The Study of the Encased Buddhist Monuments at Bagan: A Systematic Survey and Analysis

Abstract

The starting point of this dissertation is the origins of encasement at the ancient capital of Bagan (9th to 13th CE), Myanmar. The aim is to put these Bagan monuments, primarily stupas, in the context of the origins of Buddhist encasement in India and Sri Lanka. The chronology of the technical aspects of encasement situates them within religious concepts and socio-political patronage. Stupa architecture was popularised by the Mauryan Emperor Asoka in the third century BC with encased Buddhist monuments in India and Sri Lanka in successive periods. Excavations in India and Sri Lanka have yielded further evidence of encasement through reliquaries. Against this background, the author considers that the tradition and custom of encasement started during the life of the Gotama Buddha. The primary impulse for enshrining relics of the Buddha, the Buddhist saints, and the ashes of heroic kings in stupas is for religious veneration. However, the patronage of kings and other elite groups and local communities was an essential context for supporting the building and maintenance of new structures and monastic communities. There are eighty-three encased monuments at Bagan and five different architectural typologies of the encasements: encased stupa, encased temples, encased group of stupas, encased moathtaw stupas, and encased Buddha images can be found at Bagan.

This dissertation compares the design of encased stupas in 15th to 19th century Thailand with examples from Myanmar to highlight the shared custom of encasement alongside the differences over time. Archaeological evidence of stupa encasement is plentiful, particularly in Thailand, showing variations in the design of space and patronage. In both these countries, the second or new donor sometimes left a gap between the original inner and new outer structure for patrons and pilgrims to move around the inner structure in veneration. This dissertation compares examples alongside the customs and beliefs that underpin the function and meaning of the encasement. Archaeological evidence of encasement in Thailand is complemented by the presence of relics of the Buddha, kings, amulets, and precious stones, possibly consecration deposits reviewed through the chronology, epigraphy, architecture, art styles and reliquaries of the Buddhist stupas dating from 15th to 19th centuries CE.

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