From the perusal of this legend, it will appear that dzedis were likewise erected on the tombs of individuals who, during their lifetime, had obtained great distinction by their virtues and spiritual attainments among the members of the assembly. Buddha himself ordered that a monument should be built over the shrine containing the relics of the two great disciples, Thariputra and Maukalan. In Burmah, no dzedis of great dimensions and proportions have ever been erected on the ashes of distinguished Phongyies. In some parts, however, particularly in the upper country, there may be seen here and there some small dzedis, a few feet high, erected on the spot where have been deposited the remains of some saintly personages. These monuments are little noticed by the people, though, on certain occasions, a few offerings of flowers, tapers, &c., are made around and in front of them.
Similar kinds of religious edifices have been built sometimes also to become a receptacle of the Pitagat, or collection of the holy scriptures. One of the finest temples of Ceylon was devoted to that purpose. There was also one in the ancient city of Ava, but I am not aware that there is any of this kind at Amarapoora.
Finally, dzedis have been erected for the sole purpose of harbouring statues of Gaudama; but there is every reason to believe that this practice gained ground in subsequent ages. When a fervent Buddhist, impelled by the desire of satisfying the cravings of his piety and devotion, wished to build a religious monument, and could not procure relics, he then remained contented by supplying the deficiency with images of Buddha representing that eminent personage, in attitudes of body that were to remind Buddhists of some of the most striking actions of his life. In many instances, dzedis have been built up, not even for the sake of sheltering statues, but for the pious purpose of reminding the people of the holy relics of Buddha, and, as they used to say, for kindling in the soul a tender feeling of affectionate reverence for the person of Buddha and his religion. If what is put forward as a plea for building pagodas be founded on conviction and truth, we must conclude that the inhabitants of the valley of the Irrawaddy are most devotedly religious, as the mania for building dzedis has been, and even now is, carried to such a pitch as to render almost fabulous the number of religious buildings to be seen on an extent of above seven hundred miles as far as Bhamo.
As Buddhism was imported from India into Eastern Asia there is no doubt that the style of architecture adopted in the erection of religious edifices came from the same quarter. To the native genius of the Burmese we may allow the merit of ornamental architecture for the great monasteries, and a few details of the exterior decorations of the religious monuments; but no one will take offence at refusing to the tribes that occupy the basin of the Irrawaddy the merit of originating the plan of such monuments as those to be seen in some parts of the country. It is much to their credit that they have been able to raise such mighty fabrics with the imperfect knowledge they possess and the very limited means at their disposal. The resemblance that exists between the much-defaced Buddhist monuments yet to be met with in some parts of India and at Java, and those now studding the banks of the Irrawaddy, leaves no doubt respecting the origin of the shape and form of such monuments.
At first sight, the traveller in Burmah believes that there is a great variety in the shape and architecture of pagodas. He is easily led astray by many fantastical ornaments that have been added by inexperienced natives to religious monuments. After, however, a close examination of those edifices, it seems that they can be arranged into three distinct classes, to which those presenting minor differences may be referred. The first class comprises those which have a cone-like appearance, though much enlarged in the direction of the base. These are without niches, or rather ought to be without niches, as the small ones to be seen added to those monuments indicate that they are no essential appendage of the building, but rather the fanciful and tasteless work of some devotees. The pagodas of Rangoon, Pegu and Prome offer the finest specimens of this order of edifices. The second class includes those of a dome-like shape. They are not common in Burmah. The finest and grandest specimen is that of the Kaong-hmoo-dau, or great meritorious work, situated west of the ancient city of Tsagain. In the third class we may place all the pagodas that approximate to the temple form; that is to say, all those that offer the shape of a more or less considerable rectangle, with a large hall in the centre and several galleries running throughout. Upon this rectangle a conical structure is raised, ending as usual with the tee or umbrella. The most remarkable and perfect specimens of this kind are to be seen at Pagan, which may be aptly styled the City of Pagodas.
The cone-shaped pagoda invariably rests on a quadrangular basis a few feet high. The body of the cone in its lower part is an hexagon or octagon, broad at first, then gradually and regularly decreasing to two-thirds of its height. Upon it rises the regular cone, which ends in a point covered with the gilt umbrella.
The architectural ornaments of such structures are circular, bold and round lines or mouldings; above this, to the place where the cone begins, are sculptures, representing leaves shooting from the middle part, one half upwards and the other half downwards. That part is often divested of such ornaments, as is the case with the Shoaydagon. On the sides of the cone are horizontal lines grouped together; each group is separated by a considerable distance, then comes a sculptured foliage, different from the one already mentioned, but disposed in a like manner. In the middle of the four sides of the base, particularly in the one facing the East, the Burmese have introduced the practice of making small niches for receiving the statues representing Buddha in a cross-legged position. A portico leads to them. On the four angles of the base they likewise place griffins or sometimes fantastic figures of monsters. Small dzedis are often disposed on the lower parts of the hexagon or octagon. This kind of pagoda being naturally destitute of all ornaments, and standing over a tomb or a shrine, as a pillar that has gradually assumed the shape above described, is a very ancient one, and probably coeval with the earliest Buddhist religious monuments.
