CyArk is Back in Bagan!

by Cynthia Audet
April 24, 2017

This week, follow CyArk as we head back to Bagan to help the Myanmar Department of Archaeology complete needed documentation of the site in preparation for their UNESCO World Heritage site nomination. The land of temples as far as the eye can see, Bagan was once a bustling city where the rulers and wealthy subjects constructed over 10,000 Buddhist monuments between the 11th and 13th centuries. Today, over 2,000 Buddhist monuments remain, making it one of the densest populations of temples and pagodas in the world. But time and earthquakes, including a 6.8 earthquake that devastated the region last August, have destroyed many of these ancient treasures. Capturing 3D data of Bagan’s Buddhist temples is crucial for managing and conserving these treasures today, ensuring they are available for future generations.

In conjunction with the Myanmar Department of Archaeology and the UNESCO Bangkok Office, CyArk is proud to help capture required data for the site. On our first trip to Bagan last May, CyArk captured detailed 3D data for three temples. After the earthquake in August last year, which damaged 171 temples, the detailed digital scans CyArk captured in June were a crucial part of assessing the damaged temples. On this trip, CyArk will complete digital documentation on over one hundred monuments using aerial data from our drones and we’ll create detailed 3D renderings of a priority monument for conservation using our LiDAR and photogrammetry technology.

Want to follow CyArk as we return to the sacred land of Bagan? We welcome you to follow Kieran Kesner, CyArk’s photographer-in-residence, as he takes over CyArk’s Instagram and joins our trip to capture this special place and the unique work we do. Kieran has traveled the world documenting everything from political unrest in Ukraine to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia. We’re excited to have him join the CyArk team and capture the unique stories of the cultures and the at-risk heritage sites that we visit around the world.

You can follow CyArk and Kieran Kesner on Instagram or search #CyArkStories #instaheritage and #picoftheday.

CyArk would like to thank the Myanmar Department of Archaeology and UNESCO Bangkok Office for making this project possible.

Bagan: The land of temples
Capturing data inside the temples in Bagan
Collecting aerial data with drones in Bagan