108
tures.
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
The next temple is divided into two
chambers, and is of considerable size. It is dedi cated to Mahāvira, and both the inner and outer
doors are very fine. The cornice of the latter is divided into nine compartments, in the first of which a man is represented in the act of dedicating a chaitya. The others are filled with the usual Buddhist devices. The top of the temple is pyramidal in shape. The next
[APRIL 5, 1872.
Au milieu du chem in, il y a deux petits Stoºpas: ... Le som met de cette montagne est
allongé de l'est à l'ouest, et resserré du sud au
nord.”
He then proceeds to speak of a vihāra
to the west of the mountain, a colossal stone
once trodden by the sacred feet of Sakhya Muni, a Stâpa to the south, and a second on the sum
mit of the mountain.
Fah-Hian's description?
is far less minute, but he gives exactly the same
pagoda is faced by an open court, to the right
distance [viz. 15 li] and speaks of two caves
and left of which are two slabs, the one covered
on the hill—the colossal stone—the Wihāra,
with the representation of the ten Incarnations of Vishnu, and the other with those of the Nine Planets. The vacant space at the base of the carving is covered with a modern inscription in Nāgari. The doorway is surmounted by a com
and the lofty peak.
paratively plain moulding. This temple is dedi cated to Munisuvrata—the 20th Jaina Tirthan
kara, who is said to have been born in Rajgir. Inside the fourth temple are four charanas—two
On the 20th January, I made an attempt to
explore the valley. Clearing the dense brush wood and jangal as I advanced, I skirted the foot of Ratnagir for about a mile from the old city, and then struck across into the centre of
the valley, and pushed on two miles further to the east. I then saw that to the east of Ratnagir there is another mountain terminating in a lofty
of them being of white marble. They are dedi cated respectively to Mahāvira, [or Wardha mâna] Pårshwanātha, Shanthanātha, and Kun
peak, which towers above the summit of the surrounding hills. This mountain is called
thunātha-the 24th, 23rd, 16th and 17th Tir
that mentioned in the text of Fah-Hian and
thankaras respectively. Leaving the temples and skirting the north
Hwen Thsang. It adjoins the southern side of Vipula. In the middle of the valley a stone terrace or staircase, about 20 feet broad, runs due north, towards the foot of the hill, for a distance of 900 feet. At this point it branches off to the east up the mountain side. At the dis tance of 300 feet from the plain I found a small stúpa in the very centre of the staircase about 8 feet square, and in front of it three or four steps are still almost intact, each step being about 18 or 20 feet wide and a foot high. Near this place under a great heap of débris I found three images of Buddha almost perfect, but of the rudest
side of the ravine, you cross a narrow ridge
which brings you to Mount Ratnagir. The summit is crowned by a temple decorated with some small black basalt columns, elaborately carved. From this a stone staircase or pathway leads down the western slope of the hill to the plain beneath.
Between Ratnagir and Udayagir lies a narrow valley covered with jangal, situated, as nearly as possible, due north-east of the ancient city, and stretching away as far as Giryak—a dis tance of six or seven miles. I shall now pro ceed to establish if possible an identification of
Devaghāt, and I unhesitatingly identify it with
workmanship. They are uniform in size, and bear
inscriptions.
From the stûpa the staircase
this valley, connected with the writings of both
continues to
traverse
the pilgrims. Hwen Thsang writes as follows”:
“Au nord-est de la ville, il fit de quatorze a quin ze li” [2} or 3 miles], “et arriva au mont Ki-li tho-kiu-teh'a (Gridhrakoúta Pârvata) qui touche
a distance of 800 feet. At this point I discovered a second stipa and a large quantity of images, pillars, &c. Of these, the most remarkable are a figure of Buddha seated on a lion, a large
au midide la montagne du nord, et s'élève isolément
seated Buddha with the usual lotus throne, and
à une hauteur prodigieuse. . . Le roi P'in-pi so-lo (Bimbisara), voulant entendre la loi, leva un grand nombre d’hommes; puis, pour traverser la vallée et franchirles ravins, depuis le pied de la montagne jusqu'au sommet, il fit assembler des
pierres, et pratiqua des escaliers larges d'environ dix pas, et ayant une longueur de cinq à six li.
- Mémoires, Vol. II. p. 20-21
the
mountain-side
for
a standing figure of Buddha with a long in scription. All these idols have been removed to Bihār, and merit a much more detailed de scription. The terrace now becomes more broken,
but its traces are visible up to the peak. From its commencement in the valley up to the summit
of
the mountain
it
measures, as
f Beal's Fah-Hian, Ch. xxix. p. 114.
