You may know Bagan from photographs: a flat plain, a river, and temple spires in every direction. Behind the view is a real capital, a real kingdom and a real argument among historians. This article walks you through all three.
Bagan, Myanmar: Where Is It Located?
Bagan, formerly called Pagan, lies in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. It sits on the central plain inside a bend of the Ayeyarwady River. If you are searching for “where Bagan is located” or “where Bagan Myanmar is”, that is the short answer: a river plain in the middle of the country.
The river matters for the heritage listing too. UNESCO describes the Bagan heritage property as made up of eight components. One of them lies on the opposite bank of the Ayeyarwady from the other seven.
What Was Bagan?
Bagan was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom. The kingdom ruled between the 9th and 13th centuries. It united the regions that later formed modern Myanmar.
The city was not only a political centre. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, according to an estimate quoted by Turkish Wikipedia, more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were built on the plain. That is a very large building programme for a few centuries.
UNESCO explains what drove it. Donations made to earn religious merit paid for the temples. Construction peaked in the 13th century.
How Many Temples Are There? Two Numbers, Two Meanings
The headline “2,000 temples” is a rounded figure. Two better-sourced numbers exist, and they count different things.
- Turkish Wikipedia says more than 2,200 temples and pagodas remain standing.
- UNESCO’s inventory reports 3,595 recorded monuments. This is a broader category covering stupas, temples and other Buddhist structures.
Think of a bank statement. One line shows your account balance, another shows every transaction you ever made. Both are correct. They just measure different things. The same goes here.
The listed area is large. Bagan joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019, and the inscribed property covers 5,005.49 hectares.
The Kings Who Built It
The nomination file for Bagan names Anawrahta as the first Bagan ruler whose existence is documented by solid evidence. He reigned from 1044 to 1077. That date gives you an anchor for the kingdom’s early history.
Three buildings show how the city grew over the 12th century:
- Ananda Temple. It was built in the early 12th century. The Archaeological Survey of India later carried out structural and chemical conservation work there.
- Thatbyinnyu. It dates to 1150–1151. At 66 metres, it is the tallest temple in Bagan.
- Dhammayangyi. This is the largest temple in Bagan. It is dated to 1167–1170, in the reign of King Narathu.
So the tallest and the largest temples are different buildings. Keep that in mind when you plan a visit: one is built for height, the other for bulk.
Kublai Khan and the Pagan Kingdom
The story of the Mongol conflict starts with a demand. In 1271–1272 the Mongols asked Pagan for tribute. King Narathihapate refused. Kublai Khan then sent a second embassy in 1273.
War followed. The first Mongol campaigns between Kublai Khan’s Yuan dynasty and the Pagan Kingdom took place from 1277 to 1287.
In the campaigns of 1283–1285, the Mongols advanced as far as Tagaung and Hanlin. They forced Narathihapate to flee to Lower Burma.
The king did not survive the crisis for long. In July 1287 his son Thihathu killed him. With that, the central authority that could have carried out the kingdom’s agreement with the Mongols fell apart.
Did the Mongols Really Destroy Bagan?
The traditional account says the Mongols captured Bagan in 1287. That is the story behind the dramatic “kingdom Kublai Khan destroyed” line.
More recent research disagrees. It argues that the army probably never reached the city. Even if it did, the damage it caused was limited.
A second explanation goes further. The historian Michael Aung-Thwin explains Bagan’s decline less by Mongol destruction and more by provincial rulers. Strengthened by the invasions, they built new political centres.
The formal end came later. In December 1297 the Myinsaing Kingdom became the new power in Upper Burma, and Bagan officially lost its status as capital.
The safest reading is this. The Mongol campaigns hurt the kingdom badly and drove its king out. Whether they razed the city itself is doubtful.
Timeline
- MS 650–830: Part of a ceramic production mound at Otein Taung is dated to this range by radiocarbon.
- 1044–1077: Anawrahta reigns, the first Bagan ruler documented by solid evidence.
- Early 12th century: Ananda Temple is built.
