3-047-097 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Voyage to China: Buddhist Temple at Galle, Ceylon, 1872. 'The principal figure is that of Buddha, or Gautama Buddha, as he is called in Ceylon. It is colossal, formed of clay, and painted. There are four other figures in the temple, one being that of Vishnu, which indicates a mixture of Brahminism with Buddhism...The walls are covered with paintings. There are figures of the Buddhas who have been, and of those to come - Maitra Buddha being the next one that is to appear. The plan of this temple has a striking resemblance to the churches in Abyssinia...One would be inclined to believe that the one was a copy of the other; but, knowing the plan of the ancient Buddhist rock-cut temples, it is easy to see that this Ceylon example derives its form from the construction of that period...The priests here are monks, and shave their heads...The monks are dressed in a yellow robe. In front of the figure of Buddha is a table, or altar, with two lamps. The figures of Buddha, though seeming at first sight to be nude, are not so; there are lines to indicate drapery on the body. The robe passes over the left shoulder, leaving the right shoulder and arm bare, and descends to the heels The monks here copy their master in this fashion'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.