The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXI, Part 1-2, 1983 - Khamkoo

REVIEWS 247
also performs a great service in explaining what he deems the 13 most important
subjects; this reviewer has not found a comparable Jist in any other work, including the
recently published The Buddhist Murals of Pagan by Toro ·Ono and Takao Inoue.
Other chapters in this first section are devoted to such indispensable topics as inscriptions,
votive tablets, stucco work, ceramic decoration, the Jatakas and the · Jataka
plaques. The last chapter is concerned with the reigns of the Pagan kings and
identifies the edifices ascribed to each particular monarch.
In the second half of the book U Bo Kay meets the prospective Pagan student
at Nyaung-u and guicles him in the stqdy, one by one, of well over a hundred of the
most significant Pagan monuments, many of which, alas, even the most experienced
Pagan enthusiast has not been able to view because of the current time restrictions on
visitors to Burma. The author's comments vary in length, partially because of the
differing importance of the edifices, and partially, one feels, in proportion to the
author's affinity with them. This reader found in the comments new data even about
the monuments most often discussed; for example, that the Shwezigon Pagoda is made
of stone slabs. Not even Luce in his well-documented work mentions this. U Bo Kay
explaiDs that the stone slabs are _not readily seen because they have been covered over .
by the gold of the faithful.
One of the most important aspects of the work is the information it provides
about the later Pagan monuments not covered by Luce, and the religious edifices built
in the Pinya, Ava and . Konbaung time!). . Pagan remained a sacred religious area
despite the fact that it was no longer the capital, and monarchs and members of the
royal families continued to build religious edifices there throughout the reign of King
Thibaw. The brief comments about the restoration ordered by King Bodawpya will
only whet the appetites of scholars, for surely U Bo Kay· with his unique experience
has tremendous amounts of information at his fingertips about what has and has not
been restored.
Unfortunately the book has no pictures or diagrams to illustrate the points
made by the author, and the fact that it is only available in Burmese will limit its
accessibility to most readers. Lovers of Pagan, be they tourists or scholars, will look
forward to its publication in English with appropriate illustrations by the author.
Having read the book one must ask for additional insights from that profoundly erudite
mind which has gleaned so much over the years. We can only hope that U Bo Kay
will take up the unfinished work of Gordon Luce. He has given us full proof that he
can write the sequel and more.
'fhe S~aq1 Society
Virf!inia M. Pi Croc~o