ten contain a
hall, at the end of which are one or more sitting figures of the
Buddha, on the right hand side a recumbent figure of him, but on the
left a row of four statues representing Mahabrahma, Vishnu,
Karttikeya and Mahasaman. Of these Vishnu generally receives marked
attention, shown by the number of prayers written on slips of paper
which are attached to his hand. Nor is this worship found merely as a
survival in the older temples. The four figures appear in the newest
edifices and the image of Vishnu never fails to attract votaries.
Yet though a rigid Buddhist may regard such devotion as dangerous, it
is not treasonable, for Vishnu is regarded not as a competitor but
as a very reverent admirer of the Buddha and anxious to befriend good
Buddhists.

Even more insidious is the pageantry which since the days of King
Tissa has been the outward sign of religion. It may be justified as
being merely an edifying method of venerating the memory of a great
man but when images and relics are treated with profound reverence or
carried in solemn procession it is hard for the ignorant, especially
if they are accustomed to the ceremonial of Hindu temples, not to
think that these symbols are divine. This ornate ritualism is not
authorized in any known canonical text, but it is thoroughly
Indian. Asoka records in his inscriptions the institution of religious
processions and Hsuan Chuang relates how King Harsha organized a
festival during which an image of the Buddha was carried on an
elephant while the monarch and his ally the king of Assam, dressed as
Indra and Brahma respectively, waited on it like servants.[116] Such
festivities were congenial to the Sinhalese, as is attested by the
long series of descriptions which fill the Mahavamsa down to the
very last book, by what Fa-Hsien saw about 412 and by the Perahera
festival celebrated to-day.

6

The Buddhism of southern India resembled that of Ceylon in character
though not in history. It was introduced under the auspices of Asoka,
who mentions in his inscriptions the Colas, Pandyas and
Keralaputras.[117] Hsuan Chuang says that in the Malakuta country,
somewhere near Madura or Tanjore, there was a stupa erected by Asoka's
orders and also a monastery founded by Mahinda. It is possible that
this apostle and others laboured less in Ceylon and more in south
India than is generally supposed. The pre-eminence and continuity of
Sinhalese Buddhism are due to the conservative te