Sulamani Phaya (စူဠာမဏိဘုရား)

Burmese. ‘Crowning Jewel Pagoda’ or ‘Small Ruby Temple’. Name of a two- storey Buddhist gu or cave-style temple in Bagan, and is hence sometimes referred to as Sulamani Guphaya. It was constructed in 1183 as one of many temples built by King Narapati Sithu, during whose reign the Pagan Empire reached its peak. The name is related to Sulamani Cetiya, a shrine erected by the Hindu god Indra in his celestial domain Tavatimsa and used as a reliquary in which he enshrined the Buddha's hair. It is considered the most important temple of the late Pagan Period (1170-1300 AD) featuring fine brickwork and use of stone in both load-bearing areas, as well as on vulnerable external corner elements. The temple has broad terraces giving it a pyramid-like shape and throughout the brickwork is considered some of the best in Pagan. The interior face of the wall was once lined with a hundred monastic cells, a feature unique among Pagan's ancient monasteries, whereas the ambulatory, i.e. the interior passage around the base, is painted with fine frescoes that date from the Konbaung Period (1752-1885 AD). See MAP. 回