and walk three times round a stupa, offering incense and flowers.  Then they all kneel down and one of them who sings well begins to chant hymns describing the virtues of the great Teacher and continues to sing ten or twenty slokas.  They then return to the place in the monastery where they usually assemble and, when all have sat down, a reciter mounting the lion-seat (which is near the head priest) reads a short sutra.  Among the scriptures for such an occasion the ‘Service in three parts’ is often used.  This is a selection of Asvaghosha.  The first part contains ten slokas of a hymn.  The second part is a selection from some scripture consisting of the Buddha’s words.  Then there is an additional hymn as the third part of the service, of more than ten slokas, being prayers that express the wish to bring one’s merits to maturity.  After the singing the assembled Bhikshus exclaim Subhashita or Sadhu, that is well-said or bravo.  The reader descends and the Bhikshus in order salute the lion-seat, the seats of Bodhisattvas and Arhats, and the superior of the monastery."[260]

I-Ching also tells us of the ceremonial bathing of images and prefaces his description by the remark that “the meaning of the Truths is so profound that it is a matter beyond the comprehension of vulgar minds while the ablution of the holy images is practicable for all.  Though the Great Teacher has entered Nirvana yet his image exists and we should worship it with zeal as though in his presence.  Those who constantly offer incense and flowers to it are enabled to purify their thoughts and those who perpetually bathe his image are enabled to overcome the sins that involve them in darkness."[261] He appears to contemplate chiefly the veneration of images of Sakyamuni but figures of Bodhisattvas were also conspicuous features in temples, as we know not only from archaeology but from the biography of Hsuean Chuang, where it is said that worshippers used to throw flowers and silk scarves at the image of Avalokita and draw auguries from the way they fell.

Monasteries were liberally decorated with statues, carvings and pictures.[262] They often comprised several courts and temples.  Hsuean Chuang says that a monastery in Magadha which he calls Ti-lo-shi-ka had “four courts with three storeyed halls, lofty terraces and a succession of open passages....  At the head of the road through the middle gate were three temples with disks on the roof and hung with small bells; the bases were surrounded by balustrades, and doors, windows, beams, walls, and stairs were ornamented with gilt work in relief.”  In the three temples were large images representing the Buddha, Tara and Avalokita.