INFORMATION SHEET NO.A -0282(I)

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                               INFORMATION SHEET
 
                        NO.A -0282(I)	 13th January 1998
 
		The Article by Thaw Kaung entitled " Beikthano, Vishnu City: An Ancient Pyu
Centre" is presented for your information and reading pleasure.
 
		Beikthano is the Myanmar word for Vishnu, the Hindu God who manifests
himself in a chain of divine incarnations or avatars (i.e. descents into
temporal order), the two chief incarnations being Rama, the good king whose
deeds are recorded in the Ramayana, and Krishna. Although this ancient site is
called Beikthano Myo or Vishnu City, it is not an Indian or Hindu site, but an
early Buddhist centre built by the Pyu people of Myanmar. The Pyus were a
civilized nation from the early years of the Christian era and have left
behind many traces of their predominantly Buddhist culture. Throughout the
central plains of the Ayeyawady and parts of the Sittaung Valley the Pyus
established towns and cities, the principal ones being Thayekhittaya
(Srikshetra) near Pyay (Prome), Beikthano and Hanlin (near Shwebo) in the
north. Of these three principal Pyu sites Beikthano is probably one of the
earliest as it flourished from about the first to the fifth century A.D.
 
How to get there?
 
		You can easily go to Beikthano by train from Yangon, Mandalay, or Bagan. You
should get off at Taungdwingyi Station in Magway Division and take a taxi or a
pony cart to the ancient site which is about 12 miles to the west. If you are
travelling by car or bus it is on the way to Bagan, and can be reached from
either Yangon or Mandalay. Although there are no modern hotels in
Taungdwingyi, the nearest town, you can stop for the night at comfortable inns
and guest houses frequented by local travellers, and also enjoy good Myanmar,
Chinese or Indian food with the typical Central Myanmar flavour.
What to see?
 
		At first sight, for the casual visitor, there does not seem to be much left
at Beikthano except the ruined brick structures. For tourists and visitors who
are interested in history and archaeology, Beikthano is one of the best
examples of early Pyu civilization and well worth visiting. No inscriptions or
Buddha images have been found during excavations in Beikthano, and this points
to a very early period in Buddhist culture. The radio-carbon datings confirm
this. The early form of Buddhism practised here had monasteries and stupas,
but no images of the Buddha are to be seen in Thayekhitaya and later in Bagan.
		The first thing that you will notice is the city wall, shaped rather like a
rhombus, with each side measuring about two miles. The massive fort walls were
much higher during the early years of this century, and were constructed of
huge baked bricks. Unscrupulous contractors found a ready source of bricks for
building roads and railway tracks during the colonial times, and hence the
walls on some sides like that on the west have completly disappeared, due not
only to human depredation but also to natural causes. These immense
fortifications stood on higher ground, about 330 feet above sea level, and
commanded the surrounding fertile plain with its lovely lakes and rivers.
 
		The northern and southern walls are better preserved. Excavations carried
out over 35 years ago, exposed wide gateways which gradually curve inwards,
the ramparts on either side extending about 86 feet down an entrance
passageway, to enable the soldiers to have complete control over those
entering the city. There are also recesses for sentries.
 
		Inside the ruins of the city, you can now see a large brick structure
measuring about 100 feet by 35 feet. Archaeologists think this is an important
monastic building as there are eight cells opening onto a long corridor-like
hall. The small cells are similar to those found in monastic buildings of
South India, especially among the old Buddhist monasteries of Nagarjunakonda
in Andhra State.
 
		Near the ruins of this monastery is the ruins of a stupa; only the base
remains and it is round in shape, with two concentrate retaining walls. This
is similar to old Buddhist stupas at Amaravati. There are four ayaka platforms
for worshippers at the four cardinal points.
 
		Another structure excavated seems to be a religious one also, but related to
the Pyu burial customs. It was probably a kind of sepulchre, because stretched
human skeletons and human bones and burial urns were found all around. U Aung
Thaw, the late Director-General of Archaeology who personally carried out the
early excavations, surmised that cremated bones were temporarily buried or
stored until a sufficient number was accumulated for a ritual secondary
burial.
 
		U Chen Yi-Sein, a former member of the Myanmar Historical Commission, in a
recent research paper identified Beikthano as the Lin Ying (Vishnu City) of
ancient Chinese records. It was an important trading centre on the land-route
between India and China and also with the Pyu and Mon people. There is at
present no site museum and small Pyu symbolical coins, clay and stone seals
with letters in the South Indian Brahmi script found at Beikthano are now on
display at the National Museum in Yangon.
 
The Legend
 
		Beikthano, to the Myanmar people is a legendary place recorded in our
chronicles, a place which has at last been excavated, so that we can visit it
to explore the ruins, with our minds conjuring up the rivalry between a
beautiful princess and a powerful king, her half-brother.
 
		The legend begins in Tagaung which is supposed to be the capital of the
earliest kings of Myanmar. At one time it was ruled by a powerful Queen whose
lover was a firebreathing Naga serpent who could assume human form. After the
hero Maung Pauk Kyaing slew the Naga lover and became king, twin sons were
born to the Queen. They were both blind, so they were put on a raft and
floated down the Ayeyawady River. After an ogre nymph cured their blindness,
the younger prince married Beydayi at Pyay and had a son Duttabaung who became
a powerful king at Thayekhitaya.
 
		Duttabaung's father also had a daughter named Panhtwar who became a great
Queen at Beikthano. Her mother was the ogre-nymph and so she was the half-
sister of Duttabaung. The legend records the rivalry between Thayekhitaya and
Beikthano and of the fighting that took place. At first the Queen was able to
repel all her enemies and the forces sent by King Duttabaung with the help of
a big magical drum called Atula Sidaw given to the Queen by Sakkra the Lord of
the Celestial Beings. Whenever enemies approached Beikthano, the city created
according to the legend, by the god Vishnu, the big drum would be sounded
making the waters of the Yan Pe (Repelling enemies) River to rise rapidly and
flood the surrounding plain so that no attacking army could cross it.
Duttabaung had to resort to a stratagem to take away the magical powers of the
drum before he could capture the city. Queen Panhtwar eventually lost and
Duttabaung took her back to Thayekhitaya to be his Queen consort.
 
		The area all around the ruins, is a lovely countryside where present day
Myanmar people live in peaceful villages like Kokko Gwa. The Yan Pe Chaung, a
rivulet, is near the village and two lakes Gyo Gya Kan and In Gyi are near the
"Palace Site". There is another village called Inywa Gyi near the In Gyi lake
 . The villagers grow rice and vegetables even as the Pyu people would have
done two thousand years ago.
 
		The celebrated pagoda built by Queen Panhtwar, called Shwe Yaung Daw, is to
the north-east of the "Palace Site" . This lovely pagoda, in such tranquil
surroundings is well-worth visiting. The local villagers, the people of
Taungdwingyi and the Sayadaw (Abbot) of the Shwe Yaung Daw monastery have all
worked together to renovate and maintain this venerated shrine.
 
		The Buddha in previous incarnations was reputed to have lived in this area
as a White Elephant and also as a White Chicken (Kyet-Pyu-Daw) at different
times. The Shwe Yaung Daw pagoda has two elephant statues guarding the
northern side, instead of the usual Chinthe, mythical lion figures. You can
also see eight white chicken figures on the stupa. They all commemorate the
legend. There are also ancient wood carvings of exquisite workmanship. 
 
		The vast cultivated plain, the tranquil villages and beautiful scenery with
lakes and rivers surrounding the ancient ruins, testify to the peace-loving
nature of the villagers, who will warmly welcome visitors from far and near
who come to visit them.
 
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