264 THE TEMPLE. 



it towers higli above every other object in the country, and is the first 

 to receive the rays of the rising sun and the last to part with the 

 setting sun. Kangchhcndsonga literally means "the five repositories or 

 ledges of the great snows," and is physically descriptive of its five 

 peaks— the name having been given by the adjoining Tsangpa 

 Tibetans, who also worshipped the mountain. But Lhatsiin Chhembo 

 gave the name a mythological meaning, and the mountain was made 

 to become merely the habitation of the god of that name, and the five 

 "repositories" were real store-houses of the god's treasure. The peak, 

 which is most conspicuously gilded by the rising sun, is the treasury 

 of gold, the peak which remains in cold grey shade is the silver 

 treasury, and the other peaks are the stores of gems and grain of 

 sorts and holy books. This idea of treasure naturally led to the god 

 being physically represented somewhat after the style of "the god of 

 wealth^' He is on the whole a good-natured god, but rather impassive, 

 and is therefore less worshipped than the more actively malignant 

 deities. For further particulars of his worship, see Chapter VI on 

 "Demonolatry," page 355. 



Lha-tsiin Chhembo, the pioneer lama of Sikhim ; or other lama-saint 

 of Sikhim, or of the special sect to which the temple belongs. 



The alleged existence, by Sir Monier "Williams^ and others ° of 

 images of Gorakhnath in Tashiding, Tumlong, and other Sikhim 

 temples is quite a mistake. No such image is known. The name 

 evidently intended was Guru Rimbochhe. 



The large images are generally of gilded clay, and the most 



artistic of these come from Pa-to or "Paro" in 



Material of images. ^■^Viin.n. A f ew are of gilded copper and mostly 



made by Newaris in Nepal. All are consecrated by the introduction 



of pellets of paper inscribed with sacred texts. 



Amongst the frescoes on the walls are displayed the Ndden 

 chu-tiik, or the sixteen disciples of Buddha; and 

 Frescoes. ^j^^ numerous hlma-saints of Tibet. 



There are also a few oil-paintings of divinities framed in silk 



of grotesque dragon jiattern with a border, from 



Framed paintings. ^j^j^j^^ outwards, of " the primary" colours in their 



prismatic order of red, yellow, and blue. These pictures have mostly 

 been brought from Tibet and Bhutan, and are sometimes creditable 

 specimens of art. 



The general plan of a temple interior is shown in the foregoing 



diagram. Along each side of the nave is a long low 



Planof intenor. ^j^gi^jo^ ^bout three inches high, the seat for the 



' Buddhism, page 490. 



2 Campbkll, J. A. S. P., 1849 ; Hookee, Sib R. Templi;, Jour., page 212 ; Him. Jovrs. I, 

 323; II, page 3 95. 



