Sulamani Temple
Date; 1183
The Sulamani weighs in with other Pagan Leviathans, such as the Thatbyinnyu and the Gawdaw palin. It is about 15 years junior to the Dhamma yazika stupa, finished in 1197-1198, which probably represents the last gasp of gigantic construction in the city. The tower was damaged in the 1975 quake and restored with less than perfect proportions. The hoisting of its gilded finial, or bit, was the focus of national attention in September, 1998. The corridors boast perhaps the most inventive and engaging 18th century painting in Burma.
Visit
The Sulamani can be combined with he nearby Dhammayan-gyi temple. The approach to the temple today is from the west, but its ancient entrance is on the opposite side. Shops lining the modern entrance mar the view intended by the architects, so it is wise to scoot to one of the other three sides for a proper appreciation.
The temple's stone inscription is located inside the northern entrance hall and is dated to 1183. The original ancient name of the temple is unknown, but its present name stems from 'chulaman' (Pali), or the jewelled-headdress that Gotama removed upon abandoning the place. It is believed to reside in a special heaven where it is worshipped by the gods. The two-storied design is reminiscent of the Thatbyinnyu, Gawdaw-palin and numerous passages open to the exterior. The smaller upper storey mirrors the plan below, with a large Buddha seated within a central chamber facing east. Prominent stairways leading to the upper terraces are in both side corridors.
Roughly 40 percent of the original exterior stucco survives much of it fresh as the day it set. Stone blocks and rows of header bricks binding the facing of the wall to its inner fabric are visible where the stucco has flaked off. Below the lavish pediments over the doors are small niches once probably containing seated figures, and early convention found at the Shwegu-gyi and the Ananda. Miniature stupas above allow us to imagine the design of ancient, large stupas that have not survived in their entirely.
Glazed ceramic insets accent the base of the temple and the upper terraces and glisten in the setting sun. Many of the tiles are colored both green and yellow, a combination that probably began sometime in the second half of the 12th century. The earliest dated glazed tiles are in solid green color and are seen at the Shwegu-gyi, dated to 1131. The same two-colored tiles are used at the Htilominlo, but the yellow has adhered far less well.
Refurbishing
The Sulamani was subject to constant refurbishment after the capital shifted from Pagan to the Ava area in the fourteenth century. All of the major temple entered a period of limited use and were subject to intrusive painting, offered as acts of devotion. Ink inscriptions from as early as 1299 and 1317 point to refreshed brick sculpture and painting additions. ( Than Tun, 1996 ). The ubiquitous monk Anandasura was also active at the Sulamani, witnessed by his one-line inscriptions in red ink. Few works can be seen from this early period, however. The ogres painted on the major doorways may date in this early phase, but they could also be considerably later.
Painting belonging to the time of construction in 1183 is mainly in the vaulted ceilings where roughly 40 percent survives. The walls, however, were covered originally with a light tan wash framed by painted corner pilasters and registers at the tops and bottoms, resembling the interiors of the Thatbyinnyu, Dhammayan-gyi and all of the later large temples. This treatment is readily appreciated in the main modern entrances where large ogres have been painted over the tan wash. It is therefore a mistake to think that any later painting covered earlier figurative murals.
The central brick Buddha images and the smaller ones within the corridors were repaired by the laity between 1927 and 1929, recorded in many ink inscriptions on the nearby walls. Much of this was organized by and energetic monk name U Tatiana.
The most commanding painting was added to the corridors and entrance halls by multiple donors between October, 1778 and April, (1782-1819) whose reign saw the building of the Ananda Temple Monastery and Upali Thein ordination hall. Mrurals from the Konbaung period (1752-1885) at Pagan were generally part of a single commission, with all painting in each monument conforming to a uniform programmed. The walls of the Sulamani, however, reveal no connected subject matter, since multiple donors commissioned different paintings at various times. Much of the Sulamani painting was done some ten years after the Shwe-zigon murals dated to 1768, but the style looks forward to the later murals, such as those at the Ananda Temple Monastery. The decade following 1768 perhaps signaled a fundamental shift in painting at Pagan.
The Sulamani painting also affords the best opportunity to witness the underlying grids used to make compositions symmetrical. Similar grids from the ancient period are visible now and then throughout Pagan. Many dated ink inscriptions record donations at the temple, but more study is required before the donations can be connected to the scores of compositions.
West Corridor (Modern Entrance )
The west corridor today forms the temple's entrance, but it was originally at the rear.
A lengthy inscription in Pali and Burmese to the left of the central seated Buddha is dated to 1778. A large painted reclining Buddha further to the left represents the master's death at Kushinagara in India, identified in a tiny inscription near the Buddha's feet ( 'Kusannaram' ). The two identical Shala trees, flanking the Buddha, are as they are described in the Pali texts. The figures closest to the Buddha express their grief with their hands over their faces, but other, more enlightened, are shown unperturbed, a distinction made in Buddhist art from a very early time.
