Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c19.65

c19.65

“Then again the king commanded all the priests and novitiates and the lay devotees also, male and female, who were dwellers in the island of Laṅkā, to wait for the procession in great crowds without the vihāra and around it, at the space of a league from each other, raising shouts of applause and uttering the praises of the supreme Buddha, and holding in their hands offerings, flowers, and such like things that were needful at feasts in honour of Buddha; and (he likewise commanded) all others, men and women who knew the value of the three sacred gems, to adorn themselves in their best apparel (and to tarry for the procession) with things that were fit for offerings. And the king also, moved by great devotion, decked himself in all the royal ornaments and, in the midst of his fourfold army, placed the two relics of the Tooth and the Alms-bowl in a carriage of great splendour, decorated with all the ornament meet for such a vehicle. Then he caused rows of men to carry before the procession these articles and divers others that were used at feasts; namely, banners of gold and banners of silver, water-pots of gold and water-pots of silver, chowries of gold and chowries of silver, caskets of gold and caskets of silver, beautiful fans of gold and fans of silver, *pokkharaṇis*† of gold and *pokkharaṇis* of silver, and flower vases made of gold and flower vases made of silver. Then the king, followed with the sound of the five instruments of music and forming a procession of great magnificence, carried the relics by stages along the decorated highway into the city of Sirivaḍḍhana, and placed them on the seat that was prepared for Buddha in the spacious ornamented hall that was built in the middle of the vihāra, and caused offerings to be made thereunto by the divers people (who had assembled there).