The hidden temples beneath Bagan

From above, the plains of Bagan look endlessly familiar. Thousands of brick temples rise from dry grassland, their silhouettes catching the light at sunrise and sunset. For centuries, scholars believed they understood the limits of this ancient city. Then earthquakes revealed something unexpected. Beneath several of Bagan’s temples, hidden chambers and corridors had been there all along.

These underground spaces were not discovered by excavation alone, but through seismic surveys and structural investigations following major earthquakes that struck the region.