5/5 Minh Trí T. 4 years ago on Google
Bagaya
Kyaung
is
a
teak
monastery
located
600
meters
southwest
of
the
former
walled
city
of
Inwa
(Ava).
It
is
one
of
two
architecturally
significant
monasteries
in
Inwa,
the
other
being
the
Maha
Aung
Mye
Bonzan
in
the
northeast
corner
of
the
old
capital,
a
somewhat
similar
structure
built
of
masonry.
The
architectural
historian
Fraser-Lu
notes
that
the
site
is
popularly
believed
to
have
been
first
constructed
in
the
reign
of
Min
Klaung
(1401-1422)
of
the
Ava
dynasty,
though
its
present
buildings
may
date
to
the
early-mid
19th
century.
A
signboard
located
on
site
pegs
the
date
more
precisely
at
1834,
which
would
place
its
construction
just
5
years
prior
to
the
devastating
earthquake
of
1839
that
led
to
the
abandonment
of
the
capital
in
favor
of
Amarapura.
If
so,
it
is
not
clear
to
what
extent
the
Bagaya
was
damaged,
though
traditional
building
techniques
would
likely
have
afforded
some
protection
as
the
monastery's
primary
columns
(numbering
267
in
all)
rest
upon
stone
pedestals,
allowing
them
to
move
independently
of
one
another
during
tremors.
The
site
originally
included
what
was
likely
a
beautifully
decorated
wooden
roof
in
the
manner
of
the
Shwenandaw
Monastery
in
Mandalay,
but
this
was
replaced
with
the
present
corrugated
iron
roof
in
1929
by
Na
Sun
Oh
Po
Gyi,
a
merchant.
Although
the
loss
of
the
roof's
priceless
workmanship
is
regrettable,
the
partial
rehabilitation
of
the
structure
probably
saved
it
from
wholesale
ruin—the
fate
of
untold
numbers
of
18th
and
19th
century
teak
monasteries
throughout
the
land.
