PR E F A C E .

T HE history of a country is so metim es epitomized in

the history of on e of its principal cities . The ci ty of

Benares represents India religiously and intellectually ,

,

j ust as Paris represents the political sentiments of France .

Th ere are few cities in the world of greater antiqui ty,

an ci ent celebrity and distinction . In Benares, Bu ddhism

was first pro m ulgated ; in Benares , Hinduism has had
her hom e in the boso m of her m ost im passioned votaries .

This city, therefore, has given i m pulse and vigour to

the two religions which to this day govern half the
world .

An account of a ci ty of such rem arkable as sociations,

which has occupied su ch a prom in ent place in the annals
of the human race , is n ot without its importance , and

o ught not to be devoid of interest . Having resided in

it for several years, I hav e enjoyed peculiarly favourable
opportunities for becom ing acquainted with its inner life
vi PR E F A C E .

and character . The ta sk I have set m yself is not th at

of discussing the religious system s existing there ,

which would be an unn ecessary undertaking , it havi ng

—
been so frequently accomplished by abler hands , but
of giving a representation of B enares as sh e was in the
past ,
is in the present H er early condition
and as sh e .

—
h er connexion with ancient B u ddhism h er architectural
—
remains her fam o u s tem ples , holy wells and tanks, and

nu m erous gh éts or sta irs leading down to the Ganges

th e —
l egends co ncerning them the peculiar custom s at
— —
the tem ples the cerem onies of the idol ater the m odes
—
of worship the religious festivals , and oth er t0 pics,
ill u strative of the character which Benares m aintains

as the sacred city of India, are dwelt u pon, with som e

am ount of detail in this volu m e
,
I have deem ed it .

of m om ent , lso , in
a a book of this nature , to m ake som e
observations on the influence which edu cation , E uropean
civilizati on, and, a bove all
,
Christianity , are no w exert
ing upon the ci ty . As Benares h as held a forem ost
place in the history of India for two thou sand five
hundred years, at the l east, so , in all likelihood , she is
destined to retain that position in the new era of eu

lightenm ent which has already dawned upon the land .

P ortions of this work have , at various ti m es, appeared

in print, in contributions to the Calcu tta Revi ew and

the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Benga l , and in a

 ensu es . vii

Lecture delivered before the Benares I nstitute published

,

in th e Transactions of that Society .

I would express my warm est thanks to C a m u s

H em ,
E sq , O S . .
,
late Judge of B enares for ,
his very
valuable assis tance in th e rch aeological researches
a de

scribed in this book, especially in Chapte rs xix . and xx .

My thanks are a lso du e to J H B IRONS IDE

. . .
,
E sq , C B , . .

Magistrate of B enares for his kindness in placing ,

at

my disposal a paper on the H elm or Festivals of B en ares ,

drawn u
p by Babu S ital Prasad , Dep uty Inspector of
Schools I would likewise acknowledge m y great
. ob

ligations to D T ansm E sq H ead Master of

.
, ,
th e

G overn m ent N ormal School , B enares , for his e xcellent

photographs of the city , from which the illu strations of
this volum e have been t ak en .

M A S HERRI N G
. . .

July 2nd 1868 . .

 CONTENTS .

I ntroducfion —By F rrznn m nn H A L L, Es q ,

CH APTER I .

—
Early history of Benares S anctity . y — Mythic cha
of th e c it . ~

m otor of Ind ian h istory Ancien t Buddhist records respec ting

.
-

Banan a W Muni or Buddha preac hed the doc trin e of

—
—
, ,

—
Buddhism first in B enn ett A qu i y of Benares H iouen
n ti t
T hsang s ac coun t of h is visit to th e city in the sev enth c en tury
’

of th e Ch stian era
ri — Mac aulay s desc ription of Benares —C on
’
.

nexion of Ben ares with the religious history of half the h um an

rac e — I ts c onnexion wi th B uddhism — Life and labours of

.

Bu ddh a — Benares su bsequen t to the fall of B uddhism m India .

— T he Brahm an —S ons of the Ganges — Devotees and p ilgrim s

f .

-
Benares the religious cen tre of India
,

NoArc hitec tural rem ains dating p rior to the third century
before Christ y et found in India —Ancien t H indu E difices of
the prhnitive per iod, not of a rude ch arac ter — D id . the H indus
f
borrow rom the A ssy rim and Persian S culptors -
Ancient
remains foun d c hi efly in the north ern q uarter of the city .

d
mo e n
r city
—Origin of the appellation Benares .

CH APTER III .

Parm i c form of
- —
Modern H in d uism Increase of Tem ples in
X CONT E N T S .

Bisheéwar, now T he Well Gy én

a M oham m edan M osque .
-

t —
B p Tem ple of A d Bish eéwar — T he Well Kass Karwat
a -
. .

T p
em le of S an fc h ar — T he goddess A nn p ur uaand h er tem p le
. .

Tem ples of Genes and S ukreéwar

‘

C H A PT E R IV .

Tem ple Bha iron éth , the god m agistrate of Benares

of - .

D andpAn , or th e D eified S teffi— Tem ple of the P lanet — Kel

h i p , or Well of Fate —Im age of Mahakal or G rea t Fate —T he
Ma nikarnikaWell and Ghat — Legends respec ting the Well
Tem ple of Tar ak eswar —S indhia C hat and th e R aj a of N ag
.

.
,

re s —
po Ghat Tem p le of Briddhkal —S hrines of Marka ndeéwar
’
.

and D aksh eéwar Legen d of R aj a D aksh

. Tem ples of .

A lpm riteswar and R atn eéwar

CH APTE R V .

Legen d p
res ec tin g D ivodés — Tem ple of D ivodh eéwar
. .

T he Well D ha m kup —R adh t K rish na —T hc N ag K han] or

- - -
,

t
’
— —
Berpen s WelL O ld I m agea Tem p les of Bageswari Jwa ra ,

hareé war, and S iddh eswar

C H A PT E R VI .

B enares Kaé i and Ked ar th e three Gran d Divisions of the

, , ,

ci ty — N o o ld H ndu Tem ples in Benares

i — Pu ran ic c haracter
of the Km Di vision of th e Ci ty —
. .

N o trustwor thy in form ation

c onc erning Ancient B uild ings to be obtained either from H indus

o f
r rom t t n —
heir sac red wri gs Preferen c e of th e O ld Fanes by
i

T h e Idolater s idea of th e ben efi t resulting from Worshi pp ing

’
-

in th is Tem ple — H ot L in geé war — N £nak S hah, th e S ikh G uru

. .

—Painting in the T riloc han Tem ple, dep icting the P unishm en ts
of H elL—T riloc h an Ghat —G ée Gh at —T em fl es of N irha d
.

dh eé war a d A
n d M ahadeva —Gor Ji the , Guj arati B rahman .

CH APTE R VII .

Pan chgangé Gu t — Legends m apecfing ih —Lakshmanbala

Tem p le T he M inarets —Tem ple of Kam eswar —T he Mec han
— . .

darl Tirth or Plac e of Pilgri m age

 C O N T E NT S .

C H A PT E R VII I .

Tem ple of Jageswar, a Native Aristocracy of

R esort of th e
Bena rea — K MI Dev i G oddess of th e City of Benn ett —K ara
-
,

gh nt
a a T 6 1
6 0 o Tank
r — Tem ple of the Dem on Bh ut Bhairo - .

— —
Tem p le of Bani Ga ue6 Jagannath S atis
. .

T he Pifiéc h Moc han

- —
Tank Legend of the Goa Piéac h .

T he Festi val of Loti Bhanta or the E gg p lant —T he Ghfits and

t -
,

Tem ple of Piézic h Moc han — S firaj K und or Tank of the S un

-
.
-
.

T he H om or B u rnt S ac rific e — T h e god A sh tfing Bhairo

.
- .

Tem ple of D hr uveéwar or the Pol e S tar

CH APTER X .

The Man -
Man dil Ghat —Tem p le of
D albhy eéwar — Tem ple .

of the M oon or S om eé war T he M i n Man dil Observ atory

.
-
,

erected by R aj a Jay S ink — Descrip tion of its Instru m en ts .

M am edh
G hé t an d Tem ple —Legen d of D asésc m edh .

S iddheswar Te p e
i m l — Chandra Kup, or Well of th e Moon .

— m
Tem ple of the goddess su s Dev i S ankata G hat R am — .
'

CH APTE R XII .

