Dhammayazika Pagoda
Buddhist temple near Bagan, Myanmar

The Dhammayazika Pagoda (Burmese: ဓမ္မရာဇိကဘုရား, IPA: [dəma̰jàzḭka̰ pʰəjá]) is a Buddhist temple located in the village of Pwasaw (located east of Bagan), in Mandalay Region, Myanmar. It was built in 1196 during the reign of King Narapatisithu. The pagoda is circular in design, and is made of brick. Its three terraces contain terra cotta tiles illustrating scenes from the Jataka.
The Dhammayazika Pagoda is the oldest known building to display C5 symmetry, with rotational symmetry around five points. The center is a circular building surrounded by walls in a pentagonal shape, with each flat edge having a pointed building attached outwards. This design allows for five shrines instead of the typical four found in traditional Buddhist temples. The fifth shrine is dedicated to the future Buddha, Maitreya, who symbolizes awaiting rebirth.
References
Pictorial Guide to Pagan. Rangoon: Ministry of Culture.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Dhammayazika Pagoda” is buddhist temple near Bagan, Myanmar. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Dhammayazika, Pagoda and Buddhist, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “buddhist temple near Bagan, Myanmar” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3025684. Authority coordinates are 21.145, 94.883. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1196.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Dhammayazika Pagoda” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.