Roman Mosaics; Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood
John Stuart Mill · en
The Siamese acknowledge only five genuine Phrabats made by the actual
feet of Buddha. They are called the Five Impressions of the Divine
Foot. The first is on a rock on the coast of the peninsula of Malacca,
where, beside the mark of Buddha's foot, there is also one of a dog's
foot, which is much venerated by the natives. The second Phrabat is on
the Golden Mountain, the hill with the holy footstep of Buddha, in
Siam, which Buddha visited on one occasion. The impression is that of
the right foot, and is covered with a maradop, a pyramidal canopy
supported by gilded pilasters. The hollow of the footstep is generally
filled with water, which the devotee sprinkles over his body to wash
away the stain of his sin. The third Phrabat is on a hill on the banks
of the Jumna, in the midst of an extensive and deep forest, which
spreads over broken ranges of hills. The Phrabat is on a raised
terrace, like that on which most of the Buddhist temples are built.
The pyramidal structure which shelters it is of hewn stone ninety feet
high, and is like the _baldacchino_ of a Roman Catholic church. There
are four impressions on different terraces, each rising above the
other, corresponding to the four descents of the deity. The fourth
Phrabat is also on the banks of the Jumna. But the fifth and most
celebrated of all is the print of the sacred foot on the top of the
Amala Sri Pada, or Adam's Peak, in Ceylon. On the highest point of
this hill there is a pagoda-like building, supported on slender
pillars, and open on every side to the winds. Underneath this canopy,
in the centre of a huge mass of gneiss and hornblende, forming the
living rock, there is the rude outline of a gigantic foot about five
feet long, and of proportionate breadth.