T he Bengali population of Benares —T he papular Tem ple of

R edi reswar —
. o —
Legend f H edda MM rWM Tank and sur
roundi ng Tem ples Bail Krishna and Cha turbhuj Idols
.
- .

M m Te m p le — T he great Im a ge of T ilubha ndeéwar .

— m Ar —
Anc ient m utilated S tatue Te p le of D ul eéwar Peepu l .

Durgi Kund Tem ple — Bloody S ac rifices ; their m eaning .

d k
S acre Mo e s
n y — L g
e e n d of Durg an d D u rgi — Durga Kund
or Tank — —
Kurukshetr 6160 or Ta k T he Lolfirik Kfidn or
T n
 Tem ple of the Maharaja of Benares at M eag an — Begs
a it i s
’
—
Ch S ngh Tank Virtue of Pilgrimage to the R amnagar
side of Bau m —Tem ple of Vedavy és —Panch kosi R oad or
.
,

un r —
S ac red Bo da y o R ename Pilgrimage of the Punc h kosi
f .

—S m imry condition of Benares —Im p rovements suggested

. . 169

Bam a S angam or C c nfiueuc e of the Barna and Gu gee .

A d-k
eéav T p
em le — n h —
Ber a G é t R éj Ghat Fort ; its use in
185 7 — R M
. m of B uddhist Monastery —Tank of B hairo . .

h i t or Pillar of S iva —Ancien t Pillar — Ac c ount of D ie .

turbanc e in Benares wh en the P illar was thrown down —T he

Ghazeepore R oad — Ancient Bridge over the Barns

CH APTE R X VI .

v h
S i ala G at
’ — T h e O ld F ort — R aj a Chait S ingh ; Hi story
of hi s In surrec tion an d of th e p roc eed ings of Warren H astin gs
in c onnexion therewith

CH APTER XVII .

H ind u and Mohamm edan Melt s or R eligious Festi vals held

,

periodically , in Benares

C H APTER XVIII .

T he B u ddh is t R ui ns at S a m a th — Their Antiquity —S um .

m ary of the N arratives of F a H ian and H iouen T hsang ,

respec ting th e build in gs form erly existing at S a m i th and in

in neigh bourhood — Poin ts of m om ent in the Narrati ves .

Modern E xp o l re rs of the R u in — E xtent and Nature of the

R emains — T h e G reat Tower : Desc ri pti on of it by Maj or
General Cu nn ingha m and ac c oun t of h is Exca vations —A ge
,

of B uddh ist Topes or Towera — R em ains of a B uddhist M on

aste y
r — M r T
. h m
o ae s
’
A cc ou n t of them — Discovery of large
.

num bers o S tatu es and Bass reliefa

f - — Ex cavated Cham ber .

ham s Description of it — T he Cha ukandi Tower —T he

’
.
’
l éipat
tans H all or abode o B uddh st Devotees
,
f i —R emains of . Vihér a
or T p le-m o em
na stery P S m all B uilding , conta ining S i xty S c ulp
t es
ur — T he S eal Chaitya — T h e B uddhist Form ula S éky a —
Mani, the historic al B uddha—H is visi t to B enares —S pr ead of
Buddhism from Benares —Decline of Buddhism India
in .

D estructron c
'

uddhist S tructures at S arni th, by fira —Fall ot

An cient B uddhist R uins at Bakeriy a R a nd —R em ains of old

Wall —C arved S tones and Ancient Pillara —R em ains of sm all
B ddh T p e R em ains of larger Tem ple — Trac es of
u ist e m l — ‘

Further Accoun t of Anci ent R em ains recently discovered in

Benares and its vicinity —Meaning of the ep ithets anc ient and
.
‘ ’

‘
old in relation to R enam e — Anc ien t R em ains N o I in R Aj , . .
,

Anc ient R em ain s N o II L S ma ll Mosque in the Budéoir

, .
,

Mahalla Ancien t Mound or R idge —Anci ent R emains N o

— , .

IV T iliyt N alfi and Maqdam S ahib — Anc ien t R ema ins N o

.
, ,
.

V La; Bhairo —Anc ien t R em a ins N o VI Battis K ham bha

.
, f , . .
,

Ancient R em ains N o VI I At hal Kangura Mosq ue ; H ind u

, .
,

Tem ple of Kirtti Bisbeéwar —Anc ien t R emains N o VII I .

, . .
,

u h —
C ha ham b a Mosque An c ient R emains N o IX A urung
k , .

zeb s Mosque near Bisheswar Tem ple — Ancien t R em ains N o

’
, , .

C H A PT E R XX I .

great wealth of
S ourc e of the —
Benares I ts hief Articles of
c

Com m erce—I ts Native Bankers - I ts —

Poor Increased desire for

the College Grounds — T he N orm al S ch ool —

Ch urch of
T he
—
England M ission T he London S oc iety s Mission —T he Baptist
.

—
.

i
S oc ety s M ission —
’
N ati ve S ch ools of vari ous c lasses T he
Benares I nstitute Public Build ings in the suburbs —Men u :
F
-

mea t to Mr Cherry — I nfiuen tial N ati ve Gentlemen of Benares

. . . 32 8
 CO NTENTS .

C H APT E R XXI I .

S en tim ents d by the c ontem plation of the city of

g d
en en ere
n —
Be ares I ts history the history of In d ia —Pri nciples of pro
,

m ss a t w or k in th e c ity Ch a nges visi ble in nat

-
i ve

society —
.

T be B rahm o S am aj Dim inished study of S anskri t

-

—Dim inished faith rn Idolatry rn Benares and Northern In dia

. . .

gen e ra ll y — I n.fi u en c e of ed uca tion on H ind u yo ths

u — A Ma rtin
L h
ut e r f or —
India Influence and sp read of Christianity
Gungi putras or sons of the Ganges —L iterary and R eligious
.

-
, .

of its is n — —
d cussio s Lec ture of Pau dit Lakshm aj i H is accoun t

of the q
c onse uenc es of H in d uism .
—E fiect ’

of Mi ssions and

In dia —Wha t destiny of Idola try and of Christianity in

is the
India T he Futu re in respec t of Benares
- — R em arks of th e
Rev D r Thom son a Bishop of the Methodist E pisc op al Churc h
. .
,

of the U n ited S tates on th e religious and social condition and

,

APPEND IX A .

N arrative of F e H ian n , his visit to Benares and

Sarnath E xtrac w
. d from the F oe Koué Ki by M R em usat
.
,

APPEND IX B .

N arrative of H iouen T hsan g M . els te d by th e h

aut or

from th e “
M m oires sur les Contr es
é é Occid en tales dc H iouen
M S ta nislas Julien the origina l
”
T hsang , of . , translator of
 LIS T OF ILLU S TR ATION S .

PA G E

R A JA or A lm n rv s
'
’
TE M P L E p
F rontis iece

TEMP L E AT M A N I KA E N I KA G nu

R A JA or N A GPO E E G nu
’
s

T H E M m s a nr s

T un N E PA LE sE TEMPLE

R AM G u m

GE E A r R onnm sr T owns AT S AE N Am'

C A nvm o on T H E R unnersr T owns , N o

-
. I .

N o 11
. .

A u c rm Bunnm sr T E MP LE AT a ir A Kenn
 E R RA T A .

—
Page 68 F or Pumasubhakaran,
. read Pumas ubhakarant
'
.

Pg
a e 820. —I n line 21
, and also line 26 , in place of N o X ,
. . read No IX
. .
 IN T R O D U C T IO N .

Ae s li mits and as to influence, the I ndian

as to
kingdo m s of form er ti mes w ere , with fi w excep tions ,
inconsiderabl e such of them as lay conterm inou s were
often at open feu d ; and their citi es or fortified towns , ,

constituted, in fact, their only stable boundaries It .

was, probably , with the dom inion of th e E asis as it was

with oth er seats of Hindu power D erivin g its origin .

fro m so m e city , as Pratishthéna, or Varanasi, it m ust

’ ‘

have acquired extent and consideration by very gradual

developm ent .

A t least si nce a hu ndred and twenty y ears before our

era, V ara nas i, as denoting a city , h as been a nam e

Va n ia{ra p xxv , note ]

-
. .

Also called Varfinast an d Varanasi acc ording to the H ausa km

,
-

and al e Sabda ratudoali ,

resp ec ti vely T h e latter of th ese vocabularies
.

