The Pyu & Srikshetra

The Pyu of Srikshetra were some of the first larger group of people

within today’s boundaries of the country. Three capitals are still known, the oldest is Beikthano, the “city of Vishnu " , 16 km west of present Taungdwingyi which is located in central Myanmar. Thayekhetaya or Srikshetra was the biggest of the cities with a number of well-preserved architectural monuments, it is located 10 km east of present Pyuy ( Prome ) and 130 km south of Beikthano. The third capital was Halin located 15 km southeast of present Shwebo and 275 km to the north of Beikthano and around 100km from the last capital of kings Mandalay.

The Heydays of Beikthano fell into the 1st to 5th Century , Halin was top from the 2nd to 6 Century and Thayekhetaya from the 5^th to 9 Century .

All three cities were in the Irrawaddy River basin on the border of the dry zone. The extent of their walled cities was considerable and ranged from 6 km2 ( Halin) up to 14 km2 ( Thayekhetaya ) . But it is more than likely that only a part of the metropolitan area was urbanized. Usually the cities were like fortified territories within which the population and livestock lived. Under their control were the surrounding agricultural areas whose population could rush into the protection of the walls in imminent danger.

Thayekhetaya is the only Pyu city whose description is found in Tang Dynasty chronicles. The following record was made in 800 AD:

"The walls of the city are lined with glazed tiles. Its length is 160 Li (or a day's march). The upper rims of the trench are also covered with bricks, thousands of families live within the city limits and over hundred Buddhist monasteries decorated with gold and silver are in between. They are painted with Cinnabar and other bright colors, coated with resin and decorated with embroidered carpets.

The Royal Palace has twelve gates with shrines at the four corners. 

All buildings within the fortification had tiles of lead and tin plus beams from precious woods. The palace had two bells , one of silver and one of gold. They came to live when an enemy was approaching.

Some short extracts give us a better idea of the places which cover quite a large area, for buildings an extensive use of bricks was made, archaeological finds function as evidence. The Tang chronicles testify the high level of development of various crafts, the existence of Buddhist monastery schools and the presence of a developed music culture.

The strength of the walls varied between two and eight meters. Excavations in the 196xties finding the foundation of Shwedaga , the " Golden Gate " of Thayekhetaya  are very impressive by the gigantic dimensions. Remnants found in Beikthano such as iron pivots suggest that in each passage two wooden gates were anchored. 

The gates were painted in bright colors and decorated with carved and gilded roofs with towers. The height of the gates was at least five to seven meters. The palaces were located near the geometric center of cities within a citadel.

In Thayekhetaya the palace had an area of ​​650 X 350 m in Halin of 800 x 400 m and Beikthano of 480 x 410 m. Palaces had rather fortified enclosure only not another wall structure.

Under the building foundations which have been excavated no cult site have been found, it seems that no religious monuments were erected within the walls of the citadel. Outside the citadels large numbers of shrines of different eras have been found, starting with the first centuries of our era.

To sum it up, their urbanity concepts are different from Chinese

already in the first few centuries of our where town square and rectangular plans were widespread. The Pyu had no strict rules, in contrast to the Chinese. There is no mandatory symmetry in the system of the palace complex or an absolute orientation of its main axis from north to south.