wells is a spring immediately under the north ern face of the mountain.
It is surrounded
by a large enclosure, and its water is tepid. Passing through a courtyard, the visitor arrives at a small stone cell in the rock, and imme
diately above this a flight of some eighty steps leads up the side of the hill to a platform paved with brick.
107
GEOGRAPHY OF MAGADHA.
APRIL 5, 1872.]
This is the celebrated Makhdum
kund of the Muhammadans, and Sringgi-rikhi kund of the Hindus.
This well is held in ex
traordinary veneration alike by Hindus and Musalmans, and is thronged by pilgrims all the year round. The spot is celebrated as the residence of Makhdum Shah Shaikh Saraf
There is little difficulty in identifying this from the remarks of Hwen Thsang as well as by those of Fah-Hian. The former says,t “Au nord de l'endroit oti Che-li-tseu (S’āripouttra) avait obtenu le fruit du Saint (la dignité d’Arhat), tout prés il y a une fosse large et profonde à côté de laquelle on a élevé un
Stoºpa. . . . . . . Au nord-est de la fosse ard ente, à l'angle de la ville entourée de montagnes ily a un Stoºpa. En cet endroit, le grand mé dicin Chi-po-kia (Djivika) bâtit en faveur du Bouddha, une salle pour l’explication de la loi.” Fah-Hian writes: “To the north-east of the city in the middle of a crooked defile, Djivika
ud-din Ahmad, a saint, not only revered by the
erected a Vihāra. . . Its ruins still exist.” Ibe
Muhammadans of Bihār, but by the followers of
lieve these places to be identical with the remains
the Crescent all over India.
which I shall presently describe. Nearly a quarter of a mile to the east of the pagoda of Mahāvira one arrives at the summit of the hill, which is exactly above the centre of the “crooked defile.” At this place is an enorm ous platform 130 feet long by 30 wide, and about 6 feet above the surrounding rocks. It is
The date of his
sojourn at Rājgir was, as far as I can ascertain, about 715 A.H.
The stone cell is said to be
his “hujra,” i.e., the scene of a forty days' meditation and fast [ver: chillah], and the plat form above, the place of his morning and even ing prayers. General Cuningham has been led into a strange error about this spot, and states it to have been the dwelling of Saint Chillah, a converted Hindu.
I trust at a future time to
be able to give a complete history of the life and writings of Saraf-ud-din, in connection with the history of Muhammadan rule in Bihār. About two hundred feet from the foot of the
hill, almost immediately above the northern
gate of the ancient city, and nearly half a mile south-west of
the Makhdum-kund, are
constructed almost entirely of the materials of
Buddhist buildings [I counted more than 30 pillars in the floor alone], and this is easily ac counted for by a large pile of ruins at either end of the platform. The mound to the east is nearly 30 feet high, and its surface is bestrewn
with pillars and stone slabs. The ruins to the west are undoubtedly those of a temple or vihāra, and several gray stone columns are still erect.
the
The modern Jaina temples on the platform de
remains of an enormous brick Stupa or “tope,” now surmounted by a small temple of Mahā deva. There is a similar ruin opposite this at the foot of Baibhār, and the bed of the ravine is also strewn with débris. I clearly identify these ruins with the description of Hwen Thsang"; “En déhors de la porte septentionale de la ville,
serve some notice, as all of them abound, more
ily a un Stoàpa. . . . au nord-est de l' endroit
of Buddha under a canopy, and three parallel rows of exquisite geometrical pattern run
où fut dompté l'éléphant ivre il y a un Stoàpa.” Leaving this place, and going some few hundred yards to the north-east, one arrives at two small Jaina pagodas, built on a peak of the hill. The first is dedicated to Hemantu Sādhu, and the second to Mahāvira, the 24th Tirthan kara of the Jainas, who is said to have lived, and died at Pawapüri, eight miles north-east of
or less, in Buddhist ornamentation. The first of the series of four is only about 10 feet square, and is surmounted by a simple semi-circular cupola. It is dedicated to Chandraprabha, the 8th Tirthankara. The doorway is a fine speci men of Buddhist art.
round the sides.
In the centre is a figure
Above the door, a large orna
mental slab, about five feet long and eight inches wide, is inserted in the masonry. It is divided into seven compartments. The first of which,
on either side, contain figures of elephants, and the remainder—groups of figures in the attitude of the dance.
This is almost identical with the
Continuing to ascend the western face
ornamentation of a very beautiful doorway exca
of the hill, one looks down on a rocky defile
vated by me from the mound at Dapthu, and which is now in my collection of Buddhist sculp
Rājgir.
which separates Mount Vipula from Ratnagir.
- Mémoires, tom. II. p. 16.
f Mémoires, tom. II. p. 18-19.
† Beal's Translation, chapr. xxviii. p. 113.
