MARCH 1, 1872.]
GEOGRAPHY OF MAGADHA.
71
north—a feature I have not before met with in
between Mounts Baibhār and Sonár is Rain
any similar ruin, for the numerous temples which I have seen at Rajgir and other places
b h u m, the traditionary scene of the great battle
are, without exception, approached from the east.
of the Mahābhārata.
led to a room about 12 feet square, containing
A rugged path leads from this place to the southern outlet of the valley at Băng a fi ga. Certain marks on the stones are considered by Captain Kittoe to be inscriptions, but if this be the case, the letters are far too imperfect to admit of being deciphered. The valley terminates in a rocky ravine of the most inconsiderable width, having Sonárgir to the west and Udayagir to the
twelve pillars similar to those in the staircase—
east. The Bângangă torrent, which rises at the
ten of which are imbedded in the brickwork and
foot of the former, rushes over the slippery
two support the roof in the centre of the
rocks into the southern plain of Hisua-Nowada. The pass is literally only a few feet wide, and its
A staircase of brick, with walls on either side, led to the inner hall. The walls appear to have
been strengthened, and the roof at the same time provided with supports, by the erection of
gray stone pillars, about four feet apart, with plain square bases and capitals. This passage
chamber. The centre hall is directly under neath the Jaina temple, and it consequently
has been impossible to uncover it. I think the precise nature of the original building is doubtful; the position of the entrance leads
entrance was jealously guarded by fortifications of enormous strength, which will be fully de scribed when I come to speak of the antiquities of the hills.
me to the conclusion that it was most likely a house or tower—not a religious edifice.
The first mountain I ascended was Baibhār to the north-east of the northern entrance of the
The doorway seems to have been surmount ed by a long basalt slab containing figures twelve inches high. I brought away two pieces
valley. At the foot of the hill runs the Sarasvati, from the banks of which a large stone stair case leads to the sacred wells and temples, which, though still venerated by the Hindus of Bihār, yield but a scanty subsistence to the numerous
of this to Bihār.
Several other figures were
found in this place years ago, when it was pierced by an avaricious road-contractor in the hope of finding treasure. If he ever learned the Jaina traditions connected with the place, his hopes must have been high, for they make out the tumulus to be the ruin of the house of
Daniji and Sathadrāji, two seths or bankers, in whose honour, they say, a small temple still exists on the eastern slope of Mount Baibhār. If the priests made their story known to this enter prising scion of the Department of Public Works,
they cannot solely blame him for the disaster
Brahmans
who attend
them.
The wells are
vaults of stone, about 10 feet square and 12 deep, approached by steps ; and the temples are quite modern, and of the poorest proportions and workmanship. Most of them contain frag ments of Buddhist idols, mouldings, cornices, &c. and here and there I noticed a chaitya, now doing duty as a linga. All of these carvings, however, are very inferior to those found by me in the mounds of Bargãon, Rohoi, and Kalyān pur. The wells at the foot of Baibhār are
which followed on his researches, namely, the col
seven in number, and are all clustered round
lapse of the stucco pagoda and its sacred ‘cha
the great B r a h m a-ku º () which is larger, deeper and more highly esteemed than the rest.
rana,' towards the end of the succeeding rains. About a mile to the south-east of the mound is
The one nearest the ascent of the mountain is
a long piece of rampart known as “Barghāont.” In the centre of this was the southern gate of
the Ganjū-Jamunſi–Kund.
Ku să garapur a-lanked by two towers. The view from the top of the ruin is very
shoots, the ends of which are carved to represent the heads of tigers or lions. They remind one strangely of the gargoyles of early English
striking, for you see at once both entrances of the
Valley and all the five hills. A little to the
The water is warm,
and enters the vault by means of two stone
Architecture.
These pipes were clearly men
"est of this, at the foot of Sonár gir, is a ridge of rock called the wrestling ground of Bhim,
- d various indentations in its surface are point
ed out as the marks of the feet of the combatants. Beneath this, to the west of the city walls, and
tioned by Hwen Thsang in the narrative of his travels. He says “à toutes les ouvertures par où s'échappe l’eau des sources, on a posé des pierres sculptées. Tantôt on a figuré des tétes
sº Y.
et du Chinois en Français par M. Stanislaus Julien, Paris. 1837. Tom. II. p. 23.
sur les Contrées Occidentales traduit du
- *u Chinois en ran U18 A.D. par Hiouen Thsang,
de lions, etc.”
Below this are the
Anand
