Inside the Forbidden Temples of Bagan: Newly Discovered 11th Century Ruins

本站添加: 2026-05-11

[00:00:15]Southeast Asia is one of the most diverse places on the planet.

[00:00:27]With so many different cultures and religions all living side by side.

[00:00:42]And I'm an example of just that.

[00:00:47]My name is Peter Lee.

[00:00:50]I'm a Singaporean scholar of Peranakan descent.

[00:00:54]Chinese with a dash of Malay blood.

[00:00:57]I celebrate being mixed up.

[00:01:00]It's right in my DNA.

[00:01:04]My passion is collecting artifacts that offer a fresh narrative.

[00:01:12]It's a European fairy tale but is depicted on a batik from Indonesia.

[00:01:19]How wonderful is that?

[00:01:25]>> [music] >> I'm setting off on a new journey traveling further back in time. Oh my god, we see this everywhere in Southeast [music] Asia.

[00:01:37]To explore how the region's mighty empires have shaped our collective identity. This is a gold mine.

[00:01:44]No culture exists in isolation.

[00:01:48]In this episode, I'm traveling to Myanmar.

[00:01:52]A thousand years ago, this nation was first unified by a great empire that sprouted from its [music] arid heartlands.

[00:02:05]It's so majestic. It's an ancient [music] infinity pool.

[00:02:10]They embraced a new faith and built a sacred city in its honor.

[00:02:15]The light casting onto [music] the building, it's just incredible.

[00:02:22]I'm exploring how the Bagan Empire dominated for over two centuries establishing a culture and identity that defines the nation to this day.

[00:02:53]I'm in Bagan, Central Myanmar, and there's really only one way to see this place.

[00:03:00]It's 6:00 a.m. and I'm just about to get out this hot air balloon. The air is really still, which is just perfect.

[00:03:18]It's my first time in a hot air balloon and it's so peaceful.

[00:03:24]Floating in the sky we can see the lovely terrain here with the farms separated by borders of beautiful palms and it's so calm and peaceful up here.

[00:03:37]Largely untouched by the modern world, the landscape looks very much the same as it would have centuries ago.

[00:03:46]Rising amid this rustic scene are the beautiful spires of Bagan.

[00:03:54]Ancient Bagan was dubbed the city of a thousand temples the capital of a mighty empire that ruled for over four centuries.

[00:04:07]Bagan was first established around the year 850 and it remained a small principality for 200 years.

[00:04:18]But that all changed [music] with the birth of a legendary king.

[00:04:25]In 1014, [music] a boy called Min Saw was born to Bagan's ruler and one of his wives.

[00:04:31]>> [music] >> It was a great blessing because he only had two stepsons, offspring of the former king he had overthrown.

[00:04:41]When the brothers grew into men, they overthrew the king and banished him to live out his days as a monk.

[00:04:50]But they saw Min Saw as a brother until one day one of the brothers took Min Saw's mother as queen.

[00:05:00]Min Saw was so enraged that he gathered an army in rebellion.

[00:05:07]In single combat, he defeated [laughter] his stepbrother who drowned in the river.

[00:05:15]And so, Min Saw was crowned King Anawrahta. [music] It was the beginning of a mighty reign that would expand Bagan's territory over most of modern Myanmar to lay the foundations for the nation today.

[00:05:34]While Myanmar's urban centers have begun to modernize time in Bagan has stood pretty still.

[00:05:40]>> [music] >> Traditional pots have been in everyday use for centuries.

[00:05:49]>> [music] >> Wow, these are so beautiful. They have such simple and elegant shapes.

[00:06:04]The pots made here are famous for keeping drinking water cool.

[00:06:09]>> [laughter] >> Oh, this is too low. I think I just have to squat.

[00:06:24]When it's baked, the clay will become porous which lowers the temperature of the water inside.

[00:06:31]Tin Tin Tet has been helping her family business since the age of 15.

[00:06:37]And then here and you have to have real control on your fingertips to keep the shape very even which I obviously don't have.

[00:06:59]>> [laughter] >> I'm making a mess of this. I'm making it wider.

[00:07:04]I'm supposed to make a water pot, but I think I'm making a wobbly flower pot.

[00:07:09]Disaster.

[00:07:18]The pots are decorated and fired in a mound of straw and ash for 5 days.

[00:07:25]>> [music] [music] >> It's amazing to think that water pots are still in huge demand here.

[00:07:37]But this is why.

[00:07:40]Covering over 54,000 square kilometers, Myanmar's heartland sees less than 80 centimeters of rainfall a year.

