Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c19.57

c19.57

“And in the festival which was held at that vihāra they invited the priesthood, and prepared seats for them in the upper hall of the vihāra, and caused the priests who were preachers of the Law to sit thereon and recite the Mahā-maṅgala-sutta and other discourses which were pleasant to be listened to; and then they made due offerings in honour of the Law. And all the people who heard and saw these things enjoyed the pleasure of seeing (the image of) the Supreme Buddha at the same time that they listened to his holy doctrine; and they rejoiced exceedingly as if they heard the doctrine preached by the living Buddha himself. Thus, day after day, did they show to the people both the beauty of his (Buddha’s) form and the dignity of his discourses.