Use the links above to see more photos.

All organized religions have schisms and Buddhism is no exception. The main division is Theravada - Mahayana. These are not warring factions like Catholic - Protestant or Sunni - Shia, they're just 2 differing ways of looking at the teachings of the Buddha. I won't go into details but I'm sure Wikipedia can help if you're interested.

All the Buddhists in Burma - and that's 90% of the population - follow Theravada as they do in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. It was here in Bagan that Theravada Buddhism was introduced and firmly took hold in SE Asia back in the 11th century.

This 10 meter high statue of the Buddha is carved from Teak and covered with gold and looks out through the southern portal of Ananda Phaya