The Kingdom of Pagan (also commonly known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire) was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.

A driver on the Horseshoe Pass in North Wales wiping the snow from the windscreen of his car during a heavy snow storm, 18th January 1937. (Photo by Norman Smith)

A model prepares backstage during the body painting show : Miracle World The Ocean organized by Unipa Surabaya at Grand Atrium Royal Plaza on June 21, 2021 in Surabaya, Indonesia. (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)

A person dressed as a gorilla is seen in front of French police standing in position during a demonstration as part of the tenth day of nationwide strikes and protests against French government's pension reform in Paris, France on March 28, 2023. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

A worker cleans the statue of Yuri Gagarin, the first person who flew to space, ahead of Cosmonautics Day celebrated on April 12, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday April 10, 2019. Cosmonautics Day marks when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, in 1961, orbiting the earth once before making a safe landing. (Photo by Maxim Marmur/AP Photo)

A boatman rests on his boat in the flooded Ganges river under the Shastri bridge at Daraganj Ghat, in Allahabad, India on August 22, 2019. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

Russian Orthodox priest, Father Nikolai Gensitsky, speaks with believers while having a festive meal during the Easter celebrations in a church in the village of Yekaterininskoye in Omsk Region, Russia on April 19, 2020. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)

A participant in costume uses a mobile phone at a Halloween event in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, Japan October 29, 2017. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)