Conservation and Restoration of the Outer Walls of the Brick Temples in Bagan, Myanmar
From July 6 to 31, 2017, conservation and restoration work was carried out on the outer walls of Me-taw-ya (No. 1205) temple on the Bagan Archaeological Site in Myanmar with the main objective of protecting the murals from rain damage. Based on the results of scientific analysis and physical testing of the various materials composing the temple, which had been conducted since FY2016, we re-assessed the problematic restoration materials and methods currently used. We then worked to restore the places most damaged by last year’s earthquake, and successfully completed our task with consideration given to compatibility between old and new materials.
On the request of the Myanmar Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, we also made a presentation at the 10th Expert Meeting on Earthquake Damage to the Bagan Archaeological Site held on July 27, giving a report on our activities to date. This resulted in our work being highly commended for its utility in the context of today’s urgent need for restoration initiatives for the Bagan Site, and we were asked to further intensify our cooperation going forward.
In part to respond to these requests, we plan to continue with our consistent program of conservation and restoration, as well as to communicate repeatedly with local experts in order to construct conservation and restoration policies suited to the Bagan Archaeological Site.