Treasures hide in the temples of Pagan—treasures in part never meant to be seen, enshrouded in the darkness of high vaults. They compose a unique ensemble in the Buddhist world of the eleventh
to fourteenth century, giving us a glimpse of a lost splendor, and providing evidence of the major political, religious and artistic position that Pagan then held. Adorning the walls and
ceilings of those monuments, they constitute a prayer to the Buddha: to the Buddha as a human being, to his last life, but also to his numerous lives when he was in search of the truth. This
comprehensive study covers, for the first time, not only the murals found within temples near the historic city of Pagan, but also those within the monuments scattered elsewhere over the Pagan
plain. Following an initial iconographic analysis, the author proceeds to reconstruct the overall vision of the murals within the broader context of the interior spaces of the temples,
revealing these monuments as visualizations of the Buddhist cosmos and reflecting the cosmological nature of the Buddha. Author Bautze-Picron is an authority on early Indic Buddhist art and her
erudite descriptions of these lost treasures are complemented by a magnificent photographic record of the surviving murals themselves. Essential reading for all with interest in the history and
diversity of Buddhist art.
