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.

Copyright February 2015
Gerlie M. Uy

*This is a poem inspired after a travel in Bagan in April 2014.
Please see, among my entries on Myanmar,
my travel blog on Dhammayangyi Temple here.

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