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138 Diamond Throne, a slab of polished sandstone, replaced in its afternoon shade. There were unusual numbers of pilgrims for a few years, and the pious Burmese covered the stem and branches with so much gold leaf, poured so much milk, perfumery, cologne, oil, incense, tins of sardines, European food and confections around its roots, that it began to droop and die. General Cunningham put in a new tree in 1885, and surrounded it by a brick wall inlaid with old carved stones around the window openings on each side. A marble table or altar was erected by a pious Cingalese to receive the Burmese and Hindu offerings, and that sturdy tree glitters and grows magnificently.

There was no building of any kind at Mahabodhi in the Buddha's lifetime, nor can any stone or inscription be traced to his day. The First Council met in the great sculptured cave on the hillside, and it was not until the Third Council, 244, that Asoka erected a temple. Buddhism, having found its Constantine in the "sorrowless Asoka," remained the state religion throughout the great empire.

The temple became a treasury of relics and riches. The window-frames and door-frames of gold and silver were set with gems, the Diamond Throne was heaped with all the jewels of the East, and, like the Jeweled Cloister, was literally what its name indicates. Archæologists are not all agreed whether the present temple was built by the Scythian conquerors in the second century, or by a Brahman in the sixth century. Between the second and fourth centuries the priests had left Mahabodhi, and Bud-