A ra tional sy stem p R om anized

g would give u s instead
of s ellin ,

of Benare s Ba nal as
, T he form 1m m was th e wor k p erhaps of
-
.
, ,

the M uham m sda ns I t sh ould appear th at th e m eta thesis of r an d gr

.
,

in th e original word m ust be la ter than th e ti m es of F i H ian and

,

Hi ou en T hsang Vida inf a p xxv iii notes 1 and 2

. r , . .
,
.

I n the ordinary belief of th e v ulgar of Benares th e nam e of th eir ,

city is c onn ec ted with R aj a Bant u — a m yt hic al m agnate of w h om ,

m ention is assoc iated with that of th e refor m er Kabi r of the begin ,

m g of the W enth c entury A siatic R esearc hes Vol X VI p 5 7

.
, . .
, . .

A c cordmg to som e of the M ohamm edan ac counts say s M r Jam es

“ ”
.
,

b
X VI I I INTRO DU C TI O N .

fam iliar to Brah m anical literature The word is crudely .

‘

referred , by m odern inventiveness , to a com bination of

Verena and Asi an d all the oth er expl anations th at

we ha ve of its source are equ ally questionabl e .

Prinsep, bu t without na m ing h is vouch er for th e statem ent Benares ,

was gover ned by a R aj a Ban ar at th e tim e of one of Mahm ud s ,

’

i n vasi ons or in A D 10 17 wh en one of hi generals pen etrated to

, . .
, s

the p rovin ce an d defeated th e Baj a — Bca a es I llustr ated p 9

”
, . r ,
. .

General C unn ingham sta tes that Baj a Banar is trad iti ona lly believed
to ha ve reb uilt Benares abou t eigh t h undred y ears ago Journ a l of .

the A sia tic S oc iety of Bengal for 1863 S upplem en ta ry N um ber p xc v i

, , ,
. .

Varanasi is spec i fied m ore than onc e in Patanj ali s Mahdbhdshy a ’

.

O n the age of that work see m y edi tion of P rofessor Wilson s trans
’
,

lati on of the Vishnu p um s Vol II p 189 0 4 m m

-
a , . .
, .
, .

S o allege th e Pan di ts of the p resen t da y ; repea ting no doubt a , ,

lon g c u rrent c on c eit of their p redec essors : see th e A n atio R a m a da

’

-
,

Vol I I L pp 409 410

.
,
. This noti on though it has found expression
,
.
,

in th e A m ish ti mely“ and other recent M uha m m ad an books is I

-
, ,

believe only im plied in th e P uri nas I t is said for instance in th e

, .
, ,

thi rd ch ap ter of the Vdm w dgm tha t Vi ranast lies between the ,

“ W m m m u

W W W

W fi fi fim w w fiu m rft m u
xx I N T R O D U UI I O N .

signation Kaéi or Kaéi ‘

.
’
Whence it arose history has
S om ething of the sam e sort is to be seen in th e fifth chapter of
the E da- Ma nda .

a t er i i i —
F h V v en do S a nt Martin the genesis of whose ficti tious -

river I trac e in note 2 to p xxviii , —began wi th being disposed to . .

m ak e the A s! an affl uen t to the Varana, with a Vartnasi below their

c onfl uence, and th e c i ty Vari nset th erefrom den om inated M émocm
'
-
.

ca r h e C ontra: O ccidental“ , Vol II , p 36 1 H ere il serai t tres

“
. . . .

possible que l un de ces ruisseaux so fut nom m é A si, et qu apré s as

’ ’

re u n ion in la Vari nt, la petite ri viere out p ris ls n om c om pose dc

Varfinasl qu elle aurait c om m unique a la ville

' ”
This, as spec u .

la tion, will pass ; b ut, to th is writer , with h is b ias in fa vour of th e

th eological or m ythopeic m ethod of geographiz ing wha t are, at ,

first, only suggestion s, very soon ripen in to ind ubitable c erta inti es
“
Cette riviere [th e E péwem c] la derniére de la liste d A rrien, se
’

,
’

rec onnalt sans difi c ulté dans

Varan asi petite riviére qui se j ette la ,

dans la gauc he du Gangs h Bé nares qui on a p ris son n om ( en sanscrit ,

E tude m Ia Géographaa Grocqw at Latina do I I ads p 2 86

'
’
. .
,

This au thor m ore than in c lines to see Varanasi in th e words

E rarasa ( or C ragausa ) m etropol is foisted in to th e La tin tra nslation ,

of Ptolem y 1 1nd pp 22 7 35 1 H ere very m uc h as j ust above

.
,
.
,
.
, ,

having to do with a Latin interpolation h e sets out with desc rib ,

ing it as suc h and as ofiering nu reste de ressem blanc e qu on

' ’
“
,

en trev oit enc ore travers la c orrup tion du m ot ;

”
and a li ttle ,

while afterwards as if proc ess of tim e nec essarily stood for an ac ces
,

si on of fac ts an d reasons p ersuad es h im self tha t h e m ay speak of ,

une v ille que Ptolé m ée e re sou s ls nom altéré d E rarasa

”
n um e
’
,

an d that h e finds therein la trac e b ien rec onnaissable do vm nasi

, , ,

form s sansc rite de notre Be

”
nare s .

I have ev erywhere sc rup ulously reprod uc ed the varieties of spell

ing indulged in by th e write r j ust c ited .

T h e final a an d th e in itial 0 of t wo words c oalescing in to a com

pound m ight possibly yield a ; and Varanaan d A s!would therefore
, , , ,

c om b in e into Vara nasi B ut this form seem s to be th e pec uliar

.

p roperty of a single recent and very indi fferent lexicograph er ; an d ,

m oreov er th e nam e of the second strea m is c orrec tly A si n ot A sl

, , , , .

I n th e E di t M a da XXX 18 it is th e subj ec t of a p un in connex ion

-
g , .
, , ,

with au a sword
'

. .

Thi s is the oldest form and that rec ogn ized in the H ein e M a ,
-

and by U jj waladatta s c om m en ta ry on th e Hasadi sd tra

'
-
.

Ki éi is n ot so m ark ed ly fem inine as the m ore u sual K fisl its ,

derivative Most I ndian c ities have fem inine appella tions

. .
 m em ori es . xxi

long forgotten but conjecture m ay , possibly, unravel

its etym ology 2
.

Am ong the descendants of Ayus was Kass whose

’
,

son is noticed under the patronym s of Kii éey a

‘
,
5

Kasiy a, and Kasi T he regal successors of Kaéi, and

’ ’
.

K fisika is foun d in th e E di t M 4 4, XXX .

, 7 0, an d else wh ere .

Com pa re A vantikfi for A vanti as in note 1 to p xxxiii ,

. . infra .

T h e vocabularists refer th e wor d to W to shine ,

“
. A nd here
with agrees the E di t X X VL 6 7 :

In the stan a z im m ediately precedi ng th is the c ity is called ,

M nktikshetra . K rish na 18 speaking ; an d h e say s tha t th e radia nc e

of m e emana tes from Si va .

I f, where they plend id Colonel Wilford

interpret K fiéi by “
s ,
”

an d his n um erous followers inten d to ta k e th e w ord from th e adj ec

ti ve kdi is they hav e forgotten that th e fem inine is not law b ut

, ,

M t S ee th e A cid ic Ku w ait“ Vol 111 p 409

.
,
.
, . .

Professor Wilson has already written : I t seem s p robable

tha t th e c ity [of K ati] was found ed n ot by h im [ Kshattravriddha] , .

b ut by his gran dson or great gran dson d en om in ate d K i ts and K i ti -

,

ri j a M r Jam es Prinsep s Bena res I llustrated p 8 I t rs m ean t

" ’
. .
, . .
,

here I suppose to hi nt a derivati ve c on nexion of m e w ith Kass or

, ,

Ki fi ri j a T he latter nam e Professor Wilson everywhere p u ts

.
,

erroneously for King K ati S ee note 7 in the p resent page

”
. .
,

S ee th e B ag ish Virbau p urdgw VO L IV pp 30 32 o

, .
-
.

Com pare Mtnddkey a from Mi nduka ; and Bwfiph alk i from , ,

80 rea s d the H erioafi i a, it 1734, i n th e . best M88 . ac c essi ble

to me .

6 4 94 on Pdnmi,
IV II 90 ; and th e Brahma M 44 .
, .
,
-
.

