142 NADOL. Mágh (January or February) every year. The famous tols or Sanskrit schools have been referred to in the article on NADIYA DISTRICT (vide supra). In the historical section of the same article will be found some account of the Rájás of Nadiya, whose descendant now resides at Krishnagar. Nadol (or Nadolai). --Town in Jodhpur State, Rájputána. The seat of an important branch of the Chauhán clan of Ajmere from a very early period; and with the surrounding district, of which it was the capital, for centuries an object of contention between the States of Maiwár (Udaipur) and Márwár. Ráo Lakha of Nadol was one of the Rájput princes who unsuccessfully opposed Mahmúd of Ghazni in his famous expedition to Somnáth. The fortress, or rather its remains, stand on the declivity of a low ridge, to the west of the town, with square towers of an ancient form, and built of a curious conglomerate of granite and gneiss, of which the rock on which it stands is composed. Nadol was once the capital of the province of Godwar, and is now known chiefly for its architectural remains. Of these, Tod (Annals of Rájásthán, vol. i. p. 598; second edition, Madras, 1873) says : 'It is impossible to do full justice to the architectural remains, which are well worthy of the pencil. Here everything shows that the Jain faith was once predominant, and that their arts, like their religion, were of a character quite distinct from those of Siva. The temple of Mahávíra, the last of their twenty-four apostles, is a very fine piece of architecture. Its vaulted roof is a perfect model of the most ancient style of dome in the East, probably invented anterior to the Roman. The principle is no doubt the same as the first substitute of the arch, and is that which marked the genius of Cæsar in his bridge over the Rhone, and which appears over every mountain torrent of the ancient Helvetii, froin whom he inay have borrowed it. The principle is that of a horizontal instead of a radiating pressure. At Nadol, the stones are placed by a gradual projection one over the other, the apex being closed by a circular keystone. The angles of all these projections being rounded off, the spectator looking up can only describe the vault as a series of gradually diminishing amulets or rings converging to the apex. The effect is very pleasing, though it furnishes a strong argument that the Hindus first became acquainted with the perfect arch through their conquerors. The torun in front of the altar of Mahávíra is exquisitely sculptured, as well as several statues of marble, discovered about one hundred and fifty years ago in the bed of the river, when it changed its course. It is not unlikely that they were buried during Mahmúd's invasion. But the inost singular structure of Nadol is a reservoir, called the channa buoli, from the cost of it having been paid by the returns of a single grain of pulse (channa). The excavation is immense; the descent is by a flight of grey granite steps, and the sides are built up from the same