- 1150–1151: Thatbyinnyu Temple, 66 metres high, is built.
- 1167–1170: Dhammayangyi Temple is dated to the reign of King Narathu.
- 1277–1287: The first Mongol wars between the Yuan dynasty and the Pagan Kingdom are fought.
- July 1287: Narathihapate is killed, and the central authority breaks down.
- December 1297: Bagan officially loses its status as capital.
- 1975: An earthquake badly damages many monuments.
- 2015: The Myazedi inscription is added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.
- August 2016: A magnitude 6.8 earthquake damages hundreds of monuments in Bagan.
- 2019: Bagan is added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Details You Won’t Find in Guidebooks
Radiocarbon dates from before the temples. A 2001 study by Hudson, Nyein Lwin and Win Maung dated part of a ceramic production mound at Otein Taung to MS 650–830 by radiocarbon.
A copy of an Indian shrine. The Mahabodhi Temple in Bagan, dated to about 1218, is a small copy of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India.
A stone in four languages. The 12th-century Myazedi inscription carries text on its four faces in Pyu, Mon, Burmese and Pali. UNESCO placed it on the Memory of the World Register in 2015.
A scan taken just before the quake. In June 2016, CyArk collected images and scans at four Bagan temples. The earthquake struck soon after, and the data was used to measure the damage by comparison.
Old repairs caused harm. After the quake, the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties inspected the murals in September 2016. It found that some materials used in earlier restorations had damaged the paintings.
Earthquakes and Repairs
The monuments have survived many centuries, but not without injury. The 1975 earthquake badly damaged many of them. UNESCO and UNDP conservation projects afterwards restored selected murals.
Then came August 2016. According to Bagan’s UNESCO nomination file, the magnitude 6.8 earthquake damaged 389 monuments. It completely destroyed 17 small ones.
Bagan is still a living place. ICCROM’s 2016 assessment described it as an active centre of worship and pilgrimage. More than 300 of its temples held significant mural paintings.
If you visit, remember that the temples are not museum pieces. People still pray in them.
FAQ
Where is Bagan located?
Bagan is in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar, on the central plain in a bend of the Ayeyarwady River.
Does Bagan have 2,000 temples?
The number is higher. Turkish Wikipedia says more than 2,200 temples and pagodas still stand. UNESCO lists 3,595 recorded monuments, a wider category that includes stupas, temples and other Buddhist structures.
Did Kublai Khan destroy Bagan?
His armies fought the Pagan Kingdom between 1277 and 1287 and helped break it apart. The old story says the Mongols captured Bagan in 1287. Newer research says the army probably never reached the city, and that any damage was limited if it did.
When did Bagan stop being a capital?
Bagan officially lost its status as capital in December 1297, when the Myinsaing Kingdom became the new power in Upper Burma.
When did Bagan become a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
UNESCO inscribed Bagan in 2019. The listed area covers 5,005.49 hectares.
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Bagan whc.unesco.org
- Turkish Wikipedia — Bagan tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia — Bagan en.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia — First Mongol invasion of Burma en.wikipedia.org
- Myanmar — Bagan World Heritage nomination file, Volume I whc.unesco.org
- Hudson, Nyein Lwin and Win Maung — The Origins of Bagan: New Dates and Old Inhabitants researchgate.net
- UNESCO Memory of the World — Myazedi Quadrilingual Stone Inscription unesco.org
- Prime Minister’s Office of India — PM visits Ananda Temple, Bagan pmindia.gov.in
- Permanent Delegation of Japan to UNESCO — Historic Area of Bagan, Myanmar unesco.emb-japan.go.jp
- Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties — Investigation of Damaged Murals in Bagan tobunken.go.jp
- CyArk — Using Technology to Help Restore Bagan artsandculture.google.com
- ICCROM — ICCROM supports Myanmar after the earthquake iccrom.org
Image: Bagan, Myanmar, Htilominlo Temple and other Buddhist stupas in Bagan plain.jpg — Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0
