One of the four gateways to the 450 Pagodas
Situated very near the so-termed 450 Pagodas is a group of attractive pagodas in carved wood and plaster of different designs. In the centre is an unfinished marble pagoda, called Kyauk Taw Gyi, which contains a huge attractive figure of Buddha, twenty-five feet high.
On the same morning we visited the glass monastery which once on a time had been very imposing. Here we saw the Bishop and a number of novice priests receiving instruction, taking, I imagine, a kind of postgraduate course. All were most affable and seemed happy, as does every one in Burma. At this monastery two of our party were given copies of a portion of the Burmese Bible.
Monasteries are also very prominent in Burma, and they are usually boys' schools, both for young and adult people.
In the afternoon we visited the great Arakan Pagoda, a shrine which pilgrims of the Buddhist faith frequent from all over the world. It is built in the form of a square tower, rising in a series of terraces, growing smaller and ending in a finial at the summit. There are also battlements with finials capping the top. The whole is gilded and is very magnificent in appearance, even to the gilded figure of Buddha, which occupies the principal throne. The day we were there, the throne was surrounded by worshippers, and the long passages leading from the pagoda to it were densely thronged. There are four smaller passages, each being filled with stalls where is displayed almost every conceivable article, even to fruit and flowers. Near one of the passages are two large tanks filled with grayish water where are kept the sacred turtles. The turtles were fed while we were present and seemed very tame. In the adjacent enclosure we saw many large bells of graduated size, for which Burma is famous. In an enclosure young men were playing the game of football, called "Chinlon," in that country, which means "round basket," the ball being about six inches in diameter. The players stand in a circle a few feet apart. The ball is thrown by one, and the player nearest to whom it falls kicks it in the air, and attempts to repeat this feat several times in order to keep the ball up, but failing to do so, the next player gains possession and throws it, and so on.
The visit to the Queen's Golden Monastery was peculiarly interesting. It is a fine specimen of native architecture, made of elaborately carved teakwood, finely gilded, but showing the marks of age. In the large central room, from which leads a smaller room separated only by columns, the so-called golden image of Buddha (also bejewelled) rests on a raised dais, and in front is a long table containing a great variety of votive offerings to the deity from a widely scattered circle of believers. The columns surrounding these rooms were profusely decorated with glass ornamentation, and the effect was startling. The Bishop in his robe of yellow silk—the color of the Buddhist priesthood—was gracious, and the young priests very jolly. We received several presents of long narrow books written on palm-leaf, the text being a translation in modern Burmese from the old Pali Bible. It is unnecessary to add that we left compensation, the sale of said books being forbidden; hence such is the way of evading the law!
