store all the nat from other temples, so that Buddhism could get established
in Bagan kingdom.

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 Nathlaung Kyaung
Type of
: Type I Temple (Gu Paya)
monument
Location : West of Thabyinnyu
Region : Old Bagan
Built by : King Taungthugyi
Date : A.D 931

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Nathlaung Kyaung means 'Shrine Confining Nats or Spirits', a reference to a
purported time when King Anawratha tried to banish Nat worship in Bagan.
He is said to have confiscated all non-Buddhist religious images including
indigenous Myanmar nats and Hindu devas. Then he ordered to have placed
them in this shrine as part of an effort to establish 'pure' Theravada
Buddhism during his reign. The king eventually gave in to the cult and
standardized the current roster of principal Burmese Nats by placing 37
chosen images at Shwezigon Pagoda.

This temple is situated slightly to the west of the Thatbyinnyu, this is the
only Hindu temple remaining in Bagan. It is said to have been built in 931 by
King Taunghthugyi, more than a century before Theravada Buddhism came
to Bagan, following the conquest of Thaton. In design it resembles the Pyu
Leimyethna or four-sided shrines of Sri Keshtra. The temple is dedicated to
the Hindu god Vishnu. The central square of brick supports the dome and
crumbled Sikhara, and once contained free-standing figures of Vishnu as well
as Vishnu reliefs on each of the four sides. Vishnu's '10 Avatars' were placed
around the outside wall, seven of these survive.

INSIDE.THE.TEMPLE

The main hall and superstructure of the Nathlaung Kyaung still stand fine today but the
entrance hall and outer structures have crumbled and disappeared.

This square temple with steep-rising upper terraces is dedicated to the Hindu
god Vishnu, and was perhaps built by Indian artisans brought into Bagan to
work on other temples. It was possibly built by legendary King Taungthugyi
(r. 931-964) about a century before King Anawrahta (r. 1044-1077) brought
Theravada Buddhism to Pagan with the conquest of Thaton. Paul Strachan,
however, argues that it may have been built as late as the reign of
Awawrahta. It clearly is one of the earliest of the Bagan temples.
IMAGES.OF.VISHNU

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The several names given to the temple, as Strachan argues, indicate the
religious struggle that ensued between Vaishnavite Hindu ideas and the
southern Buddhist tradition that made its appearance with Anawrahta,
though there apparently was a tolerance as the temple was not razed. Most
Burmese use the name given above, which may be translated as "Shrine
Confining the Devas." To Hindu devotees it was Nat-daw-kyaung, or the
"Shrine of the Sacred Devas." Another version, Nat-hl-kyaung, or "Shrine of
the Reclining Deva," suggests that perhaps there originally was such a
statue inside.
This square temple with steep-rising upper terraces is dedicated to the Hindu
god Vishnu, and was perhaps built by Indian artisans brought into Bagan to
work on other temples. Strachan suggests that, since it uses the Pyu brick
building tradition followed in Bagan architecture, it was built by indigenous
artisans of Bagan. It clearly was the temple of the Indian merchant
community and Brahmans in the service of the king and was originally not
only a place of worship, but also as a sculpture gallery. Of the original temple
complex only the superstructure and main hall remain, as the entry hall and
other structures have disappeared. The high mandapa, or plinth or porch
that extends from the temple, was the gift of a Malabar Vaishnavite saint in
the 13th century; it is the only mandapa in Bagan and originally would have
been covered by a wooden hall or awning. Considerable repair was done in
1976, as can be seen in the second story and the sikhara, or upper part of
the finial. Originally there were 10 avatars, past and present incarnations of
Vishnu, housed in niches in the outer walls; seven survive. In the late
nineteenth century a German oil engineer took the large Vishnu figure that
was standing on the mythical garuda; it now is in Berlin's Dahlem Museum.
Last part from a Text by Professor Robert D. Fiala of Concordia
University, Nebraska, USA.

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Burmese Nudes from early 1900

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