Roman Mosaics; Or, Studies in Rome and Its NeighbourhoodMacmillan, Hugh
Philosophy
Roman Mosaics; Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood
Macmillan, Hugh
Rome (Italy) -- Description and travel
rhododendron, which grow freely among the crags around, accompanied by
various genuflections and shoutings, and concluding with the striking
of an ancient bell, and a draught from the sacred well which springs
up a little below the summit. These ceremonies point to a very
primitive mode of worship; and it is probable that, as Adam's Peak was
venerated from a remote antiquity by the aborigines of Ceylon, being
connected by them with the worship of the sun, the sacred footprint
may belong to this prehistoric cult. Models of the footprint are shown
in various temples in Ceylon.
Besides these five great Phrabats, there are others of inferior
celebrity in the East. In the P'hra Pathom of the Siamese, Buddha is
said to have left impressions of his feet at Lauca and Chakravan. At
Ava there is a Phrabat near Prome which is supposed to be a type of
the creation. Another is seen in the same country on a large rock
lying amidst the hills a day's journey west of Meinbu. Dr. Leyden says
that it is in the country of the Lan that all the celebrated founders
of the religion of Buddha are reported to have left their most
remarkable vestiges. The traces of the sacred foot are sparingly
scattered over Pegu, Ava, and Arracan. But among the Lan they are
concentrated; and thither devotees repair to worship at the sacred
steps of Pra Kukuson, Pra Konnakan, Pra Puttakatsop, and Pra
Samutacadam.
The footsteps of Vishnu are also frequent in India. Sir William Jones
tells us that in the Puranas mention is made of a white mountain on
which King Sravana sat meditating on the divine foot of Vishnu at the
station Trevirana. When the Hindoos entered into possession of
Gaya--one of the four most sacred places of Buddhism--they found the
popular feeling in favour of the sacred footprint there so strong that
they were obliged to incorporate the relic into their own religious
system, and to attribute it to Vishnu. Thousands of Hindoo pilgrims
from all parts of India now visit the shrine every year. Indeed to the
worshippers of Vishnu the Temple of Vishnupad at Gaya is one of the
most holy in all India; and as we are informed in the great work of
Dr. Mitra, the later religious books earnestly enjoin that no one
should fail, at least once in his lifetime, to visit the spot. They
commend the wish for numerous offspring on the ground that, out of the
many, one son might visit Gaya, and by performing the rites prescribed
in connection with the holy footstep, rescue his father from eternal
destruction. The stone is a large hemispherical block of granite, with
an uneven top, bearing the carvings of two human feet. The frequent
washings which it daily undergoes have worn out the peculiar
sectorial marks which the feet contain, and even the outlines of the
feet themselves are but dimly perceptible. English architects are now
engaged in preserving the ruins of the splendid temple associated with
this footprint, where the ministry of India's great teacher--the
"Light of Asia"--began.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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