Bagan

Bagan, located on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River, is home to the largest and densest concentration of Buddhist temples, pagodas, stupas and ruins in the world with many dating from the 11th to 13th centuries A.D., when Bagan was the seat of the Myanmar dynasty. The shape and construction of each building is highly significant in Buddhism with each component part taking on spiritual meaning.
What makes the temples look romantic is the process of graceful aging, with the peeled off stucco coating of the temples, to reveal the brick structural blocks with its rusty, reddish, and sometimes golden brown-like patina when hit by the sun’s rays.
Other images of Bagan which make a lasting impression to tourists aside from the spirefringed skyline arethe ubiquitous pair of erocious stone lions flanking a temple’s door, the spiky and lacy eave fascia woodcarvings lining a monastery’s ascending tiers of roofs, bougainvilleas, exotic cotton trees, and the likes bringing life to the arid landscape and abandoned ruins.