BM gc oslo p rdpa IX X VII 4 I n th e Wei ss p a ra” h e is

- u , .
, .
, .
-
,

called I dl irdj a b ut th e term a com poun d is there to be exp la in e d

, , ,

“
Beja Kati D ideren tly Kdiirdj r K di ip sti otc d esc rip tive of
.
"
, c
, , .
,

Aj dtaéatrn D ivc di sa Pratardana and others signify R aj a of the

“
, , . ,

Katie .
”
T hat m : m ay be th e same as fl lfi l! End s c lear from
' ’

the M arc i a, A R M M na p
-
d wan, i i 19 49 and 19 5 2
. .
xxii m onum os .

e qually their s ubjects , w ere call ed Kaéis Though at first .

‘

a masculine appella tion Ka si, as appli ed to th e city so ,

2
styled is fem inine
,
A n ex act p arall el to th is hypo .

t hetical evolution is not far to seek The nam e of King .

C hamps fem ininiz ed, becam e that of the m etropolis of

,

A nge, C ham pfi .
‘

The term Kasi, denominating, if not a ci ty, ‘

a people

K ati were lik ewise known as Katy as and as Kasikas

s suc cessors .

These term s are all actually em pl oyed T he last is also app lied to
, , .
, ,

persons or things perta ining to Kati .

Kuntt a wom an was so c alled from Kun ti a m an

, , , .

K w ac cording to th e Vtchptt p w p r Bee th e E nglish transla

d — '

d
’
-
,

la tion Vol IV p 159

,
—
. was th e na m e of the wi fe of Bh lm asena
.
, .
, .

T he reading is however erroneous m ost p robably

, I find as a , , .
,

variant Ktéeyl This like the corresponding K asy fi of the 114 54

, .
,

bam rs [ e m , a 8 82 9 is a derivative of Kasi .

, .

S ee the English W ll ’ s m aps Vol IV p 125 a -

, . .
, . .

I am not unaware of the gaps on Panini IV IL 82 , .

, , .

I n th e Mahabharata frequen t m ention of Ki t! oc c urs ac cording

“
, ,

to Professor Wilson as q uoted in Bena res I llustrated p 8

, I sh ould , . .

b e m uc h surprised to fin d Ki él m en tioned even once in the M 4 .

N ot till m edieval tim es, it seem s, do we read of th e ci ty of R M T o .

th e au thority , on this behalf, of the P uri nas m ay be added tha t of an

i nsc rip tion whic h I ha ve dec iph ered and p u bli shed in th e Journal of
f Bengal, for 18 62, pp 14, 15 T he docum en t in
the A siatic S carcity o . .

q uestion, a land grant, was issued by Vinfiy akapfila, Baj a of

-

Mahc day a or Kanauj , abou t the m iddle of th e eleven th c en tury , it

m ay be Ki t] is there in d irec tly described as in the M y er of
.

Vi ri nast, in th e Mul ti of Pratish th fina F or Pratish th fina, side .

iafi a. p xxv , note 1

'
. . .

I t is, in m y j u dgm ent, v ery doubtful in deed that Ptolem y s

'

Ka o o rha meta m orphoses s ea, as has been c onfiden tly asserted by

Colonel Wilford and v ery m any others S ee the A siatic: R esearcher, .

Vol 111 , p 410 ; Vol IX , p 7 3

. . . . . .

F t H ian may ha v e in w nded to rep rod uc e Kar ee m k ingd om

in his words rendered by 10 royaume do Kin chi
” "
of the Kt sis, “
.
of all but the highest antiquity Of Kaéi in what .
‘
,

ever sense of th e word , we cannot however, coll ect , ,

fro m indigenous records, m aterials from which to con

T he exp ression
m eans Vi rfinasi a ci t of the
“
,
Wy m ,

K at ie
i
"
n th e D utc h m an -M i a

I n the su bj oined verse,

.
,

from th e E dn dy apa, Hum XXX VIII , VI 17, Varanasi is .

qualified by an expression meaning, the com m enta tor y

sa s,
“
a ci t y
in the country of th e K atie

Finally in the Mahabharata l a m » a 408 3 4084 we read

, ,
a , . , ,

of the k in g of the Kass as dwelling in th e c ity of V aranasi .

T he oldest am ong th em p robably 18 P anini IV 11 1 16 ; with, , , .,

,

whic h c om pare IV IL 113 Then c om e th e S btap atha brdbma n th e

.
, . a,

W rong Ka t ta ki brdkma na Up a nu hads, etc , etc

/aka and In - . .

som e of these work s, th e substanti ve is in volv ed in th e adj ec ti v e

Katya .
—
This word , like Kaéikm for whic h see the K ebab/Wrote,
d
U y y p arvm , £1 5 9 07
o a - — m eans, ety m ologic ally , Kasian
.
,
Bu t .

com mentators on old writings exp lain it, and righ tly , to signify
Ki sirfij a and K aty a are used of th e sam e
”
“
king of the Katie .

person in th e Blwga vad gita, I o

.
, 5 , 17 .

T he Bugcsdo
’

afiords no warrant for c on nec ti n g with th e Kfiéis

any person whom it men tions . It p ks of D i vodi sa
s ea ,
an d it p ks
s ea

of Pratardana ; bu t only in later literature are they oalled father

and son, and rulers of the Kfis .
is ; and, where K fity ay ana, in his
By i u dd ns km m a p ibd , c ha ra c terize s th e la tte r as K d fi r dj ,
a h e m ay
hav e exp ressed him self m etac hronically , u nder the infl uen ce of a
m odern tradition whic h h e and his contem poraries ac c ep ted A s to .

the for mer we fin d, indeed, in post vaidik book s two D ivodi eas ;
.
-
,

into whom a single personage seem s to have been parted

'

O ne ot .

them is son of Badhry a éwa, as in th e R M ; b ut i t is th e o th er ,

the wn ot lm m thm an d father of Pratardana, tha t is oalled king

of th e Kasi s I t m a y be added, tha t there is no groun d for con
.

l idering Badhry a swa and Bh lmaratha to be two nam es of one and

the sam e p ers on S ee th e E

. ng lish Vish n p
u - a ra”, V ol IV , pp 3 8 , . . .

and Badhry aswa, not Bah waé wa, i s th e read in g of th e

Ved a s-p r one Correc t ac cordingly Professor Wilson s transla
.
’

fic n of th e BM VoL II L , p 5 04 note l S eq further, the

. , .

fl ou t/«druid , A nd am an-p a rses , Chapter XXX .

xxiv INTRO D U C TI ON .

struct anythi ng approaching a history T he kingdo m .

of the Kaéis and its ru l ers as is evinced by the

, ,

frequency of reference to th em enjoyed, fro m distant ,

a ges,
m o re or l ess of notori ety ; and this is , substa n
tially , all th at the Hi nd u m em ori als teach u s .

T he Pursues specify b ut one dynasty of K asi ki n gs ;

a goodly ca talog u e begin n ing, in the m ost authorita tive
,

of thos e wo rks with th e son of K asa

,
‘
To K ass by .
,

a l aps e of perh aps two ce nturi es s u cceed ed D ivoda sa in ,

,

whose r eign B uddhism seem s to h ave been still acting

on the aggressiv e I n this sy nchronis m th ere is no
3
.

discernibl e im probability ; and, with so m e lik elihood ,

it em bodies an historic fact A reflexion of actual .

events m ay , likewise be afforded in th e story of th e

,

burni ng of Varanasi by th e disc us of Vish nu ’

Of the .

a e of Aj atas tru of other v ery ea rly l ead ers of th e

g a ,
a s

Kass, none but m ost vague indi cations have, as yet,

A K i ss is nam ed in the gasps on P i p ini, IV , I , 10 . .

According to m y five wretc h ed cop ies of th e d a -p ur daa , Ki ss

was followed by K aéay a R fish tra D irghata pas, Dharm a,
D h an wan tari, K etu m at, Bhlm aratha, D ivodtaa .

T h e Brahmds da pu rdm has, in one p lac e, K i ts and K fisly a as

o
,

sire and son, an d , a little fu rther om instead of them , K fiéih and

Kaseya . Kasika as , ev olvi ng K as

, ey a m ust be c onsi dered as an

op tiona l elongation of K fisi .

S ee th e En glish Vishnu-p artied , Vol . IV pp . 30 40-

.

