Ananda Phaya

This is the most famous temple in Bagan. We went to it after going to a LOT of other temples. So we were bored. So we took a lot of pictures of features you may not want on your screen at work. They come after the lions. Well actually they are the lions. But the first few pictures of the lions are appropriate unless you have really good eyes. image

It is also a very large complex. The shape gives it a lot of corners.

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The guardians are there to pat you on the head as you enter.

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There is no shortage of gold at this site. They have several giant Buddha.

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They also have lots of bats.

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Each of the Buddha look different, especially in the face.

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There are some interesting animal carvings in the walls.

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As well as ogres.

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The building was surrounded with lions.

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Each lion had two bums.

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I guess that’s what happens when you guard the corners of buildings.

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Sometimes it is comically spread out.

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The double bums were presumably required to make the lions double male.

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Some were extremely male.

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Some less so.

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Some may have lost a fight.

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Others may have been buying blue pills from spam e-mails.

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And should probably consult their physicians.

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This one was probably suffering from elephantitis.

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Sometimes the lion had a matching pair.

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Others were extremely asymmetrical.

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Some were assymetrically sized but may have been suffering from the same disease.

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You can’t appreciate art unless you can compare all the different styles.

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Okay this may be a bit excessive now.

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There were just so many.

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The building had many corners.

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And we were killing time waiting for sunset.

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This one had a broken one. Poor lion.

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At least it’s not another temple.

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Actual lion bits are barbed and look nothing like the sculptures, by the way. But the sculptors had never seen a lion, and most people that do see lions don’t get a good look at that part. Here’s one from Google.

Here’s a claw so everyone doesn’t have random pictures of lion dangly bits showing up in their Facebook feed.

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