Image depicting The Great Demise of the Elephant at Ananda

Site common name	Ananda
Type of artwork	Sculpture
Village	-
Province/City	Bagan
State	Mandalay
Country	Myanmar
Geographic Coordinates Decimal degree	Lat : 21.1625 Long : 94.900556

History of production	King Kyanzittha ordered to constructed this temple under the advises of monks who arrived from India and narrated him about the mythical cave Nandamula of Gandhamadana mountain. The temple was therefore conceived as the imitation of this mythical cave. Buddha images enshrined at the temple are possible to be carved at the same time of the temple construction.
Art	These Buddha images seem to be part of the sculptural series narrating the story of the Buddha’s life enshrining inside both the circumambulatory path and the Mandapa. The Buddha’s life depiction at Ananda is considered to be one of the most perfect narrations in Pagan art.
Period	Historical Period
Art period	Mandalay
Age	10th-13th century A.D.
Religion and belief	Both Theravada and Mahayana traditions mention that, during the time of the great demise, the Master reclined by using his right hand t support his head. He reclined under the pair of Sala trees in Salavanodayana garden in Kushinagar.
Related artwork	Beside the reclining Buddha flanking by the couple of Sala trees as mentioned in the scripture, the most interesting point are the surrounding attendants , including Kassapa who pays respect at the Master’s feet, numerous monks kings and deities who also attained the event.

Type of License	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
Rights	Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation	2015-02-00
Record creator	Chedha Tingsanchali