[00:07:50]It's a third of Singapore and less than some of Africa's savannas.

[00:07:55]I'm in Tu Yin Tet So, a mountain about half an hour just outside [music] Bagan.

[00:08:06]This area is so dry >> [music] >> that it was once called the parched land.

[00:08:12]And managing water was crucial for the growth of the Bagan Empire.

[00:08:17]>> [music] >> Archaeologist Scott McRae is taking me to a site only discovered in 2013.

[00:08:28]Oh my god.

[00:08:33]It's so huge [music] and deep.

[00:08:40]Carved out of the sandstone stands an 11th [music] century reservoir.

[00:08:46]Part of a network of eight tanks and two canals that carried water to the city of Bagan.

[00:08:59]Its walls hold clues about the value of what was stored in here.

[00:09:06]I know this pattern so well, but I never imagined I would see it carved on the side of a water tank.

[00:09:13]I've seen it on temple carvings. I've seen [music] it on batik. Elaborate labyrinth patterns were set with swastikas.

[00:09:20]>> [music] >> Some people think you follow it towards enlightenment.

[00:09:27]And what about the hole in the middle?

[00:09:29]They'll put a pole in it to measure water heights at different times [music] of the year.

[00:09:35]The tank can hold as much water as an Olympic pool and at the end is a symbolic tribute.

[00:09:44]It depicts Buddha sitting on a throne [music] made of a snake so where all the water that would overflow out of the tank would pass beyond to Bagan.

[00:09:58]Spiritually purifying water shows just how precious this resource was.

[00:10:04]To think how people thought of drinking water and religion all together is something very moving and very relevant even today.

[00:10:36]I'm traveling 100 km northeast to Kyaukse where great rivers meet.

[00:10:43]And it's the source of water that held the key to how the Bagan Empire grew.

[00:10:51]>> [music] [music] >> King Anawrahta couldn't sleep after killing his stepbrother to take the Bagan [music] throne.

[00:11:12]But the lord of spirits appeared in a dream and told him, "To do good for your people and share the merit with your brother."

[00:11:21]Then he saw three snakes standing for [music] the three rivers of the area.

[00:11:26]The first he cut into four pieces.

[00:11:31]>> [music] >> And the next into five.

[00:11:35]Reflecting how those rivers were dammed.

[00:11:38]But the last snake >> [music] >> gets away.

[00:11:41]Representing a river that was never tamed.

[00:11:49]It was thanks to this dream, the legend goes, that the Bagan king built weirs and canals to divert the rivers and irrigate this land.

[00:12:03]He populated the area with villages.

[00:12:06]And their descendants still use the infrastructure to this day.

[00:12:11]I'm getting a chance to use a more modern sluice gate with farmer Tin Aung.

[00:12:17]This way?

[00:12:18]This way.

[00:12:27]This is the crucial lifeblood for over 10 farms.

[00:12:31]Look at all this water gushing forth.

[00:12:36]>> [music] >> With abundant water and fertile soil, the result was bountiful crops.

[00:12:50]>> [music] >> As rice harvests grew, so did the ancient kingdom's population.

[00:13:00]Excess food strengthened Bagan and helped it create a new society that would come to rule over the whole nation.

[00:13:16]>> [music] >> A thousand years ago, Bagan was just a small principality in central Myanmar.

[00:13:23]>> [music] >> I'm with archaeologist Giles Iannone examining remains from the early Bagan era.

[00:13:32]>> [music] >> They're searching for a new understanding of the origins of the civilization that grew into modern Myanmar.

[00:13:47]>> [music] >> These [music] are remnants of the floor surface, what we call on-floor materials.

[00:14:00]>> Yeah. And then we collect materials from inside the floor itself, which tells us about the timing of the construction of the floor.

[00:14:10]These floors are quite hard.

[00:14:11]>> Yeah. They brought in clay. They were very durable and long-lasting.

[00:14:16]We're digging through the floor of a house and trying to find the next level down.

[00:14:21]And I'm waiting for the root to just sort of level off, which would indicate the next floor level.

[00:14:32]Seems to be Oh, yes. So, I think you found it. From from top to bottom here, we might be looking at uh maybe even 800 years or more of occupation. I see.

[00:14:51]From just a couple of pits, the team have excavated hundreds of shards.

[00:14:56]>> [music] >> Leading them to believe a community of potters lived here.

[00:15:02]>> [music] >> A young Burmese researcher rediscovering his country's heritage is Saw Tun Lin.

