Travel Links
|
|
It was built in 1196 by King Narapate Sithu. It is in the south of Sulamani Zedi in Thamahti Ward west of West Pwasaw village, It has five terraces and it is the biggest of all 16 five-fronted pagodas in Bagan.
In it are five bronze Buddha Images meant to represent five Buddhas prophesied for the present Buddha World. In-scriptions also apeak of enshrinment of four relics of Buddha obtained from the King of Sri Lanka. On the various terraces are glazed figures of 550 Jataka stories and life stories up o attainment of Enlightenment. At first glance looking much like the famous Shwezigon, the Dhammayazika is unusual because it has pentagonal terraces instead of the usual square ones. Above the three receding terraces, which are ornamented with glazed Jataka plaques, rises a bell-shaped dome which marges directly into a sharply tapering conical finial.
On each of the five sides of the pagoda there is a small temple housing an image of the Buddha. The usual practice in most temples was to have four images facing the cardinal points, representing the four Buddhas of the present world cycle who have already attained Englightenment: Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa and Gotama. The fifth image, when added, represents Metteyya, the coming Buddha who is now still a Bodhisattva in the celestial abode of “Tushita”. The temples themselves are of the usual form, square in plan, with a porch for entrance, and surmounted by terraces and a curvilinear spire. The inscription records that in 1197 King Narapatisithu (1174-1211) received four holy relics from the King of Sri Lanka and that he built the pagoda in 1198 to enshrine them. The name of the pagoda, Dhammayazika or Dhammarajika in Pali, means “Pertaining to the King of the Law”, The word dhammaraja, “King of the Law”, was included in the formal titles of the Bagan kings from Kyansittha (1084-1113) onwards, Narapatisithu’s own title being Sri Tribhuvanaditya-pavarapanditad-hammarajanara patijeyyasura, “The Victorious King, Sun of the Three Worlds, Most Excellent and Wise King of the Law, Lord Supreme, Victorious Hero”. By calling themselves “King of the Law”, the kings of Bagan expressed their adherence to the ideal of Buddhist kingship, of a king upholding the Religion and living by its tenets.  Reference
1. Ancient Pagodas in Myanmar Vol I , Jan 2003, by Myat Min Hlaing 2. Glimpses of Glorious Bagan, Jan 1996, by The Universities Historical Research Centre
|
