THROUGH ASIA 
778 
walked in front of the image of Buddha; but when it 
arrived within three or four li (about one mile) of the town, 
they got ready a four-wheeled carriage, thirty feet high, 
and fashioned like the ordinary travelling carriages. This 
was decorated with divers kinds of valuable ornaments, 
ribbons, and banners, and upon it the image of Buddha 
was placed, between two images of Pho-sa, and surrounded 
by other images of the gods, all hung round about with 
a quantity of ornaments of gold, and silver, and marble. 
When the image came within a hundred paces of the 
gate of the town, the king took off his tiara, and put 
on a fresh robe, and walked out of the gate and went 
barefoot to the image of Buddha, bearing perfumes and 
flowers in his hands. As soon as he came near to the 
carriage, he cast himself down on the ground, and laid 
the perfumes and flowers at the feet of the god. As 
the carriage containing the image of Buddha passed in 
through the gate of the tow’ii, the queen and her ladies, 
who were waiting in the pavilion outside the gate, flung 
flowers over the god and over the carriage. There were 
as many carriages as there were temples, one for each, 
and fourteen in all. One day was set apart for each 
procession, in such wise that the first procession took 
place on the first day of the fourth month, and the last 
on the fourteenth day of the same month. When the 
carrying round of the images of the gods was finished, 
the king and the queen returned to their palace. 
“At the distance of seven or eight li (about two miles) 
west of the town, there was a monastery called the new 
royal temple. They had been at work upon it for the 
space of eighty years, and three kings had taken care 
for the building of it. Its height was maybe about 250 
feet. It was adorned with paintings and inscriptions 
engraved upon metal, and covered with gold and silver, 
and embellished with divers kinds of precious ornaments. 
Its highest part went up into a tower. They have like- 
wise built a temple to Buddha, the beams of which were 
ornamented with the most precious carvings in wood. 
The columns, the gates, the windows and their openings, 
