Sein Nyet Ama Temple - Bagan, Myanmar

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This story begins with a temple that intrigued us greatly. On one of our Bagan guide websites, I found a unique and memorable temple name. That's where I became curious about this "sibling sister" temple. It is one of the best temples in the past, before the 2016 earthquake cover its domes.

Sein Nyet Ama Temple means "older sister" and "younger sister." There are two temples, one large and little small. Although they mot significant different in size, the shapes are quite distinct. From the front the temple appears like a single building, but behind it another temple appears to be walking alongside it.

The older sister temple is large, with a main hall that resembles a church with one small dome and 12 other smaller domes. This is what makes Sein Nyet Ama Temple so grand and stunningly beautiful.

The temple grounds are quite large and have a boundary wall. The area is very spacious because the boundary wall is quite low but sits on a hill that separates the sidewalk from the temple. So it looks enormous when viewed from the main road.

Entering, there were no people, but the temple was clearly still in use, evident by the way the flowers used for worship were still fresh. There is a clean doormat in front and a large statue in brown, i see the face is smiling. Did you know that the face and expression of each Buddha are different, even in the same temple?

Then I walk to the temple behind, as the younger sister, whose temple was indeed a little smaller, but only slightly smaller. But this younger sister temple had no entrance, just a small Buddha statue on a table.

This temple appeared to have only one large dome, even much larger than the older sister temple, and 12 smaller domes surrounding it. That's how they share similar but not identical details.

That's why these two temples are named Sein Nyet Ama, which means Big Sister Temple. Both are beautiful, with their differences, but that doesn't diminish the strengths of each other, as they are a complete package.

It was a beautiful afternoon with a magnificent view of the 12th and 13th centuries. which created a temple that is still used today for Buddhists in Bagan, Myanmar.

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