346 The rock templet of Dam boot, Ceylon. [April, 



pretty sharply the massive elbow beside me to test its truth, when 

 the priest raised a cry of horror at my temerity, and seizing my arm, 

 would have put me from the sacred edifice ; I, of course at once apolo- 

 gized for my want of thought, as I was far from intending to wound his 

 feelings^and I soon found that a few rupees, added to my explanation, 

 made matters perfectly satisfactory. I had the pleasure of assuring 

 myself by my profanation, however, that the image actually is of stone, 

 and that there is no deception about the matter. Besides these two 

 statues — the colossal one of Buddha, and the smaller one of Vishnu, 

 there are four others of the Maghadie prophet, of about the natural size, 

 and of the kind so common in all the wihares of the island. 



Leaving the Maha-Deva-Devale, and proceeding to the westward, the 

 visitor ascends a few steps, and finds himself in front of the Maha 

 Wihare or Great Temple, by far the largest of the five. In front of 

 the Maha Wihare, or as Major Forbes calls it, the Maha raja Wihare, 

 the temple of the great king, and near the small wall that borders the 

 steep side of the mountain, rises the Bo-tree, from beneath which a 

 view of the exterior of the second, third, fourth and fifth caves may 

 be obtained. The accompanying sketch, imperfect as it is, may afford 

 some idea of their appearance. To the right the first temple stretches 

 in a line with the second, but hid by intervening trees ; and to the 

 extreme left are seen the two smaller and more recently excavated caves, 

 forming an angle with the others. The projecting inclosure to the 

 left, of which two walls are seen, represents the tank, which it will be 

 perceived is laid down in the ground plan. Immediately above both 

 entrances to the Maha Wihare, marks of the wedges with which the 

 rock was split are very apparent — evidences of the labour employed in 

 the construction of the caves. 



On the massive doors and small windows of the Maha Wihare being 

 opened, the visitor sees before him a large spacious apartment, the floor 

 of which, that is, the rock beneath him, is quite level, whilst the roof 

 gradually descends from the entrance to the further side, heing twenty- 

 one feet high near the front wall and only four at the opposite quarter. 

 Immediately in front of him (supposing him standing at the door) he 

 sees a line of statues representing Buddha, either in the standing or 

 sitting posture — some plain, others ornamented with an arch like 

 canopy surrounding his figure. On his right hand the same line conti- 