[00:15:13]There's no previous studies on the Myanmar ceramics. So far, we uh create 36 different type and the sub type. This is really groundbreaking. It's new research. Yeah, we trying to establish uh the chronology. Bagan was the first Burmese dynasty and also their art and architecture was very unique and it was the peak time of the Burmese people. So, it is very important for us and we need to have a very good eye. Most of the young people, they think uh we are crazy.

[00:15:52]Yeah. [laughter] The team is creating the first catalog of [music] Bagan pottery to help understand how cultural identity evolved here.

[00:16:03]The pot specimens were so interesting [music] because it's a completely different kind of history about simple pots that are used for cooking, for water by peoples whose histories and narratives [music] have been forgotten.

[00:16:16]Bagan a thousand years ago was populated by distinct communities, each of a similar ethnicity and profession, who came together to create a unique [music] civilization.

[00:16:30]But for it to spread beyond its borders took divine inspiration. [music] Legend goes that a traveling monk called Shin Arahan visited Bagan in 1056.

[00:16:52]He taught the Buddhist principle of mindfulness.

[00:16:56]And King Anawrahta was so impressed, he decided to make Bagan a Buddhist kingdom.

[00:17:03]But the monk shook his head.

[00:17:05]Because for Buddhism to hold true, Bagan needed holy scriptures.

[00:17:11]And the only ones nearby were at Thaton, the capital of the Mon kingdom.

[00:17:17]But its ruler, King Manuha, refused to give them up.

[00:17:24]So, Anawrahta sent his army to take the city.

[00:17:30]After a 3-month siege, the Mon surrendered. And 30,000 captives were led away.

[00:17:38]So, in 1057, the first Buddhist scriptures arrived in Bagan.

[00:17:45]And the faith was installed in the nation.

[00:17:53]I'm in the town of Kyaukse to see a tradition that sprang from King Anawrahta's expedition in search of Buddhist relics.

[00:18:04]The legend goes that they were carried back on a royal elephant, which knelt at a nearby hill, where a great temple was founded.

[00:18:17]This history is remembered by a unique tradition.

[00:18:29]This dance tells of the battle of will between a wild elephant and mahout.

[00:18:40]The elephant is unruly at first, but gradually trust is kindled.

[00:18:49]In the end, they dance in unison.

[00:18:54]It actually reminds me of the lion dances back home.

[00:19:05]That was so wonderful. Thank you so much. I really loved it. Can you show me the differences between the happy movements and the grand movements?

[00:19:18]What about the happy movement?

[00:19:27]I'm very happy. I want to be a disco dancing elephant.

[00:19:37]How many seconds do we hold this?

[00:19:44]Thank you. With that, I'm ready for the real experience.

[00:19:53]Yeah, see see too when I when I see I can't see. Oh my god. It's really hard to get into. You need to be like a contortionist. The frame weighs over 150 kg. It's so heavy.

[00:20:07]There's a bar on my shoulder. Look at that. This is a torture chamber.

[00:20:11]>> [music] >> I'm finally in and ready for my performance.

[00:20:38]Okay.

[00:20:41]All right.

[00:20:42]You have to carry this whole weight and lift up your legs as well.

[00:20:46]It's very exhilarating, actually.

[00:20:52]It was a real privilege to see this most unusual dance that imitated natural movements of the elephant.

[00:20:59]Made me feel connected to a very long history. There's no real way to transmit pure emotion across the ages, but I'd say dance comes pretty close.

[00:21:18]In the late [music] 11th century, King Anawrahta was dedicated to installing Buddhism as Bagan's state religion.

[00:21:26]But he was met with a backlash from the worshipers of the local animist gods called nats.

[00:21:36]Their center of worship is Mount Popa.

[00:21:43]I'm making the ascent to see how this faith survives.

[00:21:49]This section of the steps is all caged in like this to keep all the monkeys out.

[00:21:55]But the infamous primates are too cunning by far.

[00:22:01]The steps are getting steeper.

[00:22:03]But with all these spiritual places it's always a struggle and it's an important part of this whole process.

[00:22:11]After 777 steps I finally made it to the realm of the gods.

[00:22:20]>> [music] >> It's so serene and calm here.

[00:22:29]>> [music] >> It's interesting how pilgrims just go around each image Buddhist or nat.

[00:22:46]I'm making an offering to the lady of Popa, Mae Wunna, with caretaker Tun Tan.

[00:22:57]So, first one?

[00:23:09]What sort of people come here to make such offerings?

