Although the Burmese temple designs evolved from Indic , Pyu ( and possibly Mon ) styles , the techniques of vaulting seem to have developed in Pagan itself . The earliest vaulted temples in Pagan date to the 11th century while the vaulting did not become widespread in India until the late 12th century . The masonry of the buildings shows " an astonishing degree of perfection " , where many of the immense structures survived the 1975 earthquake more or less intact . ( Unfortunately , the vaulting techniques of the Pagan era were lost in the later periods . Only much smaller '' gu '' style temples were built after Pagan . In the 18th century , for example , King Bodawpaya attempted to build the Mingun Pagoda , in the form of spacious vaulted chambered temple but failed as craftsmen and masons of the later era had lost the knowledge of vaulting and keystone arching to reproduce the spacious interior space of the Pagan hollow temples . ) Another architectural innovation originated in Pagan is the Buddhist temple with a pentagonal floor plan . This design grew out of hybrid ( between one-face and four-face designs ) designs . The idea was to include the veneration of the Maitreya Buddha , the future and fifth Buddha of this era , in addition to the four who had already appeared . The Dhammayazika and the Ngamyethna Pagoda are examples of the pentagonal design
1975 earthquake
1975 Bagan earthquake
Pagan Kingdom