Mahabodhi Temple

Unusual pyramidal temple modelled on the Mahabodhi in Bodhgaya

The Mahabodhi stands out from every other structure on the Bagan plain: a soaring pyramidal tower decorated with hundreds of niched Buddha images, built in imitation of the great Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya in India. It was constructed in the 13th century by a Bagan king who had sent monks to study in India and wished to bring something of that sacred landscape home.

The exterior is covered in small niches, each containing a seated Buddha figure — there are said to be over a thousand of them. The overall effect is unlike anything else in Myanmar. It sits in the heart of Old Bagan, close to the Thatbyinnyu and easily combined with a morning circuit of the central temples.

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A story
The Mahabodhi was built in the 13th century as a deliberate copy of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India — the site where the Buddha attained enlightenment. It is the only pyramidal-spired temple in Bagan, making it immediately recognisable among the rounded stupas and terraced temples. The original Bodhgaya temple was itself rebuilt several times; Bagan's copy is now in some respects a record of what Bodhgaya looked like in the 13th century.

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