A Burmese wonderland; a tale of travel in Lower and ... - Khamkoo

110 A BURMESE WONDERLAND.
the Manuha and Nan Paya. Both are well preserved,
and the former is remarkable for the
jugglery whereby no less than four stupendous images
(one is 100 feet long) have been fitted into quite a
small building.
We witness in poor Manuha a spirit of
dignity and fortitude. Dragged from his throne at the
head of the highest civiUzation then known to Burma,
he patiently devoted his hopeless captivity to works of
art which, by reason of their Indian style, were destined
profoundly to influence the architecture of the country.
Before leaving Anawratta, we must notice another
remarkable personality
of his entourage—Shin Arahan,
the patron of religion, the apostle of Southern Buddhism
to Upper Burma, He was a Taking, and appears
as a young man of about 18, at Pagan shortly before
the invasion of Thaton.
Indeed, his presence may well
have roused the seed of cupidity in the mind of Anawratta.
At any rate Shin Arahan was pure in heart.
He taught a new and beautiful law. He strenuously
exposed the vicious Ari priests, the scandal of whose
lives is remembered still. His expression was sweet
and calm. We can see him kneeling still in the Ananda
Pagoda, with folded hands. His statue, by a contemporary
artist, is one of the only two of its kind in Pagan,
and is no doubt a good likeness. The later acts of his
life are officially recorded in several inscriptions on
stone. In 1086 A.D., he assisted at the coronation of
Kyanzittha. In 1090 he attended the dedication of
the Ananda. He lived on into four reigns, and died