"I'll show you a special Buddha statue," said the guide in Bagan, making me wonder really hard which of the shrines and Buddha statues he showed us for the day had not been special.
In the Ananda temple in Bagan, there are four large standing statues of Buddha in that temple, facing four directions back-to-back.
At one of the four standing Buddhas (south-facing), the guide instructed us to look at the Buddha's eyes. At the Buddha's feet, we looked up to meet the downcast gaze of the Buddha.
We were next guided to retreat from the Buddha, without taking our eyes from his gaze. Strangely enough, as we moved back, the gaze never broke, and the smile on Buddha's face got wider. It was as if he was following our movements.
With a general sense of disbelief, we retraced our steps to the other three Buddhas and positioned ourselves right in front of the Buddhas and retreated slowly. However, the same effect at the south-facing Buddha was not observed.
Happy that he had yet sprung another surprise on us, the guide explained that the four standing Buddha statues represent the four Buddhas who have attained
nirvana. The story of Buddha was then recounted with the aid of the countless statues and tiles adorning the Ananda temple.
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