[00:23:25]U Tun Tan tells me that Mae Wunna was once a human who died of heartbreak when her lover and two sons were executed.

[00:23:35]Many of the other nats were also once people who met with tragic [music] deaths.

[00:24:00]To make Bagan a Buddhist empire, King Anawrahta recognized 37 nats as spirits serving under the Buddha.

[00:24:17]So, nats act as intermediaries.

[00:24:20]Almost like Catholic saints.

[00:24:23]It's sort of a very neat integration into Buddhist theology.

[00:24:27]>> [music] >> This union of faiths has been going strong for close to a thousand years.

[00:24:33]And the same idea of assimilation also helped expand Bagan's rule over nearby territories and peoples. [music] King Anawrahta linked his kingdom to the Pyu people which helped unify the central plains.

[00:24:53]He became a patron to Mon artisans and scholars of the south and also used diplomacy to win over the Shan and Rakhine peoples.

[00:25:04]By the end of his 33-year reign in 1077 the Bagan empire had established a territory similar to modern-day Myanmar.

[00:25:17]But the bigger task remained of unifying his new people under one culture.

[00:25:30]Buddhism helped to shape the Bagan empire.

[00:25:34]But what does it mean for modern Myanmar?

[00:25:40]To understand the role of Buddhist institutions, I'm at a monastery to join in a sacred rite.

[00:25:49]This practice of alms goes back to the birth of Buddhism.

[00:25:53]It's one of the earliest aspects of a monastic practice.

[00:25:57]Alms bowls have a symbolic importance because they are one of a monk's few personal possessions.

[00:26:05]They're strictly reserved for priests and novices.

[00:26:08]So, I'm using a tiffin carrier instead.

[00:26:20]The march moves at a quick pace.

[00:26:24]I didn't think I was going to go for a morning [music] jog.

[00:26:27]It's a tough time catching up with them.

[00:26:40]I've got so much here.

[00:26:42]It's just groaning with rice and food.

[00:26:46]After an hour, we're back at the temple.

[00:26:50]It's time for morning chores for the hundred novices here.

[00:27:02]While they keep busy, I'm talking to head monk Shin Keminda.

[00:27:34]So, the temples have always been the center for academia and knowledge. In that way, monasteries have shaped society since the Bagan period.

[00:27:50]>> [music] [singing] >> Doing good deeds to improve karma was also a common practice in [music] the Bagan era.

[00:28:07]And merit making was also responsible for the founding of Bagan's great temples.

[00:28:19]I'm visiting one of the empire's greatest architectural [music] achievements.

[00:28:27]This is the Ananda Temple completed in about 1105 by King Anawrahta's great successor, King Kyanzittha.

[00:28:37]To find out about its symbolism, I'm speaking to art historian Charlotte Galloway.

[00:28:43]If you look closely, you can see that these are actually in [music] the shape of a stylized lotus petal.

[00:28:50]The lotus flower [music] starts closed, emerges from the mud completely clean.

[00:28:55]So, it's it's a symbol of purity. And as you go through the stages of enlightenment, the lotus flower also opens.

[00:29:02]>> I see. So, the the shape of the spire is sort of reaching out to its [music] enlightenment, higher and higher.

[00:29:11]And what about these green glazed tiles?

[00:29:14][music] They are so striking. Yes, these would have been a wonderfully vivid turquoise blue. Below each tile, there is an inscription which is in Mon script.

[00:29:24]The tiles show scenes from the Buddha's past lives called the Jataka stories.

[00:29:30]Another motif really catches my eye.

[00:29:35]It's so interesting that two bodies and one head.

[00:29:37]>> Mhm. It's such a clever architectural device. They wrap around the corner of the building. And so, the lower halves are literally split in two. So, from whatever direction you come from, you're seeing the whole lion.

[00:29:52]Its open mouth is about spreading the Buddha's teachings, and that is why also we see the lions up on the rooftops.

[00:30:00]That is part of their function, as well as offering protection.

[00:30:05]These lions remind me of Chinese guardian lions.

[00:30:09]It shows how interlinked we all are.

[00:30:12]And Ananda Temple is a real mix of influences.

[00:30:17]Its archways, believed to be from Pyu culture, became a part of Bagan's refined aesthetic.

[00:30:28]And their temples were built taller than ever before as a beacon of Buddhism and a new Burmese identity.

[00:30:39]By the turn of the 12th century, pilgrims from as far as Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and China came here.

