Iza Gwana Pagoda Relief

This stucco carving from Iza Gwana Pagoda showed one mythical animal sitting on the head of another. The bottom figure appeared very often on Bagan temple exteriors, and we believe it represented the head of an ogrelike"kala-ate" employed by Shiva to guard temples. They reminded us of the "god of time" devouring figures we saw at Borobudur in Java. These stucco carvings may originally have been painted with various colors to make them more decorative and effective in conveying their lessons.