The Brazen Palace, Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka)

The Brazen Palace was a monastery built by King Dutugemunu in c.164 BC for the accommodation of one thousand Buddhist monks who attended the sacred Bo tree. 'At the time of our visit to Anuradhapura the pilgrims had assembled in vast numbers to celebrate the festival of the midsummer new moon, and their simple camps – yellow tents of great taliput palm-leaves ... formed a very picturesque feature in the scene ... with reverent steps they trod the green forest glades, marking the course of the main streets of the Holy city, and guided by the yellow-robed Buddhist priests many of the pilgrims carried small flags and banners, and one group carried a miniature ark containing a Golden Lotus Blossom, to be offered to the sacred Bo tree.' (C.F.Gordon Cumming, Two Happy Years in Ceylon, I, London, 1892, p.403).