The second class of religious edifices is that of those that exhibit a dome-like appearance. They are rather uncommon in Burmah. They rest on a square basis. The lower part is adorned with a few mouldings, but the greatest part offers a perfectly even superficies. The umbrella that is placed on them partakes somewhat of the appearance of the monument it is destined to crown. It considerably expands in the horizontal direction, and has a very ungraceful appearance. The Kaong-hmoo-dau in the neighbourhood of Tsagain rests on a basis about 18 or 20 feet high; the dome, according to an inscription, is 153 feet high, the diameter, at the lowest part, is nearly 200 feet. The whole was formerly gilt. The four sides of the square are lined with small niches, each tenanted by a small statue of Gaudama. Separated from the square by an open and well-paved gallery that runs all round the edifice, are disposed in a row eight hundred and two small pillars of sandstone, about 6 feet high, with their upper part perforated, so as to afford room sufficient to receive a lamp on festival days. Splendid must be the effect produced during a dark night by so many lamps, pouring a flood of light that illuminates on all sides the massive edifice. Whether the monument was built about three hundred years ago, as stated to the writer by one of the guardians, or, as it is most probable, only repaired and adorned at that time, certain it is that this kind of religious edifice is very ancient, and very likely not inferior in antiquity to those above referred to. Another of a similar form, but of much smaller dimensions, is to be seen at Bhamo, not far from the eastern gate.
The third class of pagodas comprises all those that are generally of a square form, not made of a solid masonry, but with openings or doors, a room, galleries, &c., for receiving statues of Gaudama. They are all surmounted with the usual conical structure, which is, it seems, the essential appendage to all dzedis. These edifices, in my opinion, are not to be considered as tumuli or topes, but rather as places of worship, and sanctuaries for the reception of the statues of Gaudama. The monuments are, I suspect, of a comparative modern origin; they have not the plainness and simplicity of the tumuli which agree so well with the simplicity of the religious form of worship of primitive Buddhism. They are not made to answer the purpose for which dzedis were primitively raised. They must have been erected at times when Buddhist worship, emerging from its primeval sternness of form, assumed proportions and developments congenial to the taste and wants of large religious communities. This class of temples offers a great variety of forms as to the size, dimensions, and details of architecture. But they may be all brought to this general outline. From the square body of the temple diverge, in the direction of the four points of the compass, porticoes; the one facing the east is always the largest and best adorned; sometimes there is but one portico, that of the east, and there are only doors in the middle of the three other sides. From these porticoes the galleries converge towards the centre of the temple, where are statues. In the large and magnificent pagodas of Pagan, galleries with vaults in the pointed style run all round the building. Some of those stupendous structures have two stories, and it is only on the second that the conical part rests, which is the essential complement of every religious building. On one of the middle-sized pagodas rises, instead of a cone, an obelisk, with ornaments that appear to resemble hieroglyphic figures. Some of those obelisks swell considerably towards the middle of their height. Great was the surprise and astonishment of the writer, when he observed in the same place, among the prodigious number of pagodas, in a more or less advanced state of decay, one, not considerable by its dimensions, nor in a much-ruined condition, that exhibited the solitary instance of a regular pyramid.
[2] The few particulars that have been gathered respecting the mode that Buddha followed in disseminating his doctrines, exhibit him in the light of a zealous and indefatigable preacher. We see him passing from one place to another with the sole purpose of instructing the ignorant and pointing out to them the way leading to the deliverance. Bebar and Oude appear to have been the seat of his labours, and the scene on which he acted in behalf of all, without any distinction of condition, caste, or sex. Individuals in the humblest walks of life, men engaged in wicked practices, women of an abandoned character, were all, to an equal degree, the object of his tender solicitude. They were all summoned to come to his feet and partake in the blessings that he had in store for them. Gaudama was to an eminent degree an earnest and fervent propagandist. This is a striking feature in his character, which distinguishes him not only from all his contemporaries, but also from all the philosophers that have appeared throughout the Indian peninsula. All these sages aimed at becoming the heads of schools, but none of them thought of promulgating a code of morals intended for the whole human race. Gaudama has the honour of being the first who, with enlarged views, looked upon his fellow-men as equally entitled to the benefit of his instructions. His love of all men prompted him to undergo all sorts of fatigue, to procure for them what he imagined to be a great boon. In making this statement we have no intention to pass an opinion on the doctrines of the founder of Buddhism; we merely bring forward to the notice of the reader a peculiar characteristic of that sage, which, in our humble opinion, helps to account for the extraordinary spread of Buddhism from the banks of the Oxus to the Japanese archipelago. The tenets of that creed have become popular, because they were intended for all. False though they be, particularly in what has a reference to dogmas, they were accepted by the masses, because there were no other proffered to them. The disciples of Gaudama must have been well received in the various places they went to, for they showed a disposition of mind quite unknown in those days, viz., a lively interest in the welfare of all. This zeal, which appeared so conspicuously in Gaudama and during the first ages of Buddhism, has become all but totally extinct. There is no desire on the part of those who in our days follow that creed to propagate its tenets among other nations or tribes.