140 VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SIAM AXD. MALACCA. 



scenes from their lives, but I did not see anything indecent in 

 them, which is commonly the case with the Tamils. Above these 

 pictures the wall was chiselled and cut into niches, which were 

 very narrow and about one span long ; they were all filled with 

 small idols. 



The real great idol was represented sitting after the man- 

 ner of the Oriental people. He sat upon a wall, which at the side 

 was edged with leaves, standing erect and painted brownish-red; 

 they were not quite as big as a man. The hands of the idol were 

 lying on his knees, the fingers spread out ; his head reached up to 

 the ridge of the highest roof. They said that this idol was twen- 

 ty fathoms high, reckoned from the ground, but as it seems to 

 me it was not much beyond twelve fathoms high. The space 

 between the eight big pillars was filled out by this idol and the 

 two minor idols, which were placed close to his knees, with their 

 hands laid together. x\t the side of these were eight idols on 

 each side, the first of them being about life-size, and they decreased 

 in size by degrees. All these had their hands uplifted as high 

 as their face, the inside of the hands turned towards the spectator. 

 There stood a table before the big idol, and upon it idols of many 

 kinds, all gilded ; some baskets of flowers stood amongst them. 

 The building measured from outside is forty steps long and 

 forty-two wide. The roof is very high and has three divisions, 

 the second division has furrows as if it were covered with gut- 

 ter-tiles, only the top part is quite smooth, and has an edge of 

 blue and white porcelain pieces with rounded edges. 



The windows are only one fathom^high, and only one span 

 wide There were nineteen of them on each side and ten at the 

 ends, five on each side of the door. The large door is ornament- 

 ed with gilt carvings, at its side there were all sorts of china 

 vessels standing in the wall; all these various vessels were stuck 

 to the wall bj^ means of chalk. Before the door stood on columns 

 three figures, two feet in length, half a foot in width and half a 

 hand thick, gilt on the outside and painted red inside. Before the 

 door was a small building, the gable of which was ornamented 

 with gilt carvings, convex little mirrors and glass painted green 

 on one side. 



There were two smaller temples, which however were only 

 very small if compared to the large temple ; they were being 

 repaired. One of the big idols had his posterior knocked off and 