A shorter inscription on the right side of the corridor belongs to Maung Hpyu, described as a rich man wishing to obtain nirvana.
He donated a Buddha sheltered by the snake-king Muchalinda and the Buddha residing at the Jetavana Monastery. Many of these are within this corridor, but others are perhaps throughout the temple. The inscription is placed next to a huge seated Buddha and a kneeling disciple.
North Corridor (Side)
The first painting on the outer wall of the corridor is a large seated Buddha flanked by two disciples. An adjacent eleven-line inscription dated both in the Burmese and the Buddhist Era equates to 1778. The donor was named nandasila from Inwa (modern Ava). He also says that it was painted with yellow red and multiple colours and was done by an artist ('panchisaya', Burmese).
The walls of the entrance hall are filled with lasted 18th century painting. The lengthy inscription high on the eastern wall records the rebuilding of Buddha images in 1779 by a monk named Vimala. This monk also dedicated paintings showing the Buddha shielded by Muchalinda, the Buddha converting the five ascetics at Sarnath, the 28 Buddhas and possibly the Seven Weeks, painted in various colours, according to the inscription. The scene at Sarnath is immediately below and to the right, the five new disciples kneeling in a row. The Muchalinda composition is likely on the other side of the wall, while the Seven Weeks is probably on the east side of the temple.
Another inscription records a date of 1885 when foreigners of different religions ruled Burma and the Buddhist community was then weak. The rebuilding and painting was undertaken to restore the Buddhist faith. The English had taken the palace at Mandalay in 1885 and the country was officially annexed in the following year.
In one of the doorway chambers before the stairway are two magnificent tuskers, each with various. The one on the right loosely translates, King Elephant, the white elephant, beauteous for all to behold. The companion painting on the opposite side is identified as, the Elephant looking like a Black Cloud. These can be dated by an ink inscription to November 6, 1778 (Than Tun, 1996).
At the end of the corridor is another large seated Buddha next to a reclining Buddha. A long inscription placed between them high above cannot be made out. The disciple next to the Buddha is identified by a caption as Sariputta.
East Corridor (Original Entrance)
The principal Buddha is restored, but 18th century painting on the side walls of the deep chamber are devoted to the seven week period that the Buddha spent at Both Gaya, already a popular theme in the ancient period. It is possible that this composition can be associated with the inscription of 1779 in the north entrance hall. The first week commemorates the enlightenment (1), represented by the central brick Buddha. The other weeks begin on the right wall, starting with the Gazing at the Buddha tree (2), the Jewelled Walk (3), and the Jewelled House (4). The remaining weeks on the opposite wall start with the Buddha resting beneath a Goat herder's Tree (5), followed by the Buddha protected by the hoods of the snake king (6), and the last week where the Buddha is given four bowls by the World Guardians and offerings by two merchants (7), Each of the weeks is captioned in Burmese. Immediately following the seven week period, the deity named Brahma Sahampati persuades the Buddha to share his doctrine with the world. Holding a circular wreath, the artists wisely placed this delightful figure toward the front of the wall, near the Goat herder's Tree, out of chronological sequence, and labeled Thahanpati (Burmese).
South Corridor (Side)
The most spectacular painting at the Sulamani takes up one entire side of the south corridor. The massive composition is divided into six unequal divisions, with each segment captioned in Burmese. The mural probably belongs to the late 18th century, but no donatives inscriptions have yet been identified.
The top row shows the 28 Buddhas, going from left to right, each with his own specific tree identified with a caption. The last scene on the right shows the Buddha taming Alavaka, a master-demon, (yakkba, Pali). This important episode has no formal connection to the 28 Buddha's, but it sets the stage for the register below devoted to the forty five years the Buddha wandered and stayed in various monasteries in north India. This theme was never significant during the earlier Pagan period but grew important by the 18th century.
It is also prominent at the Upali Thein. The next register shows monks and nuns who achieved enlightenment unbent during the lifetime of the Buddha, 45 men on the left and 13 women on the right. The fifth row is taken up by lay men and women who reached the same stage of enlightenment during the lifetime of the Buddha. The bottom row depicts seems from the Buddhist hells and is very fragmentary.
Beside this huge composition are scenes based on everyday life in Burma, such as three boats pulling a barge during a festival. The cartouches contain songs. The remainder of the corridor is painted with numerous Buddha figures, all probably form the late 18th or early 19th century. Two lively monkeys frolic whimsically about a wooden pole.
The Sulamani Monastery
Sharing the compound wall and northern gateway with the Sulamani temple is an open air monastery likely dating to the 13th or 14th century (no. 745). It stretches a full 134 meters long, with nearly 80 cells and a brick lined drainage channel leading to a shallow pond. It has not been restored and is worth a peek.
A fragmentary 18th-century painting porch, east.
Frolicking monkeys, south corridor.
Small orge at the south face.
Small orge at the south face.
