Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-11-27
The Holy Impression of the Fort of
Gaudama Makes the Place
Sacred.
The Tooth of Btddha an Object of
VeneratiOn, Before Which
WOrshipers Fall PROSTATE.
Many Costly offerings are Laid at the
Feet of these Great Images.
The Appesl-Avalanche.

window Of furniture house. the back of
which was carved image of the great Lord
Buddha. 1t is well worth notice. The
upper part of the face is perfect, and as
good a likeness as | ever saw in In,sa
Often have | seen natives making an Offer
ing and bowling down In worship to idols
far inferior in the likeness of their god
There is one pecu iarity observable in all
the statues representing Buddha, and is
very plain In the chair mentioned.
The head is Invariably covered with
sharp points resembling thorns, ora twist
ed turban. often inquired as to the motive
that induced native sculptors to make
these inverted mails, but could get no
answer. But in reading the life # Buddha
| found that when be set out to be a recluse
and handed out to lis servant his orna-
ments he said: "1hese long hairs that
cover my head are slperfluities' So with
one hand unsheathiag lis sword and with
the other Selling his HAIR and holding it
up he cut 1t off with single stroke What
remained of his hair on his bead measured
about an inch aid a half. From that
time it never grew, and always remained
in the upright position. The chair saw
brings out this regularity very finely.
There is also the oriental shaped hand
and the loose sleeve.
But true images Of Buddha are never in
a standing position nor are the hands
ever extended.
The god alwaI reclines with the head
supported by the hand, or he sits cross
legged like tailor On his bench
The cross-legged position in which Bud
dab is always taken n preference to any
other, shows the manner in which he sat
when he spent the fohy-nine days at the
foot of, and in various places around the
Boob tee, and Is, as everybody knows, pc
culiar to and favoria with all Asiatics.
But he considered it the fttest position for
meditation and contemplation. Hence,
most of the statues of Gaudama represent
him In the crOss-legged position. which he
occupied when he attained the Buddha-
ship. AS this event il by far the most i'm
portant of his life, it Is but natural that
this great occurrence should be always
kept before the attention and memory of
the people. by objects representing him in
| the most important stage Of his last eX-
| istence.
1t is not unusual to meet with statutes
of Gaudama sometimes of colossal dimen-
sions, representing hin In a reclining
| position. This is the peculiar situation
| he occupied when he ded. Hence, those
two most common imag.s of Gaudama are
designed to remind hii followers of the
! two greatest Cir .umstaneeS of his life, his
| becoming Buddha, and his entering the
State of Neibban.
| A statue representing Buddha in the re-
Ginning position is to be seen in almost
every pagoda. Some of these statues are
lofT 7
| FIVE feet long, aud another $50 feet They
are of very rough work, and show that art
is In its infancy In Burmah. The huge
wood or hewed stones, but are built up of
bricks. Having made in this way the
principal parts Of the statue, the whole is
covered with thick coat of mortar, the
softness of which enables the builder with
out much labor to put the finishing hand
to his work They are, In an artistic
point of view, the worst, rudest and coars-
est attempts at statuary | have ever seen.
Gold is lavished on those ugly and shape
less works. The large idol referred TO was
covered with gold from head to foot.
Idols of smaller dimensions-those in
the cross-legged position, in the attitude
of meditatior-ar likewise bad specimens
of art. A great many are made of soft
stone, almost white, resembling marble in
appearance, and capable of receiving a
most perfect polish About three miles
from Rangoon Is place where
marble idols are made to a great extent
, The stone is brought from the north of
Burmah, where it IS abundant. 1t is soft
| transparent, white and sometimes, when
polished, exhibits slightly blush appear
ance.
The idols In Burmah are numberless.
Some temples contain thousands, even
the paths among them being covered
with fragments of heads, arms and feet of
the broken gods. OF all sizes they are,
and made from every thing that can be
hammered, cut or moulded.
These images of Buddha always receive
more or less religious worship. In some
places impressions of Gaudama's foot are
shown, and this makes the place very holy.
Several OF these, not only In Burmah, but
IN CeyIon and Siam, are said to have been
really stamped there by the Dlety himself,
and are shown as proofs Of His extensive
travels. The rest are copies of these en-
press1ons, and are more numerous. Some
are IN stone aud some In stuccO, generally
handsomely gilded and we'll rooted over.
The fooG OF Gaudama is not like that of
ordinary mortals, but is square, all the
toes being of the same length. In Ceylon
the tooth OF Buddha is an object of great
veneratlon among the natives. Il is con-
sldered by them to be the guardian spirit
OF their country, and the sovereignty of
the island is supposed to be attached to its
pOssessOrs.
For many years the British government
took charge OF this relic, and appointed |
soldiers to guard it, and only on certain oc-
caslons was 1t exhibited because OF the
crowd attracted, although each worshipper
was charged fee bowling to it. The
tooth was piece of discolored ivory,
slightly curved, nearly two inches in
length and one inch in diameter at it's
base. Its other extremity is rounded and
blunt, and gradually dinlinishes in size. I
This relic Is kept in small chamber in
the temple attached to the palace of the
Kings. 1t Is encased in six boxes, and is
placed on silver table hung round with
rich brocades. The largest or outsice
cover OF these caskets is five feet
IN height, formed OF silver gilt,
built IN the bell shape peculiar to buildings
raised over the relics of Buddha. The
same form Is preserved In the five inner
cases, which are gold, two of them being
being lnIald with rubies and precious
stones. The outer case is decorated with
many gold ornaments and jewels, which
have been offered to the idol and decorate
It's shrine.
On small table in front the people lay
their offerings, and having seen the tooth, |
they PROSTATE themselves and depart
Buildings, called zayats, are placed over
some images. Some of these are mere |
sheds, open on all sides, but in most cases
they are hui Ii In q far morn cnstlu manner !