Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c32.12

c32.12

Golden images, made by the ‘chief smith’ and the king, are mentioned in the Kusa Jātaka, in such a way as to suggest that such images were well known at the time of the composition of the story,§ which in its present form has preserved the tradition of the third century B.C. We pass next to references to the construction of images in Buddha’s own time. The Kosala Bimba Varnanāva states that a gilt sandal-wood image of Buddha was erected with his consent, to compensate the disappointment felt by those who should come from afar to visit him, if they should find him absent.