[78] The ten precepts of the moral code of Buddhism are as follows:—Kill no living creature—do not steal—follow no unclean occupation—tell no lies or untruths—drink no fermented liquors—live exclusively on vegetables—anoint neither the head nor the body—go to no singing parties or spectacles—do not sleep on a raised nor on a wide bed—eat but once a day, and before noon.
BUDDHA TEMPLE NEAR GALLE.
On the day of our arrival we at once set off to visit one of these Buddhist temples, in the vicinity of Galle. The edifice is small and insignificant, only the carved woodwork of the door presenting any object of interest as a work of art. In the interior is a gigantic figure of Buddha, carved in wood, and in a reclining position; it is 20 feet long, and painted yellow and red, with long flaps to the ears, and a lotus flower on the head; while on the walls around, richly decorated with scrollwork, dragons and lions, part painted, part sculptured, various interesting episodes are represented in the history of Buddhism. Right in front of the figure are placed a number of offerings of the most miscellaneous description, beneath which are flowers and fruits; a small tin box is also particularly conspicuous, into which every stranger is expected to drop a piece of silver by way of present. Adjoining such a temple are always to be found the wiharas, or residences of the priests (hamaduruhs), and the spot where preaching and teaching are carried on. The priests wear long wide vestures, yellow or white according to their rank, or else only a single yellow outer garment, which falls in the form of graceful drapery over the naked shoulders; their heads are shaved, and they walk about quite barefoot, with a parasol of Talipot palm in their hand, and observe with strangers a reserved, distrustful demeanour.
We were conducted all round by a young priest, of about 20 years of age, who spoke a little English, which is not a very common accomplishment, since the Buddhists have a great dislike for all that is foreign. Only at the conclusion of our visit did the old, grey, half-blind superior priest make his appearance, saluted us, but immediately left us to snatch from a boy a shaddock (Citrus decumana), which is especially prized by the Cingalese on account of the refreshing qualities of its juice.
The priestly office, however, does not deter a native from indulging the disgusting habit of chewing the betel-nut, and this aged hamaduruh became much more sociable on receiving some.
Adjoining the temple, which stands in a charming cocoa-nut grove, we first got an idea of the extraordinary luxuriance of the vegetation of this island. In a single enclosure, not much larger than an ordinary house-garden, we saw coffee-trees, cinnamon-bushes, clove-trees, nutmeg-trees, (Areca catechu), oranges, lemons, pine-apples, and bread-fruit trees (Arctocarpus incisa), flourishing in wildest profusion.
A second temple, which we also visited, was the Dadále Panzela, the largest in the province, and the seat of the high-priest of the Buddhists. This worthy personage, a septuagenary, is named Nanalangara Seresumana Mahdamaradjigurù Ganatchari-Naikunangi, and is surrounded by a staff of priests of the temple who are reputed holy, and who apparently venerate him as a superior being. This temple did not differ much in construction and arrangement from the first; but the place set apart for instruction, where, at the time of our visit, some youths were busily engaged in copying the sacred books upon palm leaves, as also the residences of the priests, made a much more imposing impression, and spoke of a certain degree of opulence. In the midst of a piece of ground laid out like a garden was planted the sacred Bo-tree, which is looked upon as holy by the Buddhists, because, according to an ancient tradition, Buddha was in the habit of reposing under the shadow of its branches, as often as he visited the earth. Towering above everything wherever a Buddhist temple is raised, there a Bo-tree is planted; but the particular sacred tree, the original plant from which the legend took its rise, grows at Anaradnapura, in the northern part of the former kingdom of Kandi, whither it had been suddenly translated from a far-distant land, and spontaneously took root in the spot where it at present stands, in order to serve as a protection and shelter for Buddha.[79] Ninety Cingalese monarchs are interred around it, all of whom, by the temples and statues they erected to Buddha, are deemed worthy of this pre-eminent mark of distinction.
[79] The sacred Bo-tree (Ficus religiosa) of the Buddhists is frequently confounded with the Banyan Tree (Ficus Indica), held in such honour by the Brahmins, from which latter it differs in this, that it does not throw out from its branches numberless twigs which take root again in the earth. The incessant waving and rustling of the leaves and branches, which is common to both species of Ficus, is regarded by the faithful Buddhists as the effect of a fear-instilling scene of which the sage was once witness under the Bo-tree; just as the Syrian Christians deduce, from the fact that the Holy Cross was manufactured out of aspen-wood, that this tree is trembling, even in our days, with anguish and terror. Singular, what an important part the fig-tree seems to play in all religions, including the Christian and the Mahometan!