We read , in th e d u-
p m ds
'
a

Then follows an ac c oun t of the e xpulsion of D i vodtsa from

V aranasi S o far as we know h e was the only king
.
, of th e Kaéi
fa mi that had to do with that c ity
S ee the ”aw
.

ay Book V Chapter XXXIV s, .

, .
 IN T RO D U C TI O N . XXV

been discovered So m e of these personages ruled, not .

at B en res
a , b u t at Pratish th fina an d,
at th e ti m e of

the Muh am m adan conqu est, B enares and the s urroun d

ing country appertain ed to the throne of Kan auj ’
.

I ts si te was n ear Allahabad . Pfiru

’
s ca pital was Pratish th i na ,

in the kingdom of th e Ki i is, ac cor ding to the R d mdy a g

m, U tterm
kdguj a , LIX 18 .
, , 19

Before P uru ,
his father ,
Y ay i ti , lord of all th e K i i is,
”
g d
rei ne

atPratisb tb i ne H a M e a ta , Udy oga p a rva n, fl 390 5 an d 39 18

.
- . .

Pu ritra vas rec eiv ed Pratish th i na in gift from h is fa th er S udy u m n a .

En glish Wei s s p arties , Vol III p 237 Also see B urnout s

-
’
. .
, . .

BM ga oa ta p ardao, Vol III ,

- Prefac e PP X CVII XCIX
. .
.
'
-
.

Pratish th ana appears as a distr ic t of th e k ingd om of whic h

Kanauj was th e m etropolis in com paratively rec en t times

, Vida .

00p m , p xxii
.
, note 4 .

Pratish th i na is th e name of a kin gdom , or of part of one , in the

Kat
'

VI 8
a n t sdga ra ,
- .
, .

Vida sup r p xxii note 4 S everal S anskrit la nd gran ts have

a, .
, .
-

been p ublished — two among them by m y self from wh ic h it ,

appears tha t the kin gs of the latest dy nas ty of Ka nauj from Mada ,

na pi la to th e un fortu na te Ja ac han dra w ere m aste rs of B enares

y , ,

in suc c ession to th eir pred ecessors ; and that they were so is fu lly

fifth volume of th e A sia tic Resea rc hes is a professed tran

I n the
sc ript of a sh ort insc r ip tion from a stone now long d isappea red ,

from righ t whic h was exh um ed n ear Ben ares i a 179 4 We read
, , .
,

therein of a king of Ga uda Mah lp ala fath er of S thirapfila and

, , ,

Van ntapi le ; and at th e a d th e date 1083 A n easy credu lity

, ,
.

m ay ac cept these statem en ts no longer possible of v erifi cation ; ,

but there stil l rem a ins th e question as to the er a c f the y ear 1083 ,

—
whet her Vikram i dity a s or Shlivi hana s better S i tavi hana s ’
,
’
,
’
,

or Baraba s or wh ose N ot only are the blunders in this in scrip

’
, .

tion es prin w
, d so m any and so gross that we are forb idden tc
,

suppose they were in th e original ; b ut they p rovok e th e surmise

o

that the intersper sed patc h es of the rec ord whic h read as if ccrrec t
xxvi m aonucrros .

Flagrant as is th e exaggeration of the Hi ndus, it is

surpassed by th at of the B uddhists T h e Brah m adatts .

who figures so largely, in th eir sacred writi ngs, as king

of Benares very likely was not a m y th s but th ere is
‘ 2

no grou nd for creditin g that Gau tam a ever gov erned tha t
city at all, notwithstanding that th ey represent him to
h ave reigned there d uring nineteen several states of

a rch s descended fro m A éoka From these speci m ens it

.
‘

is m anifest that the B uddhist scriptures are little to be

t rusted for throwing light on the histo ry of Be
That Buddhism , or any B u ddhist king, ever i

S o me rel ev ant d etails , scant, but i nteresting as far as

th ey go , are derivable from th e itinerary of H iouen

T hsang, 5
a B uddhi st pilgrim from China, wh o visited

m ay be, to a largextent equally products of ig c m t m istake and

e ,

m isrepresentam A good deal of weight has been allowed to

.

th is insc rip tion ; and it has been from fim e to ti m e honou red as a

, ,

lowed th e h erd , m yself

, in w : see the Journa l of the A sia tic
are stated to h ave been m u ch in the m inority k ept up ,

thirty religio us hou ses tenm ted by three tho u sand ,

‘
i nm ates , all of th e S arii m atiy a sect In the capital .

wer e twenty Hind u te m ples and a l atten s tatue of S iva , ,

a hundred feet in hei ght We are not apprised wh eth er .

there were any sacred edifi c es of the pi lgri m s fellow ’

religionists in the capital itself ; and the obvio u s in

ference is that there w ere none, or none worth com
,

m em orating O n the m o nasteri es, to wers and r es er

.
,
’
voire of the im m edia te vicinity, hallowed by B uddhist

O ne do m ore than c ollate M Julian s two v ersions of

’
need no .

H ic asu T hsang s ’
h
s or t ac c oun t of Benares to , be sa tisfied th at th e

translator s notion of th e sense of his original is, som eti m es, of th e

'

vagues t .

I ts nam e is not s eci p fied . F a H ian —of the begin ning of th e

fifth c en tu r y , an d so an earlier tra veller than H ic asu T hsang, —is

tran sla te d as s eap ki ng of
“
la ville de Plan 10 ”at, dans ls y
ro aum e

de K id chi m R oué K 7, p 304.

”
. .

T wo of th ese rem em b ranc srs of the B uddhist fa ith, towers at

S am ath , bey ond the Varana or Burns , are still c onspic uous land
m arks T h e larger of th em is called , by th e nati v es, D ha m skh ,
.

a c orrupti on in , all likelihood , of an old word inv olving dharma as

its first fac tor .

O n the word of M S tanislas Julien H iouen

.
, Theang loc ates a

m onum en t au ner d est de la

- pita ls
ca , et a l oc oident da fleuve de
'

Po Io ni
- v -
an ( var am a
) , an d tells of a c ertain m onaster y at th e
distanc e of en viron an n erd es t da fisu ve de Po lo ml cu
dix li - - -

I n a foot note, th e phrase a l oc oident da fieuve de

“ ’

( V i ri nc)
a t .

Wm ”
is explained to signify h l oc c iden t du
“ ’
Po lo ml u o
' v
ar est)
Gu m" ,

A s th e Chinese p ilgrim again and again nam es th e Ganges it ,

seem ed to m e u nlikely tha t h e should a nywhere speak of it by a

periphrasis like that of the river of London I had observed “

.
”
,

too tha t instead of environ M K laproth h ad written : ”

, , etc
“
Au , , .

nc rd [ d o] de la ville c onl e la ri viere Pho 1 ml

( V an i
n); sn r son 0

bard a dix h de Pho lo m! m bei ng as he says j ust

'

, ,

hetore H i ouen I hsang s nam e for Benares Moreover in M Jalien s

' ‘ ’ ’

, . .
,
 associations, H iou en Th eang dwells at great length , and
with that lingerin g and m inutiose re m iniscence which
m arks a credulous and fervid pi ety .

That, in very early days, Benares attained to pro mi

I xiste dos M ots Abr g s on Corrom pus, I noticed the entry Po
é é “

Io n , f ts pour Po lo m m ( Vi rt uaqt) and I was thereby un

’

- l ac - - -

avoidably m isled to th e c onc lusion that Po- Io nat, the ao ca lled o -

h d d p v d f f I be em ployed in th e
'

m Pa , m ust
-m m
s o te
r ne or e a e
r o r o o o

N o one give m uc h thought to the labours of M Juli en with

can .

ou t detec ting that they were never exec u te d in c ontem p la tion of

irc umspect p rusal Warned by m y past experience and weigh
c e
.
,

in g th e prem ises j ust rec ited I at onc e suspec ted managem en t , ,

issuing in the obliteration in two p lac es of th e river Van ni I , , .

had rec ourse to Professor Jam es S umm ers a distingu ished S inolo ,

gist ; an d m y susp ic ion was c hanged into certitude .

