Page:1903 Lhasa and Central Tibet by G. Ts. Tsybikoff.pdf/8

 foot or in prostrate bows is about 8 miles long. When these bows are faithfully performed the circle is completed in two days, making about 3,000 bows a day.

The orchards and trees in the outskirts of the city are admired by the natives, and give the place a very beautiful appearance, especially in the spring and summer, when the gilt roofs of the two principal temples glisten in the sun and the white walls of the many-storied buildings shine among the green tops of the trees. But the delight of the distant view at once vanishes upon entering the city with its crooked and dirty streets. * *  *

A temple in which there is a large statue of Buddha marks the center of the city. The building is 140 feet square, three stories high, with four gilt roofs of Chinese design. The entrance gate faces the north. Each floor of the temple, with its blind external walls, is divided into numerous artificially lighted rooms, wherein stand various statues of Buddha. In the middle room on the east side stands the principal object of worship, Buddha Sakyamuni, under a sumptuous canopy. This bronze statue differs from the usual representations of the Indian sage in its head and chest ornaments of wrought gold set with precious stones, with a predominance of turquoise prepared and placed upon it by the famous founder of yellowhat teachings, Tsongkapa. The face of the statue ever since the days of that same Tsongkapa has been kept painted by devout worshipers with gold powder dissolved in liquid glue. Upon long tables before the god, melted butter, offered by the worshipers, ever burns in golden lamps. Two other statues in the temple command almost equal respect — the 11-faced bodisattva Avalokiteshvara, of which the Dalai Lamas are regarded as incarnations, and the statue Pal-Lhamo, the protectress of women. * *  *  Under the latter statue barley wine is being incessantly sprinkled and grains are freely scattered. Abundance of food and snug hiding places in the folds of the clothing of the statue have attracted numerous mice, that are here considered holy. * *  *

Besides the principal court of the temple there are two additional courts, in which the gatherings of the clergy of the neighboring monasteries are held.

Another small statue of Buddha stands in a temple in the northern part of the city and is called "Jovo-ramoche," but both temple and statue are inferior in proportions and ornaments to the main temple, and there is a noticeable difference in the reverence of the worshipers.

Within the city limits of Lhasa there are four courts or quarters of eminent Hutuktu incarnates, who were once Tibetan khans. They are the best buildings in the city, and as each has a certain number of pupils of the Lamas they are really small monasteries. Then, each