Brindá-ban and elsewhere are described in a manner which throws almost a new light on the subject of Indian art, and the several photographs are most beautiful. Before closing a necessarily brief notice of this important work, we must draw attention to Mr. Growse's protest against the too common neglect by etymologists of the Sanskrit element in the various native dialects, and to what he says about the revolting practices taught and carried out by the more advanced Buddhists; these latter may astonish some of those 'new light' apostles, who are so fond of eulogising the followers of Gautama and their principles at the expense of Christianity. Altogether the volume is in itself unique and must prove of the greatest service to the Oriental student."—Whitehall Review.
"Books like Mr. Growse's Mathurá are very welcome......It is a valuable monograph on a very interesting subject......Mr. Growse's excellent autotypes are a great help to his careful descriptions. Throughout the book is a model of painstaking and intelligent research—is, in fact, just what such a district memoir should be."—Graphic
"It is with much gratification that we welcome the third edition of Mr. Growse's valuable work on Mathurá. The immense importance of this sacred spot to modern Hinduism it is difficult for a European to realise. It is the holy of holies to the vast Vaishnava sect, and the exhaustless theme of adoration to Hindus of every sect and of every province. Such being the theme, Mr. Growse is right in treating it worthily; and his handsome and well-illustrated quarto volume shows, by the success with which it has met, that a good thing well done is sure of a hearty welcome.
"The valuable chapter on the etymology of Indian proper names may be designated the distinguishing characteristic of the book, and we venture to predict that it will prove more widely useful than the author expected... ...He has not only proved that Maholi is a corruption of Madhupuri, but that the same change has taken place in numerous other cases, and that the relative antiquity of vast numbers of towns may be safely inferred from the very form in which the names now exist. He has given sound reasons for maintaining that, in the names of many places in the Mathurá district, final -oli represents -puri, on=grâma, -hâ=sthána, -si=sthalf, -b=vapia, -oi=vâpi, and âna=âyana. Remarkable as these changes seem, the steps which led to such phonetic corruption may be seen by the observant; and they follow the course of the laws of letter-change laid down with clearness by the ancient author Vararachi in his grammar of the Prâkrit dialects. Mr. Growse remarks with truth that such facts would long ago have been recognised but for the unfortunate neglect of the Hindi language. It has been the custom to despise the vernacular of the humble villager, forgetful of the fact that the poorer class constitutes the mass of every population, and are, in fact, the people! It is their language, their literature, their customs, their religious notions, and their traditions, which overspread the country in which they reside; and therefore, when we seek to penetrate the hazy past of Hindustan, it must be through the medium, and by the help, of Hindi……It has the longest history of any of Aryan speech, exhibiting, in the various stages of its literature, the changes which words have undergone during a life of about four thousand years. It is not too much to expect a proper study of Hindi to revolutionise what has been called the 'Science of Language.' This chapter thus seen to be a valuable contribution to philology. The other excellences of the volume have been already recognised by scholars. The descriptions of the district and its history are good, and the architectural monuments are clearly explained and handsomely illustrated; while the chapter on caste, and the exposition of the tenets of the different Hindu sects, supported by numerous and interesting quotations from original works, are thoroughly satisfying."—Overland Mail.
"By far the most valuable of all the District Memoirs hitherto published at the instance of the Government of the N. W. P. Replete with accurate information on every point of interest relating to the district of Mathurá, its inhabitants and principal families, its history, antiquities, religious and social customs, &c……a model of what a District Memoir might be made."—Proceding, of the Asiatic Society of Bragad, May 1853.