Espec ially ough t M Julian to hav e abstained from m ending his

.

text here by guess above all unc on fessedly inasm uc h as where

, , .

the nam e Po Iw u u a is first in tro d uced th ere is in th e Chinese a

'
~ - o
, , ,

noti fying that the kingdom so nam ed had aforetime been called by
—
,

m ish ka Po lo na l : the spelli ng i n passing of th e F oJ K ouJ K c It

'

-
, , .

was not su rely to be expected tha t c lose to this notification we

, , ,

—
, ,

should fin d and n ot o ce
n on ly b ut tw ic e — Po lo ie ( V a m p s) if Po , ,
- -s
.
.

loa f m ( V ari an t) had been in ten ded

- M Julien h owever deem ed . .
, ,

other wise ; and he u na vowed ly took for gra nte d besides tha t in , , ,

both these instances Po lom ia was a corrup tion of the already

,
-

Father Vi vien do S ain t-Marti n, in his geograph ical comm en ta ry

M Julien translation , is pleased to subs ti tu te for fleu ve de
' “
on . s ,

M rivié re Pa-Iom i-u é ( Vari nasi ) ; an d he

“
m
—
proc eeds to suggest as I ha ve xviii shown above, in note 2 to p . .
,

that the c ity of Benares borrowed its appellati on from tha t of this
i a
m g in ary strem held by him to be id en tic al wi th the E évm w
,
p ,
’

More tha n h M Julien m one of his Indexes writes Var nasi

t is, . , , a ,

riv ié re auj ou
,
r d h u i Barns l
’
E ri u és és d es G rec s a nd t
,
h e violenc e
’

whic h F ather Vivien do S aint Martin does to h is text haa thua his -
xxx mm onuorron .

n ent fam e is a conclusion scarcely indicated by docu

m entary evidence A nd so it was during the period of .

th e B uddhists So far as we know th ese sec taries,.

,

unlike the Muhamm adans, never assum ed an attitude of

im plied quiesc enc e S o im portant an alteration of opinion as that
ac .

h erein involved certainly call ed for spec ific ac kn owledgm en t in his

Errata Alpha bé tique a list which extends to seven pag es ,
”
.

I n fin e M Julien has no S ansh it au thority whatever for h is

, .
'

V i ri nq
a i 1
3 a V dr
,fina
"
si P o le m i
, n e m a
y in deed stan d for .
o -
, ,

varfinaéi b ut —, ao in determ inate is th e Chin ese alpha b et m ay ,

j ust as well disguise V aranasi Varanasi Vara nasi Barfinasl and , , , ,

sc ores m ore of q ua drisy llab les M Julien allows u s an op tion . .

betw een Pa lom a n o Per la mi n e Po lo ni u and P o lo ml m and be

-
,
-
,
- - -
,
’
- -
,

tween Variinaqt and Vfiranaqi I t cann ot be proved that H iouen

“ ” “ ”
.

T hsang did not h ea r and do his best to spell as th e nam es of th e, ,

riv er and c ity

—
Berna th e ve y word n ow used and Barauac
r ,
— , .

In deed the balance of p robab ility is overwhelm ingly in favour of

,

th e posi tion th at the In d ian p roper nam es tran slettered by H i ou en

,

Theang were Prakrit n ot S an krit Perhap s it is not strange tha t ,

s .

M Julisa in drawing up his suic idal Methods and ev en earlier chose

.
, , ,

to sh ut his ey es to th is presum p tion Vida supra p xxvii n ote 2 .

, . .
, .

With M Julien s m ethod m athem atical c ertainty seems to ha ve

.
'

taken the p lac e of learned c onj ec tures S o we read in the S a turd y

”
.
,
a

W ,Vol XL p 2 47 . in an art ic le lately repu blished as

, .

Professor M ax M uller s Find ing M Julien s m ethod to be m uc h ’

. .
’

m ore prec arious than it appears at first sigh t I took oc casion , ,

som e years ago wi th am ple detail of reasons to rec la im against this

, ,

heedless hyperbole of encom ium Con tin ued examina tion has m ulti .

p lied m y argum ents of p rotest ; and I am conv inc ed that on e will

do well to use M Julien s v ol u m es v aluable an d instruc ti ve as th ey
'
.
,

are wi th c onsta nt caution

,
.

That M Julien for all th e self c om placent air of his Methods has
.
,
-
,

stru c k out a single idea sav e of d eta il th a t was u n known to M , , .

R é m usat and th e edi tors of th e F at Koué Ki I hav e not suc ceeded in ,

M émotru In C ontra: O ccidental “, etc Vol I , p 354 Vol II ,

'

car . . . . .

pp 345 , 360, 36 1, 479 , 5 62 : Pa! Kw! K i, p 307 : H iatmrs ch 14

. .
'

We do H iouen T hea” etc , pp 83, 132, 429 , 46 4 : C lub: from a

-
, .

German Worh kop, Vol I , p 2 9 6 : Journal o f the A siati c S oc iety f

o . . .

Bengal, for 186 1, pp . 33i - 336 .

veh em ent hostility as against the Hindus N ot only was .

the character of their religion pacific, but at no ti m e

during th eir presence in India were they, albeit in the ‘

ascend ant, beyond doubt a m ajority of the peopl e It .

H ow the B uddhists cam e to lea ve I nd ia has not y et been shown

to a bridge an older work but whic h perhaps has no better basis , , , ,

for th e m ost part than oral tradition ek ed ou t by rom ance — bears

, , ,

wi tness it is true to a ferocious sp irit of O pposition to th ose reli

, ,

io n i t ; and suc h a sp irit if entertained after th ey had becom e

g s s ,

strangers to th e c oun try m ay h ave been enterta ined wh ile they w ere
,

still fac e to fac e wi th H ind us N everth eless we ha ve no historical.

,

proof that In dia was ever the thea tre of a Buddhist persec u tion .

F ew S anskrit m an usc rip ts exist that w ere c op ied m ore th an four or

five c enturies ago a t whic h tim e In dian B uddhists m ust have been
,

very rare if there were any at all N either am ong the H i nd us nor
,
.

am ong th e Jainas has one ev er observed any th in g li ke that liberality

of li terary cu riosity whic h would be at m uc h pains to perpetuate by ,

transc ription th e holy writ of an an tagon ist c reed ; and th e fac t of

,

a persec uti on of the B uddhists c ann ot ac cord ingly be d ed uc ed from , ,

the fac t that their book s are n ow but v ery rarely m et with in the
aion of na ti v es of In d ia
p c ssa .

Considerin g the c harac ter of their respec tive beliefs th e B uddhists ,

and the H in d us w ere un der n o obligation to be tr uc ulen tly in imical

to eac h other There is ev en reason to believ e tha t th ere were m ediev al

.

In dian kings who from m oti ves of polic y adiaphorised bet ween
, ,

the two grea t c lasses of the faith ful in to whic h th eir subj ects were
divided F or insta nc e a position of prac tical indifference i n respec t
. ,

of th e p revailin g su perstitions seem s to be asc ertained w ith referen c e

to Baraha king of Kanauj in th e sev enth c entu ry
-
,
H iou en T hM g .

speaks of him m uc h as if h e w ere a Buddh ist ; an d B i n s in th e ,

H on da cha n t writes of him as if of a H ind u

- s ,
Furth er we find .
,

that monarc h figuring as ded ica tes of th e n dn nda an d also of the a ,

H a n dr i l two dram as sev erally B uddh is t and B rah m anical

a .

—
, ,

F or th e H a rd n ch n t an d th
e e n
- d n n d a of whic h I d isc ov ered
s a a,

copies a fter th ese works had slum bered n eglec ted for many genera
,

ti ons r see my Vdm ad ttd Prefac e pp 12 18 and 5 0 54 ; a n d the

-
a , , .
- -

Journa l of the A sia tic S oc iety of Beng l for 186 2 pp 12 13 S ee a , , .

, .
,

M ar on the Bu ddhists in S outhern I n dia P rofessor Wilson s

’

, ,

R ucksac k C ollection Vol I Introd uc ti on pp lxiii lxvi

, . .
, , .
-
.
by their teachings were rev erently regarded , in after ages,
as consecrat ed ground These spots w ere , however, in .

—
th e ei ghbourhood of cities , as Gay fi, M athura, A y o
n

dhy a and Benares ,

,
‘
rath er th an in th e cities th em -

selves ; and it was not till after Buddhism had passed

its prim e on Indian soil , that these towns acquired the
special rep u te which now attach es to the m As for .

B enares, the attribution to it of pecu liar sanctity see m s

3
to date from th e period of th e P uritans ; and so me of
these com positions m ay , unquestionably, claim a very
respectable antiquity .

