Temple Artworks at the Bagan Archaeological Site

The Bagan Archeological Site located in Myanmar is home to the largest assemblage of Buddhist monuments in the world with more than 3,200 temples and stupas across 30 square miles. Research on Bagan’s temples has emphasized the archeology of the site and preservation of the monuments, but surprisingly little information is available on the religious role of the art within the temples. My project examines how both Hindu and Buddhist religious stories are depicted within some of the temples in images from frescos, sculptures, and glazed plaques to reliefs. Most artworks depict Buddhist Jataka stories. I will investigate the relation of stories from temple to temple through the artworks, the stories that are told in the lesser temples versus the more popular temples, and which stories appear the most throughout the temples