Chap. V.] THE DALADA. 197 



and ill a dim, and studiously darkened alcove, the king, 

 reclining on a throne, Avas approaclied by his ministers, 

 "on all fours, with their foces close to the floor, and 

 almost hterally licldng the dust." ^ 



The temples of Kandy, both Buddliist and Hindu, 

 are dilapidated edifices, apparently perishing from 

 unarrested decay. They are situated in enclosed 

 court-yards, and, under the shade of the groves that 

 surround them, crumble the neglected monuments of the 

 later sovereigns of Kandy.- All the Buddhist priests in 

 Ceylon belong ostensibly to one or other of the two great 

 estabhshments at Kandy, the Asgiri and Malwatte. In 

 doctrines and disciphne they are identical, but they 

 differ somewhat in territorial authority, the ecclesiastical 

 jurisdiction of the Asgiri behig understood to extend 

 over the northern parts of the island, and that of the 

 Malwatte chiefly over the temples to the soutli. With 

 the extinction of the national dynasty, the status and 

 influence of the priesthood have undergone a rapid de- 

 chne; — not that their ]:)ossessions have diminished, 

 nor that the protection of the chiefs has been less gene- 

 rous than before ; but in tlie eyes and estimation of the 

 people they have endured a diminution of dignity from 

 the loss of the royal ]:>resence, in wdiich it was their 

 privilege to bask. Even their ritual pomp and cere- 

 monials no longer command the same homage from the 

 populace, and the great animal jn-ocession of the Pera- 

 hara, witli its torchlights, its solemn music, and capari- 



1 Botd's Embdssi/, iSv. Miscall. 

 Works, vol. ii. p. 214. 



- After burning' tlio bocli(>8 of the 

 deceased king-s, their ji.slies were 

 carried l)y a man in a l)lack mask, 

 to the Miihawclli-gansia, where h(> 



opposite bank, whence he fled to tlie 

 forest and was presumed to be never 

 more seen. The canoe was allowed to 

 drift away ; the horses and elephants 

 that accompanied the procession were 

 set at libertv in the woods ; and the 



embarked in a canoe. At the deejiest i females who strewed rice over the 

 part of the river he clove the vase coffin, were transported across the 



with a sword, scattered the avshes on river and forbidden e\<n- to return. — 

 the stream, and plunging headlong TIavv's Cciilnn, p. I(ii\ 



after them, dived and rose near the ' 



o 3 



