Pagodas everywhere - Indein Stupa Forest

Many pagodas (or stupas) at Indein Village are in various states of repair

March 1, Thursday                                                                Indein Village, Myanmar

Indein village is a very interesting place.  The craft market is there, in part, because it is such an attractive place for tourists. They have a forest of stupas (also called pagodas) and temples from the 16 and 1700s which is quite impressive, as well as a large central temple. Their craft market is large – on busy days more than 200 sellers – today was a slow day, and there were only 100.  It was fun to see all the merchandize and bargain.

The lower section by the creek, Nyaung Oak, is overgrown with vegetation

Many pagodas still have their hti - metal umbrella-like tops with wind chimes

Spirit (nat or celestial beings) decorations are very common, and some pagodas have Buddhas in the niches

A fig tree reclaiming the pagoda

This is what the tourism books say about Indein village:
"Indein is a small village west of Inle Lake, known for its market and two groups of ancient pagodas.  The village is reached by boat through the Inn Thein (Indein) creek, a long narrow canal. The 8 KM boat ride from Inle Lake can only be made in the rainy season and winter, in the summer season the water level is too low.  Indein is one of the villages that host the Inle “5 day market” – held on a 5 day rotating cycle in 5 villages around the lake.  The Pa-O ethnic group live in the surrounding hills and sell their crops here.

The village is best know for its ancient pagodas in various states of preservation.  While some have been restored, others are in their original crumbling state.  Around Indein village are two groups of ancient pagodas, Nyaung Oak and Shwe Inn Thein.  The first site, near the boat landing, is Nyaung Oak, which translates to “group of banyan trees”.  Most of these pagodas have not been restored and are in various states of repair.  Many pagodas are decorated with sculptures of celestial beings or mythological animals such as Naga serpents and Chinthes."

Those stupas restored with white stucco/plaster are particularly striking

Details of original carvings from 300 to 400 years ago 

Shwe Inn Thein pagodas

"From Nyaung Oak, a climb leads to the second group of pagodas, Shwe Inn Thein, located on top of a hill.  A covered walkway leads up to the pagodas, lined with stalls where vendors sell Shan shoulder bags, longyis, and all manner of other items." 

The Shwe Inn Theinn pagodas at the top of the hill