The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-22

zoe, 100000 Buo0niSts OF tue Wortus
The sacred shrine ct Buddhs -Gaya In
which Guatama Buddha attained per-
lection, has been In the hands Of the
f3rahmins for centuries and India
knows Buddha only as an Incarnation
of one Of its own gods. A. Anurad-
harpura. the long-buried capital OF
ancient and glorious Ceylon, still Hour
ishes sacred 30 tree whicn W.. We
under which Buddha sat. II u the
Oldest historical tree In the world. and
an object Of great veneration. but An
uradhapura does not attract the pill
grims as does Handy.
For In Handy IL the Temple OF the
Tooth, wherein II enshrined what the
devout believe to be ono Of the eye
teeth of the great teacher from the
funeral pyre half . thousand years be-
fore Jesus was born In Bethlehem. The
fact that the tooth 10 over two inches
long and nearly an inch In diameter,
and could not possibly be that Of q hu-
man being. makes no dienrence WITH
the religious pilgrim. The further fact
that the original and genuine tooth ina wss
By the Archbishop Of Goa with great
ceremony In the year 1850, does not
alter the veneration OF the multitude
Of votaries.
For centuries the original tooth was
the most highly priced relic In India.
It went with the hand Of princess
In International marriage settlements.
wars were fought for it's possession.
and blood was spilled over 1t through
thousands OF years. 1t was brought
to Ceylon In the hair Of q fleeing prtn.
cess, was re-taken BY the Indians In
war, was again returned to Ceylon and
set up In q temple at the then village
burned 1t. but II was not long before
the enshrined monstrosity Of today was
invented. The temple a. Randy was
enlarged and beautifed. and finally
Handy was made the royal capital OF
the Sinhalese kings. No one may see
the tooth, which 10 kept in seven locked
boxes in o windowiess temple room.
the air OF which u sickeningly heavy
with the perfume OF flowers. Once
year IL 10 carried in procession on the
back Of sacred elephant and may be
seen, at distance By the >devout. AT
other times Il IL kept In Its cell, while
Buddhist pilgrims from all over the
East bring presents Of gold and silver
to the temple, and tourists frem the
unbelieving Occident bring fees to the
priests and guides.
Whatever one may think OF the wis
dom or folly of the veneration of the
tooth, everyone must agree. that the
most sacred shrine of Buddhism has
been placed In a spot of surprising
beauty. High in the mountains, sew
enty Eve miles from Colombo, the little
city Of Handy keeps alive the ancient
spirit Of the Sinhalese. Here the kings
of the ancient line fortified themselves
behind the natural fortresses of the
surrounding hills, and here they sue
cessfuliy kept Arab, Portuguese and
Dutch invader at bay. only to fall into
the hands Of the British in the same
year that the battle of New Orleans
placed the final seal on the independ-
ence of the great American Republic.
Handy is puilt around an artificial
lake which 10 bordered by a profusion
of beautiful trees and flowers. High
on one side is the pavilion Of the last
King of Handy, and Just under that Is
the Temple of the Tooth and the great
dagoba which also enshrines some bone
relics of Buddha. Across the lake is a
Buddhist monastery. where the ancient
religion IL being taught with some
American theosophical Improvements Of
method. The drives around the lake
and on the higher benches OF the hills
are not surpassed in the world for
beauty. Looking at, Handy one might
imagine that he was seeing nlinia-
ture Japanese garden through mag
nifying glass Of wondrous power.
Evangelical Christians who use the
English language have been singing
for generation hymn by Bishop He
Der which says:
what though the spicy breezes
Blow soft Ger Ceylon's isle!
Though every prospect pleases
And only man Is vile."
Surely the good Bishop had not been
to Handy or he would never have in
cluded its people among those described
in the last line. The people Of Randy
are always happy and smiling, always
ready to enjoy a good-natured brush
with the visiting tourist. and they are
always clean. They wear very few
clothes, but much jewelry. Even the
babies ("Kandy kids') have bracelets
and anklets and necklaces of silver and
gold. although they are absolutely In
nocent of clothing.
Being high and cool, Randy is the
social capital OF the tea growing ccun-
try, and its spacious hotels cater to
the resident Englishman as well as to
the tourist, Yet the Englishman has
not spoiled the beauty OF the city. He
has restored the odd cement walls
erected by the Kandyan kings, and
when he has built anew he has follow
ed the ancient and native style of ar
chitecture.
Within a days ride Of Handy, wild
elephants still roam the jungle. In
its very suburbs there Is a herd of ele-
plants at work, piling timber for
saw mill. Still nearer to the city Is
the herd of elephants which are kept
sacred to the Temple of the Tooth. One
day in each year they are used in the
profession of the Tooth, and on all
other days they do cunning tricks and
eat bananas from the hands of timid
tourists that their keepers may get
rich, comparatively speaking, from tips.
Four miles away, back in the direc-
ton of Colombo, are the Peradeniya
gardens. 1.-THE most beautiful gardens
in the world" say those who have seen
them all. Surely, Peradeniya should
support the claim that Ceylon was the
and flower OF the tropical world has
been gathered here.
Just before one enters the garden he
sees q cultivated field in which tea,
coffee and chocolate are being grown
In happy family fashion for the delec-
tation OF varying breakfast tastes and
the profit OF the owner. inside the
garden one walks through a grove Of
nutmeg trees from which come nut
megs and mace, to a garden in which
cinnamon, all-spice, cloves, cardamon
and pepper all grow contentedly. Not
far away Is a garden with various
kinds Of sugar producing plants. so
that 1t may well be said that Pera-
deniya Is made Of sugar and spice and
ali that's nice"
Here Is an orchid house in which Is
collected the most beautiful of the spe-
cies OF lowering parasites from all
around the equator. as we'll as the COM