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Decorative Mosaics at Sutaungpyai, Mandalay Hill
high-definition creative commons photographs from Mandalay, Myanmar, showing the fine decorative mosaics found on the walls, ceilings and pillars in this temple, and a comparison with medieval Islamic mosaics.
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The finest collection of decorative mosaics I saw on my trip to Myanmar was in the Sutaungpyai Pagoda, which sits on top of Mandalay Hill. The work, besides being fine, is also quite striking with its bright colours and intricate designs which adorn the pillars, walls, ceilings and shrines. Some of the work is quite large-scale as witness this courtyard presented here.
This temple had some very beautiful and complex mosaic glasswork covering the pillars, walls, ceilings and shrines. It reminded me in places of some of the best work I saw in Mosques in Turkey in the 80s, which left a deep impression on me. Compare the photographs above of some of the mosques in Istanbul below:
Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmad), Istanbul, Turkey
photo by Emre Ergin
Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmad), Istanbul, Turkey
photo by brebooks
Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
photo by Traces in the Sand
For more examples of decorative work from the temples and pagodas in Myanmar see:
Decorative Mosaics in the Temples and Pagodas
Photographs by Anandajoti Bhikkhu
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