[00:30:48]Bagan became a center of Buddhism with one of the world's highest concentrations of Buddhist architecture, which saw the rise and demand for intricate religious goods.

[00:31:03]And so, the Bagan era was also the dawn of Burmese lacquerware.

[00:31:10]Over 4,000 craftsmen still specialize in creating these [music] intricate works of art.

[00:31:22]It's really silent because there are no machines. [music] Everything is handmade, like it was in the old days.

[00:31:29]>> [music] >> Myanmar is one of only a few countries where lacquerware is still handmade in the traditional way.

[00:31:35]This is just amazing.

[00:31:40]This workshop is run by third-generation artisan Mala Win Myint.

[00:31:46]And I'm getting a crash course in the first steps of making a lacquer bowl.

[00:31:53]Well, this is a bamboo hand weaving and without any glue.

[00:31:57]So, take it this one.

[00:32:00]And then you can start coil it up. Okay.

[00:32:06]I see. So, the first box the pattern.

[00:32:08]Yes.

[00:32:09]This is very interesting. Is that easy work? Yes, the bamboo has a certain tension, so it sort of pushes everything into place, right? I think they are unique. It's okay. You can you can start from this part.

[00:32:24]The base is smoothed out and built up using clay.

[00:32:30]Then up to 20 layers of lacquer made from tree [music] resin is applied, which gives it the trademark gloss.

[00:32:37]>> [music] >> Next comes my [music] favorite part, scratching in the ornate patterns.

[00:32:49]I think this is a technique [music] unique to Bagan. Seems a very interesting way to decorate lacquer, which is ultimately just [music] a plain color.

[00:32:58]So, how long would it take for a scene like this to be completed?

[00:33:01]>> From the beginning [music] to the end in it will take like 1 and 1/2 year. Wow.

[00:33:09]>> [music] >> Once the designs are etched in, resin is applied to the grooves.

[00:33:21]There, just wipe it off.

[00:33:23]Then a powdered pigment is rubbed in to stain them a shade of orange.

[00:33:32]Quite often the best things are difficult to make, and lacquer clearly is a very tricky process. [music] Yet, it still survives here.

[00:33:43]Willpower, need, and the love of beauty and heritage, [music] everything combines so beautifully.

[00:34:03]Lacquer in Bagan was used to make everything from Buddhas to ceremonial vessels.

[00:34:09]And it was also used by the royal court.

[00:34:12]Some think lacquerware [music] came from the Mon craftsmen of the south.

[00:34:16]Others say it's from the Shan [music] states in the east, or perhaps it was inherited from the Pyu people via the southern Chinese region called Yun, which is also the word for lacquer in Burmese.

[00:34:28]What's clear is that Bagan, with the demand for royal and religious finery, was instrumental in honing and taking this technique to a new level.

[00:34:43]But old designs are giving rise to a new art, like this, Bagan ink.

[00:34:51]Chan Nyein Ko first started body painting at the age of 19.

[00:34:56]He's inspired by motives found in the city's ancient structures.

[00:35:01]It's quite cool, actually. I think I might try one.

[00:35:08]I like this like Bagan I'm in his hands. Going to leave this completely up to him.

[00:35:16]I'm really hoping for something fantastic, something that will make me start wearing sleeveless shirts.

[00:35:26]I feel an armband appearing.

[00:35:29]I wonder if the architects from the ancient days ever imagined that their designs would appear on the arms of travelers in modern Bagan.

[00:35:44]Oh my goodness. I'm the first one.

[00:35:47]With the outline complete, it's on to the coloring in red and green, a nod to Bagan's old murals.

[00:35:56]I love how green is perfect on my skin.

[00:36:15]Triangles like these are often found on the pillars of Bagan era temples.

[00:36:20]Wow.

[00:36:24]And it's [music] done. Oh, look at that.

[00:36:26]I feel like a Bagan warrior.

[00:36:33]By the 13th century, Bagan was a world-famous Buddhist center with, some estimate, over 10,000 religious structures.

[00:36:43]But it was this excess that also had a hand in bringing down the empire.

[00:37:00]800 years ago, Bagan grew as a Buddhist empire with a deep [music] culture of merit making.

[00:37:07]But in the late 13th century, a formidable foe was [music] gathering to the north.

[00:37:18]In 1271, envoys [music] from China's Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan, reached the courts of Bagan's 12th ruler, King Narathihapate.

[00:37:28]But when they didn't remove their shoes in his presence, so the story goes, the king had them executed.

[00:37:36]To kill the insolent king, Mongol forces marched south in 1283.

