Bagan that has a cluster of artifacts grandly stands out as the pride of Myanmar. Up to now, you can see religious edifices such as pagodas, stupas and temples built between 11 and 13 Century AD.

Among them, the Ananda Temple is well known for its highest standard of arts and crafts. Masonry art, glazed plaques, lacquer ware, stuccowork, sculptures and floral carvings in detail provide reason for the Ananda’s fame.

The Ananda, which is a massive temple with two vaulted bases, has large wooden door leaves at the entrance of the outer corridor.

The leaves of woodcarving are 24 ft high, 6 inches wide and 7 inches thick. In making forms, they are not cut by saw by whittled by knife.

The lower bronzed coil frame and the main pillar are the original masterpieces. Although the door leaves were made in 11 Century AD, the red stained woodcarvings and floral designs were renovated and fixed in 16 Century AD. It is amazing to study the way of setting up the door leaves each of which weighs one ton.

Stone socket at the bottom of the door as a pivot. Therefore, it is accessible for one man to manage the door.

Above the pillar, an iron ring is put in place. The ring is the head of crossed iron bars. They are embedded in two large stone slabs which have the same size of space for the crossed iron bars to be fitted. The iron bars serve as the bolt of the door. So, although the door was set up a long time ago, the iron ring did not get out of the original place and the door is still held in place. It is worth appreciating the idea of creating the crossed iron bars and ring.

If you get outside of the Ananda , you will reach the outer circuit or the platform. That time, well wishers built brick stairways in the south, north and west of the temple. That’s why the very beginning form of the great Ananda can be seen only from the east which has no stairway. From the external view, it is clearly seen as an ornamental backdrop of arches around the temple, which are a mixed creation of masonry and stuccowork.

Windows and other spaces have beautiful decorations, which make the Ananda more graceful and grand. Glazed plaques are not only on the tiers of upper terrace but also around the bottom of the temple.

Buddhology figures depicting minor Jatakas and historical episodes are seen on these plaques. Some of those were destroyed by the elements and human beings while some remain in their original form.

Above these plaques and around the decorative row of upright leaves of the temple, plain, smooth and greenish glazed plaques are found.

Around the bottom of the Ananda, you can view lion figures jointly shaped by stuccowork and masonry art. There are two lion statues at each corner of the prayer hall. Moreover, at each corner of the building, two statues are kept.

The precincts of the Ananda are surrounded by a brick wall on which Singhalese style small temples surmount. Each side of the wall is 550 ft long and on which 252 small encircling temples lie. So altogether 1,008 small temples exist on four sides of the brick wall.

Actually, the famous Ananda Temple reflects the strength, unity, religion, art and culture, which flourished highly in the Bagan era. After observing the embellishments at the Ananda in detail, let us say that Great Ananda Temple is the only place where you can study the standard of architecture highly developed in Bagan era.