Travel Links
|
|
With the Religion flourishing, there were also many ordination halls, called thein in Myanmar, from the Palisima. They were used not only for the ordination ceremony itself, but for other such ceremonies as the confession by monks, after Lent, of offences by monks, after Lent, of offences against scriptural injunctions. The Upali Thein takes its name from Upali, a celebrated monk who lived during the reign of Htilominlo (1211-1234?). Since few ordination halls of the Bagan period remain in good repair, the Upali Thein provides a rare and interesting example.
Although built of brick, the ordination hall seems to copy a wooden structure. It has a long central nave with a ridge roof and a pair of side aisles with lean-to roofs. There are simulated pillars and cross beams at each end of the building, as well as assimulated bargeboards terminating the gable and lean-to roofs. The low crenellated parapets on the roof are on 18th century addition. Inside, there is an image of the Buddha placed on a pedestal near the western end. The wall paintings are not contemporaneous with the building but date from the 18th century. Unlike the small, paneled paintings of the Bagan period, the scenes here are large and continuous, and show the renunciation of the world by past Buddhas, the attainment of Enlightenment by successive Buddhas, and the consecration of an ordination hall by King Anawrahta (1044-1077). Reference 1. Glimpses of Glorious Bagan, Jan 1996, by The Universities Historical Research Centre |
