GON
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prolongation over countless centuries in the lonely forest which then covered the country, finally become one with the divinity, and sank in living death beneath the earth. pure spring gushed out from the sacred spot and on the last day of the light half of every Kartik, some twenty thousand pilgrims flock thither from every part of the district to wash away the taint of their sins in water, which at any rate has the advantage of being constantly changed, and is therefore not outrageously dirty.
A
The
sanctity of Kharglipur is of modern date, and is due to the discovery few years before annexation, of a large Mahadeo with a handsomely carved argha, the rich remains of some civilisation whose memory and name no longer exist. From the commencement of the thirteenth century till quite lately the tract in which this stone emblem was discovered had certainly been an uninhabited jungle, and we must ascribe its original erection to a period anterior to the Muhammadan conquest. there, a
.
It is now the object of renewed veneration, and the centre, on the light thirteenth in each month, of a crowd of pilgrims. The land on which it stands forms part of the estate of the late Maharaja Sir Man Singh, and the money offerings are set apart for the construction of a superb shiwala, which is now progressing under the superintendence of the encumbered estates agency. The grain which is presented at the shrine is taken by a Goshain, who distributes what he does not require for his own sustenance among the indigent of his brethren.
The third place of pilgrimage is about eight miles to the west of Gonda, just beyond where the Tirhi is crossed by the Balpur ferry. It is dedicated to Siddh Blr, but who this Siddh Bir was I have been unable to detect from any of the" number of his votaries whom I have interrogated on the subject. They are tolerably unanimous in admitting that he has no connection with either Mahadeo or Bhawani and the majority of votes would make him a Muhammadan saint, either a martyred officer of Sayyad Salar's army, like him yet worshipped at Raza (pargana Mahadewa), or a holy faqlr who passed from the world at this spot. The shrine is simply a mud platform under a banian tree, which draws a gathering of six or seven thousand, chiefly women, on the last day of Asarh.
The
Gonda itself, Jigna, Dhangpur, Dubha, R^jgarh Baldan Chaudhri, a rich Kurmi of Sombarsa, tried to create one in his village, and erected the necessary buildings, but failed to attract either sellers or purchasers, and the ruined shells of abortive shops remain to witness to his want of success. Exactly the same result attended a similar project of the late Sir Man Singh at Bilawan, half-way between Jigna and Gonda, and the plain is still disfigured by a collection of dilapichief bazars are in
and Khargupur.
dated brick walls.
As
in the rest of the district, the principal article of
commerce is grain, and considerable quantities of wheat and rice are exported through Nawabganj or Colonelganj. The import trade is insignificant, being confined to salt, brass vessels, and small quantities of English cotton cloth.
One metalled road runs from Gonda to Fyzabad the remaining connections are merely earth embankments, more or less passable according to the violence of the preceding rains and the energy of the officer for the
