Home to more than 2,000 temples tucked away in a vast dusty plains of central Myanmar (Burma), the temples of Bagan are the country's heritage rich with historical and religious significance.
History has it that Bagan Kingdoms date to the early second century BC, but the region entered its golden age much later, during the reign of King Anawrahta in 1057.
When Kublai Khan's forces seized it in 1287, the building of more than thirteen thousand temples, pagodas and religious structures started. Unfortunately, seven centuries later, what remained of the thirteen thousand temples or so dwindled down to approximately twenty-two hundred.
Natural causes such as the washing away of nearly one-third of the original city area by the Irrawaddy River, earthquakes, ravages of time, and thieves searching for treasures destroyed many of the temples. Hundreds of those temples were reduced to piles of crumbling stones.
But despite the destruction of thousands of other temples, Bagan continues to create a mystical and stunning landscape. It is considered by many as an equal attraction to the famous and captivating Angkor Wat of Cambodia.
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