Earthquake in Myanmar Damage 171 Ancient Buddhist Pagodas

“The loss of life between the earthquake in Italy and Myanmar is a huge tragedy and a reminder to all of us how quickly everything can change,“ says Mike Evans, CEO CyArk.

While many agencies respond to the humanitarian needs of these disasters, CyArk has been asked to help restore and preserve the damaged and destroyed sites in Bagan. Fortunately, CyArk recently (June 2016) completed the digital documentation of the Bagan pagodas which are complete detailed digital scans of the pagodas thereby enabling precise restoration. These digital blueprints are critical in order to accurately rebuild the Bagan pagodas.

John Ristevski, a CyArk Board member and team leader in Bagan said “It is not possible to adequately describe the beauty of the Bagan plain and to appreciate the work of the creators of these pagodas almost a thousand years ago.”

Bagan, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was once the home to over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries constructed on the Bagan plains alone between the 11th and 13th century. The Bagan pagodas are one of the most venerated religious sites and key destination for Myanmar’s growing tourism industry and re-emerging economy.

“To think that 171 of these magnificent pagodas are damaged or destroyed and to consider the resulting economic effect on these people is incomprehensible. As an organization, we are ready to respond and we are launching an appeal for help to deploy a team to support this reconstruction,” says Ristevski.