20
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JANUARY 5, 1872.
Fah-Hian continues; “this was the town king Ajásat built. There are two Safighárámas in it. Leaving the town by the west gate and
and going 800 feet in a direct line to the south west, and crossing about midway the Saraswati rivulet one arrives at a circular mound having an
proceeding 300 paces (we arrive at) the tower
elevation of some 30 feet and a diameter of 180.
which king Ajásat raised over the share of Bud
The centre is considerably depressed and seems to consist simply of masses of bricks similar to those on the ramparts and inside the fort.
dha's relics which he obtained. Its height is very imposing.” The walls of the town and its gates are dis tinctly traceable at the distance of about half a mile from the foot of the mountain and directly facing the northern entrance of the valley of the five hills. Its form is somewhat difficult to describe and authors have varied in their at
tempts to do so, but after careful inspection from all points of view, and, what is still better, after studying its form from two of the
hills above, I am of opinion it cannot be correctly called a pentagon, but is rather a parallelogram having, as measured from the top of the ramparts, three equal sides, viz., the
north, west, and south, each measuring 1,900 feet, and one unequal viz., the east measuring 1,200 feet. The wall appears to have had a uni form thickness of about 14 feet and is composed of masses of stone about four feet square, the faces of which are made uniform and placed one upon the other in close contiguity, without any mor tar or cement whatever. Starting from the north-east corner, where a stone bastion still exists in tolerable entirety, the wall remains unbroken for 200 feet, at the end of which distance a
second bastion appears to have existed and similar traces are seen at the 300th foot.
The
remains of the wall now almost entirely dis appear, but at the distance of 1100 feet from
From the west side of the ruins a sort of terrace
leads to a semi-circular heap of somewhat less elevation than the first, in the centre of this I dis
covered three large statues of Buddha all head less but otherwise little mutilated, they are all seated on lotus-leaf thrones supported by bases ornamented by different devices. In one, several figures are seen in the act of making an offer ing; the centre of the second is occupied by the “Wheel of the Law” with a deer on either side, and the third bears the representations of two lions couchant.
These mounds are undoubt
edly the ruins of the great tower mentioned in the text. I hope to make a complete excavation of them during the cold season. I have made at the present time two incisions in the side of the topes, and have recovered from them some Bud dhist idols of remarkable beauty, as well as a tablet covered with the representations of the nine planets. From the west door the ramparts still increase
in height, but the wall is hidden by masses of brick.
Not far from the end of the western
side, there is another break in the wall exactly opposite which is a small temple contain ing a Buddhist idol, now worshipped by the Hindus as the image of Beni Mādhav. At each side of the Saraswati stream is a pacca
the north-east corner there is portion of entire
Ghāt and the ceremonies of “ Goudén” and
wall measuring 20 feet by 14.
hardly a trace of it remains till towards the
“Pindadán” are constantly performed here. At a short distance from this opening, the south rampart commences and has an elevation nearly
north-west corner, where its elevation considera bly increases and there are enormous masses of
straight, but inclines towards the north-east. At
Further on the
wall appears clearly to have been removed and
equal to that on the west.
The wall is not
brick which lead me to the conclusion that a tower
about the 500th foot from the south-west corner,
must have once existed here. At this place the
there are unmistakable traces of an enormous
bricks
of remarkable
brick tower, and 400 feet farther on there is a long
solidity. At a distance of 110 feet from the corner there are clear marks of a bastion, and
The
piece of wall still intact, and terminating in the southern gate. From this point to the south-east angle the wall is clearly visible. It has an eleva tion of some 30 or 40 feet above the valley, and there appears to have been bastions at distances
rampart throughout this distance presents an
varying from 100 to 110 feet. Opposite the south
are very
small
and
the same feature is observable at similar distances
up to the great west door, some 500 or 600 feet from the north-west corner of the fort.
average elevation of 25 or 30 feet above the
east corner and at a distance of 50 or 60 paces
plain beneath. Just before the west door, a fine piece of wall still remains intact measuring 26 feet by 14. Passing out by the west gate
there are distinct marks of a ruined tower similar
to the one near the western gate already describ ed. The wall towards the east has a total length
