Kyaikpun Pagoda
Kyaikpun Pagoda
MYANMAR, Bago
The pagoda was built by King Dhammazedi (reigned 1472–1492) in 1476. During his reign, King Dhammazedi reformed Buddhism in Myanmar. He sent officials to Bodhgaya in India to bring back a Bodhi tree and to obtain drawings of Indian Buddhist temples, so that he could erect Buddhist structures in Bago. The Kyaikpun Pagoda is one example of these structures.
The 27 m high brick pagoda is unique: four huge seated Buddha statues are located around a central square tower. They represent four of the Buddhas of the present era: Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kasyapa, and Sakyamuni. Each Buddha wears a golden robe, with the right shoulder exposed. Their hands form the bhumisparsa (earth-touching) mudra and their foreheads are inlaid with dazzling jewels.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Architecture G-L, page 646.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Lancaster, Lewis,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Architecture G-L},
pages = 646,
title = {{Kyaikpun Pagoda}},
volume = 2,
year = {2016}}