1 28 EVERYDAY LIFE ON A 



Estates, and I caught sight of bungalows perched 

 like eagles' nests on what appeared from below 

 to be mere platforms crowning pinnacles of 

 rock. Near the foot of this rugged mountain 

 mass is the famous rock temple of Aliwooharie, 

 much more interesting to my mind than the 

 temple of Buddha's tooth at Kandy. Ali- 

 wooharie is only about a hundred yards from 

 the north road to Jaffna, one of the main arteries 

 of traffic in Ceylon. It is said that here the 

 Buddhist doctrines were first reduced to writing 

 about a century before Christ. The temple 

 is approached by a flight of steep stone steps, 

 which are nearly worn away by the feet of the 

 many pilgrims who for over two thousand years, 

 have worshipped in this curious place — a huge 

 mass of rock cleft by fissures of various 

 dimensions. 



The principal one, which lies nearly north 

 and south, is many feet in width, and has on 

 its western side various caves which have been 

 artificially enlarged and even in some degree, 

 built up with masonry, into which doors are 

 fitted. Inside each of the caves are colossal 

 statues of Buddha, far larger than life. The 

 Buddhas recline each on a stone platform, and 

 have faces expressive of the utmost gentleness, 

 and a calm, suggestive of the blissful state of 

 " Nirvana," to which all good Buddhists desire 

 to attain. One cave, however, contained a 



