A visitor sees Dhammayangyi Temple (1167-1170 A.D.)

Atop any temple in Old Bagan,

I can easily spot you

because you are the gigantic one

among the silent sacred standing brick stones.

Dhammayan, as you are popularly called,

is your being the biggest a blessing by chance?”

Your red bricks were layered

by the subjects of King Narathu

who ordered to brick up your interior

so no one can enter you,

and perhaps,

so no one can understand his intentions.

One more, you were patterned

to the prettiest temple of Ananda --

the most welcoming of all temples --

so why close you up inside

and open only the four porches

and the vast corridors

to your faithful Buddhists

and this visitor?

I know the reasons of your being the biggest

and your being secretive inside died with your king

who was said to have died in assassination,

the very means he used to seize the power

from his father and elder brother.

Perhaps your gigantic existence

would atone for his sins.

Perhaps your closed interiors

would keep his inner remorse.

Perhaps this is just something a visitor can say,

so that she can understand

why she traveled this far away.

Gerlie M. Uy

*This is a poem inspired after a travel in Bagan in April 2014.

Please see, among my entries on Myanmar,

Foot and Fire