Pitakataik (1587)(ပိဋကတ်တိုက်)

Pitakat Taik (1,587)(ပိဋကတ်တိုက်)

This Pitakattaik or Library is supposed to be the library which King Anawrahta (1044 -1077) built to house the thirty sets of the Tipitaka which he brought back from Thaton on the 32 white elephants of Manuha, the deposed king.

The Library is square in plan, measuring 51 feet on each side, and is arranged much like a temple, with central cell surrounded by a processional corridor. The three doorways in the east and the three perforated windows on each of the other sides provide only dim lighting for the interior. King Bodawpaya (1781-1819) earned out repairs on the Library in 1783, and the spire surmounting the five multiple roofs and the peacock-like finials in plaster carving at the roof corners are the results of those repairs.

Many of the monasteries of Bagan, especially the large teaching monasteries, had a library attached to them . The Pitaka, written on palm leaf and housed in the library in wooden chests, were themselves a costly item. A donor in 1273 built a monastery with a library for 2,300 ticals of silver; to it he presented a set of the Pitaka which cost him 3,000 ticals of silver.

Glimpse of Glorious Bagan, Universities Historical Research Centre, Yangon, Myanmar, The University Press, 1996

Pictorial Guide to Pagan, Ministry of Culture, Yangon, Myanmar, The Printing and Publish Corporation, Reprint 1975

The Pagodas and Monuments of Bagan, Vol. 1, Translated by Dr Khin Maung Nyunt, Ministry of Information, Yangon, Myanmar, Graphic Training Centre (G.T.C), 1995

The Pagodas and Monuments of Bagan , Vol. 2, English Text by Dr Khin Maung Nyunt, Ministry of Information, Yangon, Myanmar, Graphic Training Centre (G.T.C), 1998

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