Burmese Sketches - Khamkoo

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BURMESE SKETCHES.
damaged brick-work was renewed ; and the sikhara surmounting
the whole building as well as the small pagodas at the
corners were repaired and made water-tight.
(fc) SAPADA PAGODA.
The Sapada Pagoda constitutes a land-mark in the history
of Buddhism as it commemorates the religious intercourse between
Burma and Ceylon in the 12th century A. D. It was
built by Sapada, a native of Bassein, who had been ordained a
Buddhist monk in Ceylon, and who had founded a sect on his
return to Pagan. The Pagoda was constructed after the
model of a Singhalese shrine, and is the prototype of similar
structures in the province. U stands on a raised earthern
platform, which is protected by an ornamental retaining wall,
measuring 88 feet square. Its form differs from the cylindrical-shaped
Pagoda of the ordinary Burmese type, in that a
square block of masonry, commonly called the "dhatu-gabbha,"
or relic-chamber, intervenes between the sikhara and the bellshaped
dome. Tne conservation work carried out by the
Public Works Department was very well done. The grouting
and pointing were neatly finished, and the mouldings in plaster
were correctly reproduced.
{I) KYAUKKU TEMPLE.
The K.y2i\iVk\i-0nh min or temple is a remarkable building
constructed partly of stone and partly of brick. It was erected
by Narapatisithu in 1188A.D., and consists of three
terraces built against the precipitous rock-bound face of a
ravine. Its stone carving is in a fair state of preservation, and
represents, in a narrow compass, the complete ascendancy
achieved by the Buddhist faith over Brahmanism. Figures
with four faces or four hands, from the Hindu Pantheon, no
longer appear, and even Indra, the powerful god of the sky,
becomes the Recording Angel of Buddhism, and is made to
kneel, holding offerings of flowers, while Brahma, the Creator
of the Universe and the Chief of the Triad, assumes the role
of a humble disciple of the Buddha. The disrepair was
mainly on the western face of the building, where the brickwork
had been forced out of its original position owing to
settlement and the leakage of rain-water. A|^ it was found
necessary to support the superstructure, the whole of the basement
wall of the main portico, together with its moulding in
stone, was restored as approximately as possible to its original
condition. The terraces were all repaired with concrete, and