On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c18.6

v2.c18.6

The Vārāṇasī District is described by our pilgrim as being above 4000 *li* in circuit. The capital reached to the Ganges on its west side, and was about eighteen *li* long by five or six *li* wide. The city-wards were close together, and the inhabitants were very numerous and had boundless wealth, their houses being full of rare valuables. The people were gentle and courteous and esteemed devotion to learning; the majority of them believed in the other systems and only a few of them were Buddhists. The climate of the district was temperate, and the harvests were abundant; fruit and other trees grew densely and there was a luxuriant vegetation. There were above thirty Buddhist monasteries with more than 3000 Brethren all adherents of the Sammatiya school. Of Deva-Temples there were above 100, and there were more than 10000 professed adherents of the sects, the majority being devotees of Siva; some of these cut off their hair, others made it into a top-knot; some went about naked and some smeared themselves with ashes; they were persevering in austerities seeking release from mortal existence. Within the capital were 20 Deva-Temples, and the narrative goes on to tell how their storeyed terraces and temple-eaves were of carved stone and ornamented wood; thickets of trees gave continuous shade and there were streams of pure water; there was a *tu-shi* (bell-metal?) image of the Deva (probably Siva) nearly 100 feet high which was life-like in its awe-inspiring majesty.