LETTERS FROM ABROAD

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 157, 19 June 1911, Page 11

LETTERS FROM ABROAD

BY T. LINDSAY BUICK. KANDY AND COLOMBO. NO. 9. In ibv course ui our drive to the Temple wi passed througb a business street in ibe native quartet, and there »b saw the Hindoo apparently untouched, and 1 hope untarnished, by civilisation. They were engaged in their various oeeupations, with all the primitive appliances, anti all the simple customs whch belong to children ot m.tun*. The scene was otic of intense annuation, tor the stieol was thickly crowded with iin'ti, women and children. ’I he merchants were busy v. eigliiug out their goods, the tinker was beating his nuial. tlie shoemaker was hammering his last, <-»♦■» the loiterer seemed mure than usually energetic in bis go»sq». and tile laughter at the latest good story rang in the air. But high above the noisv life, tlie shouting or tin? men, and'the prattle of the children arose an all-pervading odor which no Maori i*a with ten thousand dried -•’harks in store could hope to rival. rhe street was nothing but a succession of dirtv hovels, peopled by a tnbe of dirty degenerates, but if it failed to provide us with anything to admire in the way of Oriental splendor, we certainly had no reason to complain »t went •way satisfied that the ‘ Temi»® its failure to impress us with w® magnificence of an Oriental smeM. Fortunatelv the Temple was not far off, and so making a supreme effort to protect our olfactory nerves from permanent destruction, we ducked our heads, held our breath, and made a bee line for

THE SHRINE OF BUDDHA. The Temple of the Tooth is the most sacred edifice reared in u» the memory and worship of the sounder of the Buddhist religion, and is yearly the destination of many pilgrimages on the part of the laithiul. Its particular attraction is an. alleged relic <*i BuddhM in Lhc sAspe a piece of ivory about four inches long, which is said to have been a tooth of the departed deity. This relic is annually exhibited to the true believers in the month of August, on which occasion there is an important religious ceremonial. The buikung itself is designed in the style of architecture characteristic of the eastern mosque and temple. It is partly surrounded by an artificial lake, is built of massive stones, and bears on its exterior the impress of antiquity. No sooner had we reached the main doorway than a fussy little mmtleman wished down the steps, enquired if we were of one party, informed us that he was the guide, and invited us to enter, all in s single breath. Immediately msi.k* the portico we were shown the sacred turtles and sacred fish which swim in the lake. There was nothing about these turtles and fish which would suggest to us that they enjoyed a special degree of sanctity, and we .would probably have passed by obfhvious of the tact had the guide not been extremely careful to impress upon u* that they were indeed exceedingly sacred. Taking his word lor it, we entered by a forty archway, and before we had time to take in the gjuomy surroundings, a couple of Mind beggars came out of the siiadowa and pushed collection boxes in front of soliciting alms. As we were about to enter a religious ed>it teemed a fitting thing that we should preface our visit by an act of charity, and these enterprising menrtirenU prepared on the spirit of benevokmce which pervaded us. We were their conducted to a narrow indlery, at the top of which were some paintings, said to have been executed SOO years ago. They were iWustratkrns of the punishments iwt««l out to tbo- guil* of vny onor more of the wieu *in«. I tailed to take a note -i tr.e tuxu cl the pneiw «»*•"•» ■‘•f ■** 'uus, V.’.;- it up ’j.joied to me that Buddha had arranged matters in su.'h a way that the punishuw'•nt > were tairly adequate tn the crimes. Wc w« r<- tneu invited to view a picture ut Nirvana, ami «• had just turned into another pas-

aage> to do so, when we were met bj four or five morn beggars, who clamoruusly besought us to share a rupee with them. Iw solution of this problem waa not left to ns, for our guide took up a most aggressive attitude toward* thrwe derebcVs, and in a torMBt of native abuse, which may have been perfectly Parliamentary for anything 1 know, he ordered them to <|tDt and trouble us t»o more. His action in expelling these pe»>pk* may have been perfectly disinterested, but in the light «»t subsequent events, rt occurred tu n-* lie foresaw that if too external temptations were put in our way, his. own ehanci-s might later on be considerably diminished. THE PICTURE OF NIRVANA. But be that as it may, we saw the picture of Nirvana, and heard what he had to say about it, and then be led us into a large rc»ubule, in tb»coiitre of which was stationed a statu-esqne-looking individual bolding a plate in bis outstretched hand. lbs guide now turned to Ui anti with the Maodest smile and in the ewi-eb-st voice intimated to us that we might, if were so disposed, ‘■contribute to tb»' temple charities.'’ The ap|M-ai was irresistible, and we fell. We were then taken to an iron door inside which hi- guideship HHortn»d us, lay the sacred tooth. He appeared sorry that be «a- unable to show it to ii.-, bin- Ih' assured us, with many pious prou-.-tations, that it was there, and a- a niiarant«'c «>t good faith, invit.d u- to ocn- ba< k next August, when it would be on exhibition- Without giving a definite promise to that effect, we conjuncited to go on and sei? some further pictures delineating Buddha’* ideas of the reincarnation ol soul-, and mtonlentally we wen* sh»nn sortie «atvfligs in granite biitlt in roiiinl tie doors, and some cbisvllid pillars tor which great merit and greater antiquit* were claimed. We also *»w the place where larue numbers of randies are lit every new- and full innon, a picture of Buddha as he will

look when he reappears on earth, and 1 finally a large gilt dome, wherein were said to be buried many precious ; relics of th* founder of this ancient religious faith. . With an open hand for his tip. and • nxiuv a profound salaam, the guide Im>w/*<l ub out- into Ute street, where we fell amongst more beggars whose inipnrrVunitM* were painfully persis- ' tent, and after we had appeased ! them, and tipped our driver, we ■of the Tooth” waa one of those ex- ‘ porieiM.-w fur which you had to pay. Time did not permit of our visiting the Temple Library, in which, J un-sk-jwtand, are some curious manuscripts wliich are worth inspection, mir tbd we see tlse elephants bathing, and quite a number of other attriu--tioru* for which Kandy is famous, but we had seen much that cannot- be minutely described here, and were on the whole delighted with our day out. Tin- return journey wtu* accomplished m 3j hours, and will be n* nu»r:ib:o to us because of the entertainment the tire-dies afforded as they flitted about amongst- the Imshee. to .say nothing of the comedy supplied by the native* who ai every station tried to sell us bunches <*t imnanas at prices which were almost- equivalent to their in gokl.