A diligent perusal of the cep ious in anity of the E di t

Ichaada m ight l ead to the discovery of its era, and ’

I t is ha t all th e way between Benares and the

v ery true, t ,

towers at S am ath th e fields a re th ic kly strewed w ith bric ks and

,

oth er rem ains of form er buildin gs But I am n ot aware that C olonel

.

Wilford ha s any au thority for speaking of th e old ci ty of Benares ,

north of th e river B urna wh ich old ci ty he says is som etim es

”
, , ,

called S on i tap ura A siatic R esearch“ Vol IX p 19 9

'
. . .
, .
, .

P rofessor Wilson asserts c harac teristically that Benares has

, ,
“

been from all tim e as it is at presen t the h igh p lace of th e S hiva

, , ,

worship . Translation of th e VM a
”
n
ga B oo k V Ch ap ter , .
,

XXXIV last n ote .

, .

I n the twellth c en tury as we learn from the H a n, na bots Benares -

,

was already distinguish ed as S ivapu ri the ci ty of S iva ; and we ,

“ ”

m ay then ce gath er tha t th e worsh ip of S i va espec ially pred om ina ted

’

there at tha t tim e .

3 “
There is every reason to b elieve th e greater part of th e c on
ten ts of th e E di t Ma gd anterior to th e first a ttac k u pon Benar es by
-
a

Mah m ud of Gha zn i Th us p ronou nces P rofessor Wilson in h is

.
”
,

translation of th e t a u p wa a
n V ol I P refac e -
pp L XX II
, . .
, , .

LXXIII I t would be intere ting to be p ut in possession of even a

. s

sin gle m ason out of those to whic h th e Professor alludes .

 INTR OD U C T I O N .

to other chronological determ inations In so recent a .

co mposition , and one having to do with real localiti es ,

there m ust, alm ost of necessity , be m any facts inter

woven with the fictions : the attem pt to discri minate
them would, perhaps be re m unerated T he Benares of ,
.

the present day offers nu m erous and varied objects of

‘
interest to the conte m plation of the devou t Hindu ;
and
y et a very few o
,
f th em excepted to spec ulate ,

touching their age, in reliance on the data hitherto

m ade available , would be m uch too perilous for pru
deu ce .

U nless we am dec ei ved by iden fity c f nam ea sc ores of these are

I n the last h p ter

c a of t at h
work cycles of pilgrimages are pre ,

sc ribed as m ean s to partic ula r ends

, precisely as at this hour , ,

Thus there is on e roun d to warrant the p rac titioner from liability

,

to further m etem psych osis ; another to sec ure the attainm ent of ,

Bc drahood ; a third to ensure emancipation before death

, These .

for m m p les .

S aints whose aspirations are less am b itions are prom ised store of
good things in fu ture for repeating the Panam aMisti daily This
-
.

c onsists in :
( )
1 ab lu tion, withou t d isrobing i n th e pool of Chakra ,

pushkari l
u, with a prop itiation - ser ice v
ddressed to th e gods m anes a , ,

Brahmans , rev eren tial salu tati on to Ad ity a D rau

and beggars ; ( 2 ) ,

pa dl V ish nu D andapi ni and Maheswara ; ( 3) visua l contem pl tion

, , ,
a

of Dh u ndh ivi n i y aka ; ( 4) a dip of th e fi ngers in th e Jn finavfip l

well with adoration of N andikeéa T i rakesa and Mab fikfileswara ;
, , ,

and finally nd visit to D a nda fig i

, ( )
5 a sec o, p .

Of seven preem inently holy plac es Kati is nam ed firs t ; the

others bei ng K an ti M ay a A y odhy fi D waravati Math ura and
, , , , ,

m yi is H a rdwar . I am n ot sure whether or not Kfintt is h e t

sam e as Kfincht . T he rest are well known . T hese plac es are, all,
xxxiv rm onnc n oa '
.

To the early Arab and P ersi an travellers Gangetic

I ndi a was an unexplored tract ‘
A lbirflni who wrote .
,

about a s) 1000 h ad however h eard of the holy fam e

.
, , ,
’
of B enares, which h e com pares, not i naptly, to M ecca .

M ah m u d of Ghazni is said on doubtful warrant to , ,

h ave advanced as far as B enares, and to hav e m ad e a

few conv erts th ere, d uri ng his ninth incursio n ’
In .

1 194, S hihabu ddin after d efeati ng the Kanauj an m on ,

arch Jay ach andra, m arch ed on th at city , wh ere h e is

,

reported to h av e de molish ed near a thousand Hi ndu

te m pl es ‘
The subsequ en t history of the pl ace, for
.

n am e d in th e A y m M ary , in Mr . Gladwin s ’
tran slation of whic h ,

Vol . III pp 255

.
,
.
, 2 5 6, Ma th ura an d A vantik a are disguised as
M eh tra an d O wn itka .

A t least th irty y epitheti cal designations of Benares are

or fort
sc attered th rou g h th e K fi t kbaada H al f of tha t nu m ber or th ere -
.
,

ab ou ts from th is or som e other w ork or works ha ve been n oted by

, ,

n ati v e lexi cographers O ne of them Panc ha nadatlrtha . th e qu in , ,

ers to five riv ers

"
q ua m nia n resort r ef ,th e K ira ui D h uta fi fi
p p , , ,

S aras wa ti Ga n ga and Y am u na
, ,

LI X .
, 114, 115 .

Four of these stream s , quanti ties are believed to em erge

in sm all ,

into th e Gang es through , sub terraneous cha nnels j ust in front of th e ,

R ela tion dos Voy ages, etc , by M Langle e . an d Father R einaud,

Vol I , Prelim in ary D isc ourse, pp X LVI I L
. . . XLIX .

’
m I I nda, etc p .2 88
, . .

English II p 35
A y ers A kbary , Vol . .
,
. .

Maj or S tewart s H is tory of Bengal p 36 Elsewh ere we read

’
. .
,
,

that , having brok en the idols in above a thousand tem mes h e ,

pur ified an d consecrated th e latter to th e worshi p of the true God ”

.

Colon el Briggs s tran slation from F arishta Vol I p 179

’
, . .
, . .
m vx

city, still entire ,

of so great antiquity . F or nearly all

enterprise of the sam e energetic rac e the resuscitation,

in the decline of Hinduism , of m u ch of its form er in
fluenc e is, in large m easure, indebted There is no .

grou nd for believing that Benares in comparison of ,

what we now see it, with its thousand tem ples, and ‘

th eir concom itants of holy harpies and willing victim s ,

Ju n, 186 8.

B ishop H aber uninquiringly states that the Obser vatory was

fou nded before the M usalm fin con quest Captain Orlic h say s it
.
”

was founded by Jay asim ha : he does not distinguish whic h Jay asixiiha .

B ut it would be endl ess to point out th e mista kes of careless

trav el lers .

v ersion of the M anm an dil in to an Observatory to Jay asitiiha I .

An encellen t account of the Benares Observatory by Pundit ,

Bi pfi D eva fi str in, is giv en in the fl m ad im of the e u M

tute for the S ession 18 64 65 , pp 19 1 19 6

-
.
-
.

Buch was Mr Jam es Prinsep s estim ate in 1828 1829 A s to

’
-
. .

the exten t of the eity , “

the m easured length alon g th e banks of
the river, by sur vey , is barely three m iles ; and the average depth
does not exc eed one m ile Benares I llustrated p 12 H iouen
"
. , . .

T h sang found Benares , in the seventh c entury , of not far from the
 T H E S A CR ED C ITY O F T HE HIN D U S .

CHAP T ER I .

Benn histor y of —
Benares S anc tity of the c ity —M y thic c haracter of

S ak ya M un i B ddh p e h d th do t in of B uddhi m first in

, or u a, r ac e e c r e s

B en a m — A ntiqnfity of Benares — Hiouen T hsang ac c oun t of his

’
s

vi it to the c ity in t he
s event h ent ry of the C h i tian m
s c u rs

M aca l y de ription of Bena res C onn xion of Benar s with

u a
’
s sc . e e

th religio
e history of half the h um an r e — I ts onn exion wi th
us ac c

Bu dd hism —Lif and labo of Buddha —Benar s b eq ntly to

. e urs es u s ue

the f ll of B dd h i m in I ndia —T h
a u Br h m n —Son of th Ganges
s e a a s e .

