Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/279

 CHAP. VIII. ANURADHAPURA. 243 When A.roka, according to tradition, sent his son Mahinda and his daughter Sangamitta, to introduce Buddhism into Ceylon, one of the most precious things which they brought was a branch of the celebrated tree which still grows at Bodh- Gaya 1 (Woodcut No. 19). The branch, so says the legend, spontaneously severed itself from the parent stem, and planted itself in a golden vase prepared for its reception. According to the prophecy, it was to be " always green, never growing nor decaying," and certainly present appearances would go far to confirm such an assertion, for, notwithstanding its age, it is small, and does not seem to increase. Its being evergreen is only a characteristic of its species, the Ficus religiosa ; our acquaintance with it, however, must extend over a longer series of years than it yet does, before we can speak with certainty as to its stationary qualities. Its branches, however, are already propped up to preserve them. 136. View of the Sacred Bo-tree, Anuradhapura. (From Sir E. Tennent's ' Ceylon.') It grows from the top of a small pyramid, which rises in three terraces, each about 12 ft. in height, in the centre of a large square enclosure popularly known as " Udamaluwa," but by the priests called Maha-Vihara. But though the place is large, sacred, and adorned with stairs of some pretension, none of the architectural features which at present surround it are such as to require notice in a work like the present. 1 Singularly enough, the natives of Bihar ascribe the planting of their Bo- tree to Dutthagamani, the pious king of Ceylon. Buchanan Hamilton's 'Stat- istics of Bihar,' Montgomery Martin's edition, vol. i. p. 76.