Money has been lavished on this building.

The inclined marble slabs that divide the terrace steps are covered with fanciful tracery; the parapets of the bridge are chiselled in marble; sculptured images of elephants with howdahs crown the pillars of the marble balustrades; the lattice work under the wide eaves is everywhere beautifully carved.
Lofty pillars of wood support the temple roofs.

They are preserved by a coating of hemp and protected against fire by an outer coating of plaster stained the colour of the original wood.

Gilding is used as freely in the decoration of the grand altar and tablets of this temple, as it is in a temple in Burma.
On a hill overlooking the city and valley is the Temple to the God of Literature.

The missionary and I climbed to the temple and saw its pretty court, its ancient bronze censer, and its many beautiful flowers, and then sat on the terrace in the sun and watched the picturesque valley spread out before us.
As we descended the hill again, a lad, who had attached himself to us, offered to show us the two common pits in which are cast the dead bodies of paupers and criminals.