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Type of monument | Type II Temple (Kundaung Pauk Gu) |
Location | About a mile east of Bagan |
Region | Minnanthu |
Built by | Narapatisithu |
Date | A D 1183 |
Monument Number | 748/ 364 A |
Sulamani Temple (748/ 364 A)
“In order that men might follow the Path and reach fruition in Nibbana, he built a great work of merit with two hollow storeys and called it Sulamani.”
Thus do the chronicles record this act of merit by King Narapatisithu (1174- 1211). The name chosen —Culamcini in Pali, meaning “Crowning Jewel”- was a particularly sacred one, being the name of the reliquary monument in the celestial abode of Tavatimsa in which was enshrined the holy hair of the Buddha when, as Prince Siddhattha, he cut it off to renounce the world and set out on a life of asceticism.
The chronicles also record how Narapatisithu settled on a site for the temple. It is said that once, when Narapatisithu was returning from climbing Mount Tuywin, he chanced upon a ruby shining radiantly in a hollow.
View of Sulamani Temple Unique True Arch of Sulamani Temple
Sulamani Temple (Google Map)
Reference Books:
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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