[00:37:44]The Mongols had 12,000 horsemen compared to Bagan's 2,000 battle elephants.

[00:37:52]The sight of the elephants made their horses cower.

[00:37:56]So, the Mongols dismounted, >> [screaming] >> lured the Bagan army into a clearing, and rained arrows on them.

[00:38:11]King Narathihapate fled the city, then surrendered before he was assassinated in 1287, marking the end of the great Bagan empire.

[00:38:28]Over 700 years later, the city's monuments still stand as a reminder of Myanmar's origins.

[00:38:37]To find out how they are being protected, I'm visiting Thatbyinnyu.

[00:38:44]The name means omniscience, and at over 60 m, it's the tallest temple in Bagan.

[00:38:53]But in 2016, it was struck by a powerful 6.8 magnitude [music] earthquake.

[00:39:00]And the race is now on to save it from collapse.

[00:39:06]>> [music] >> Overseeing the project is Soe Soe Lwin.

[00:39:11]The upper part is the and the back damage condition. What is a little and the singing.

[00:39:17]Wow, so the scaffolding goes right up to the top of the vaulted ceiling.

[00:39:23]They will make the calculation and the investigation and then find the methodology.

[00:39:30]So, the top of each pipe has to really just be at that right level. So, you have to adjust this one by one for every single piece.

[00:39:38]>> Yes, every single. Wow.

[00:39:42]The restoration is projected to last 9 years.

[00:39:51]The Burmese have been working very closely with [music] the Chinese, the Koreans, the Americans, the Japanese, and the Germans to try and fix all the damage [music] caused by the earthquakes.

[00:40:01]All this damage and repair, time and time and time again, is actually such a natural [music] part of Bagan's heritage.

[00:40:11]In 2019, Bagan finally gained recognition from the world [music] as a UNESCO heritage site.

[00:40:19]The area is now a protection zone.

[00:40:23]But right in its center, one building stands out.

[00:40:27]A bold interpretation of King Anawrahta's royal palace.

[00:40:34]To tell me more about it is historian Non Chlain.

[00:40:40]These towers, they're so golden and they soar right up to the sky. What kind of hall would this be?

[00:41:12]I think this is a wonderful idea and I I love that there are two Bagans. It actually keeps the past alive.

[00:41:19]>> [music] >> It may not be an accurate portrayal, but this is still a big draw for local visitors.

[00:41:29]It's a fascinating [music] glimpse into the minds of the modern Burmese people because it's an idealized vision of the Bagan Empire and how they originated all things quintessentially [music] Burmese.

[00:41:42]It reflects how history and identity are in this ever-shifting dance to define the other.

[00:41:53]Burmese identity is being embraced here in other unusual ways.

[00:42:01]Soe Moe Aung and Ja Sai, locals from Mandalay, are here for their wedding photos.

[00:42:09]So, Western romance and Bagan in the background, it's crazy. This is exactly the kind of mixed-up thing I love.

[00:42:17]But in 40° heat, they don't hang about.

[00:42:21]It's on to the next location.

[00:42:29]Joe Win Latt has been photographing newlyweds here for 6 years and business is booming.

[00:42:35]He's a Burmese of Chinese descent, which means we also have a language in common.

[00:42:42]>> [laughter] >> So, this is about 10 times [music] a month he comes to Bagan, so that's about 100 times a year. I mean, that's a lot.

[00:43:12]>> [music] >> Modern weddings and ancient temples are so different, but it all comes together very naturally. These temples are ritualistic sites.

[00:43:22]Wedding photography, on the other hand, is a modern document of a different, but equally meaningful kind of devotion.

[00:43:38]>> [music] >> Bagan, originally a small principality in central Myanmar, made clever use of natural [music] resources to engage in military and diplomatic conquests.

[00:43:55]Religious devotion was an important motivator for this expansion.

[00:44:02]And the capital city grew into a shining beacon for the study of Buddhism that was renowned throughout the world.

[00:44:10]But their biggest legacy lies closer to home.

[00:44:14]The unification of the different peoples in the plains, mountains, and coastlines of Myanmar is a blueprint that has continued today.

[00:44:28]After the downfall [music] of the Bagan Empire in 1287, Myanmar was only reunited as one nation [music] again over two centuries later.

[00:44:42]As it increasingly opens up to the world beyond its borders, the story of the great Bagan Empire is a poignant reminder of how a new culture was formed from diverse influences, creating a lasting identity that still defines [music] the nation.

[00:45:13]>> [music] [music] [music]