"They [the people of the city] are mostly unbelievers [meaning non-Buddhists], a few reverence [sic] the law of Buddha…There are a hundred or so Deva temples with about 10,000 sectaries. They honour principally Mahesvara (Ta-tseu-tsai). Some cut their hair off, others tie their hair in a knot, and go naked, without clothes (nirgranthas); they cover their bodies with ashes (Pashupatas) and by the practice of all sorts of austerities they seek to escape from birth and death. In the capital there are twenty Deva temples, the towers and halls of which are of sculptured stone and carved wood. The foliage of trees combine to shade (the sites), whilst pure streams of water encircle them. The statue of the Deva Mahesvara, made of teou-shih (native copper), is somewhat less than 100 feet high. Its appearance is grave and majestic, and appears as though really living."