On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c13.s6.2

v1.c13.s6.2

Above twenty *li* east (according to the A, B, and C texts, but in the D text, west) from the capital was a large monastery of fine proportions and perfect workmanship: its representations of Buddhist worthies were in the highest style of ornament. The monastery contained some hundreds of Brethren, all of the Sammatiya School, and beside it lived their lay dependents some myriads in number. Within the enclosing wall of the monastery were Triple stairs of precious substances in a row south to north, and sloping down to east, where the Julai descended from the Tayastimsa Heaven. The Ju-lai had ascended from Jetavana to Heaven and there lodged in the "Good-Law-Hall" where he had preached to his mother: at the end of three months he was about to descend. Then Indra by his divine power set up triple stairs of precious substances, the middle one of gold, the left one of crystal, and the right one of silver. The Buddha descended on the middle stair, Brahma holding a white whisk came down with him on the right stair and Indra holding up a jeweled sunshade descended on the left stair, while devas in the air scattered flowers and praised the Buddha. These stairs survived until some centuries before the pilgrim's time when they sank out of sight: then certain kings on the site of the original stairs set up the present ones of brick and stone adorned with precious substances and after the pattern of the original stairs. The present stairs were above 70 feet high with a Buddhist temple on the top in which was a stone image of the Buddha, and images of Brahma and Indra were at the top of the right and left stairs respectively and these images like the originals appeared to be descending.