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JOURNAL. R.A.S. (CEYLON), [Vol. VIII. 



inclemencies of the Indian rainy weather, when travelling was 

 prohibited, and the use of the word is therefore not a safe proof. 

 The evidence of the earlier texts of the Buddhists is particularly 

 significant in this respect. The Lalita Vistara, while referring 

 frequently to the worship of chaityas, nowhere alludes to images. 

 In ancient Hindu writings, the word chaitya is occasionally used 

 for a " temple," but the earlier Buddhists could not have used it 

 in that sense, for they could not have ordained the worship of the 

 temple, leaving unnoticed the presiding divinity of the sanctuary. 



" The earliest samples of the statue occur in the monastery of 

 Mathura, and we may conclude, therefore, that the statue came 

 into use after the date of the Bhilsa Tope of the second century 

 before Christ, and a little before the Mathura monastery of the 

 first century after Christ." 



The B6dhi-tree, or tree of knowledge of G6tama Buddha, 

 is, as you know, the Pippal or Ficus religiosa; it is found in 

 these sculptures, and its identification is made certain by the 

 inscription on the domed roof of the building which 

 surrounds its trunk :~ 



" Bhagavato Saka Munino Bodho." 

 * The tree of knowledge of the Blessed Sakya Muni.' 



Each Buddha had his own separate tree, and in the 

 Bharhut sculptures the trees of six out of the last seven 

 Buddhas have been found with the names attached to them. 

 The surroundings of the Bodhi-tree of the last Buddha are 

 much more elaborate than the others. [See Plate XIII. 

 (1), XXX. (3), LIV. (28.)] They are thus described by 

 General Cunningham : — 



"The trunk is entirely surrounded by an open-pillared building 

 with an upper-storey, ornamented with niches containing umbrellas. 

 Two umbrellas are placed in the top of the tree, and numerous 

 streamers are hanging from the branches. In the two upper 

 corners are flying figures with wings, bringing offerings of 

 garlands. On each side there is a male figure raising a garland 

 in his right-hand, and holding the tip of his tongue with the 

 thumb and fore-finger of the left-hand. This curious action is also 

 seen in another sculpture, in which the worship of Sakya Muni's 

 Bodhi tree is represented. In the lower storey of the building 

 there is a throne in front of a tree surmounted by two specimens 

 of the favourite Buddhist symbol, the Dhamma chakra, and the 

 tri-ratna combined. Two figures, male and female, are kneeling 



