December 2019 | SMITHSONIAN.COM 35
The temple incorporates more than one
worldview. The king, reported a 17th-cen-
tury Portuguese friar who traveled there,
“admitted a few [Hindu] gods into his
shrine,” refl ecting “the tolerance and
charity of Buddhism.” Below right, a
sculpture depicting Man Pa.
A ten-foot-tall
statue of the
Buddha looms
inside Shitt-
haung temple,
built in the 1500s
by King Man
Pa to celebrate
campaigns in
eastern Bengal.
PR
EV
IO
US
SP
RE
AD
:^ J
AK
OB
FI
SC
HE
R^
/^ A
LA
MY
ST
OC
K^
PH
OT
O;
TH
IS^
SP
RE
AD
:^ H
EM
IS^
/^ A
LA
MY
(^2
)
EVERYONE
WAS WELCOME
HERE, BUT
OFTEN THE KING
CAME TO SEEK
MEDITATION
ALONE.”
“