—D evotee nd pilgrim s —B enares the religious c entre of In dia

s a .

T HE early history of B enares is in volved in m uch

obscurity It is indispu tably a pl ac e of great antiquity ,
.
, ,

and m ay even d at e from the tim e wh en th e Ary an race

first spread itself over N orthern I ndia Al tho u gh su ch .

a su ppo si ti on is in c ap abl e of dir ect proof et the s acred

y ,

city m ust u ndoubtedly, be reckoned am ongst th e pri m i

,

tive citi es foun ded by this peopl e Wh en it was first .

bu ilt and by wh at pri nce or pa triarch , is altogeth er u n

,

known Bu t of its great antiqu ity , stretching back

.

thro u gh the dim ages of early Indian history far in to ,

the clou ds and m ists of th e V edic and pre historical -

periods, th ere is no qu estion It is certa in that the .

city is regarded by all Hindus , as co eval wi th the birth

,

of Hindui sm a n otion d eriv ed both fro m tradition and

,

fro m th eir own writings Al lu sions to B enares are ex

.

c eeding ly abundan t in anci en t Sanskrit literature ; and

2 BENARES, m sr AND PRESENT .

perhaps th ere is no city in all Hindu stan m ore fre

qu ently referred to By reason of som e subtl e and
.

m y sterious ch arm it h as lin ked its elf with th e religio u s

,

sym pathi es of th e Hind us thro u gh ev ery century of its

existen ce.
—
F or the sancti ty of its inh abi tants of its
— —
t em pl es and reservoirs of its w ells an d str eam s of the
—
very soil that is trodden of th e v ery air that is
—
b reath ed and of everythi ng in it and aro u nd it B enares ,

has been fa m ed for tho u san ds of years T he Hind u .

ev er behold s the city in one pec u li ar asp ect as a pl ace ,

of spotl ess holin ess and h eav enly beau ty , where th e

spiritu al ey e m ay be d elighted and th e h eart m ay be
purifi ed ; and h is i m agination has been kept fervid fro m ,

ge neration to generation by th e contin u ed presenta tion

,

of this glowing picture B eli eving all h e has read and

.

heard conc erning this ideal seat of bl essedness he h as ,

been possessed with th e sam e longi ng to vi sit it as the

Moham m edan to visit M ecca or th e Christi an enthu ,

siast to visit J erusal em ; and havin g gratified his d esire

, ,

h as l eft th e m em ory of his pio u s ent erprise to h is

children , for their exam pl e to i ncite th em to u ndertak e
,

th e sam e pilg ri m age faithfu lly transm ittin g to th em

,

th e high am bition which h e hi m self receiv ed fro m h is

Unfort una tely Hin du writers ha v e shown a si ngular

,

n egl ec t of chron ology , and an u tter distaste for

n oting and reco rdin g historica l fa cts in a si m pl e an d

cons ec u tiv e m anner This is the m ore rem arkabl e

.
,

wh en it is rem em bered that m any of th em ha ve been

acc usto m ed to close tho ught an d h av e prid ed th em selves
,

on th eir intellectua l acu m en ; that th ey ha v e o riginated

 BENAR ES, m ar n p assea r
u r . 3

n um erous system s of philosophy, and m ade great preten

si ons to logical accuracy nd th t th h bit of th nation
; a a e a e

generally for tho u sands of y ears h as been to reverence

, ,

th e p ast and to refl ect u pon an d ob serve with pu noti

, ,

l io u s nicety its religiou s cerem onies and social u sages

,
.

Were th e Hindus p roverbi ally reckl ess in th eir state

m ents an d opini ons and had th ey never prod u ced any
,

great work exhibiting m inu teness of detail togeth er ,

with cl earness con sistency and tr uth there m ight not

, , ,

be so m u ch cause for wond er Bu t th ey h av e astonish ed

.

th e world by th eir achi evem en ts in a d epartm e nt of

learning u s ually regard ed as dry and u ninterestin g I .

refer to th e su bj ect of Gram mar Ca refully coll ecting

.

th e fac ts bro u ght to li ght by cri tical an d p ainsta ki ng

observation th ey h ave elaborated a sy stem of Gramm ar
, ,

of gigantic di m ensio ns far su rpassin g an ything th at has

,

ev er been efiec ted in this bran ch of st u dy in any co un try

’

, ,

or a ge of th e world Th eir greatest an d m ost brilliant

.

cha m pion in thi s science is P anini : y et m any oth er

gram m arians h elp ed to rear th e stu p endo us fabric which
now excites th e ad m i ration of m ankind A nd whil e th ey .
,

em u lated the geniu s of the Greek s in generalizing u pon

th e resu lts of th eir ob serv ations th ey far ou tshone th em
,

in the correctn ess and ext ent of th eir in v estigations .

O ne would h av e i m agin ed th at th ey who wer e exact

in one subj ect would be exact in another ; and th at ,

having acq ui red th e h abit of cal mly noti ng p oi nts

of agreem ent and difference and of rigidly adhering to
,

them , it w ou ld be a m o ral i m possib ility for th em to ac t

in direct opposition to such a habit Y et thi s does not .

hold good in regard to the Hi ndu race While excell ent .

 ass u me, PA sr
r AND m asssr .

grammari ans they are m eagre historians

, They poe .

seas no single record am on g th e ten thousand separate

,

m anuscript works of whi ch th eir anci ent literature is

said to be com posed , on the historical c orrec tncm of
which one can place m u ch reliance Legendary stori es .

are so int erm ingl ed with real ev ents and th e web of th e

,

one is so inti m ately in woven with the woof of the oth er ,

and the two form so hom ogen eo u s a whol e, tha t th e

finest m icroscop ic in tellects of E urope , after pati ent

and long continu ed exam in ation
-
hav e been well nigh
,
-

baffled in the attem pt to di scover which is fiction and

which is fact A few threads of truth have rewarded
.

th eir pains , and perh aps a few oth ers m ay occasi onally
be drawn forth ; b u t tha t the gau dy coloured fabric o f -

Hindu hi sto ry m anu factured by th em selves will ever

, ,

be satisfactorily separated i nto its two compon ent parts ,

is as hop el ess as to expect that th e w aters of th e J u m na

will ever cease to m i ngle with the waters of the Ganges .

Were only th e epoch or epb ch s of th e M ah abh arata satis

fac torily settl ed and w ere it really k nown wh at el em en ts
,

of th at gr ea t wo rk are pre B uddhi st an d wha t post

-

B u ddhis t, the m ind s of m en wo uld be at l east freed

from th e despair which po ssesses them in reference to
this subject !
T he result is th at this city of B enares who se an
, ,

tiqu ity is v ery grea t, is robbed of m u ch of the glory

which is j u stly her due Thanks to a rival creed how
.
,

ever, — which sprang i nto exi stence probably in the sixth

cen tury before the Chri stian era —whos e annals h av e
6 nam as s, m sr AND PRESENT .

as they were now in an arzip a world they could not ,

receiv e its b enefit With affection for th e asc etics wh o

.

were dea d he look ed to discover in wh at pl ace Kondany a

,

was and the fo ur other recl u ses wi th who m he had prac

,

tised auster iti es ; and wh en he saw th at th ey w ere in

the I sipatana wih ara near B enares h e resolv ed that
, ,

u nto th em first ba na sho u ld be said A t the end of .

sixty da y s in th e eighth w eek after h e b ecam e B u dh a

, ,

G é tama w ent fro m th e A j épé la tree to I sipa tana alone ,

”
a d istanc e of 2 8 8 mi l es P 18 4 T he bri ef inau gural
. . .

disco u rse which h e there delivered is stated to have been

“
as follows : Th en B u dha opened h is m ou th and ,

p rea ch ed the D ham sak ptewatu m su tra ( Dham m a

- -

chakka ) ‘
. Th ere are two thi n gs said he tha t m ust ,
’
,
‘

be avoid ed by him who seeks to beco m e a p ri est ; evil

desire and the bodily austerities th at were prac tised
,

by th e ( Brah m an) P 187 . .

It is pl ain tha t Be nares m ust h ave been at this tim e , ,

a ci ty of pow er and i m po rt anc e th e w eigh t of who se ,

opinions on religiou s topic s was v ery considerabl e in th e

country generally ; an d therefore, th at it was of th e
,

u tm o st consequ en c e to secu re its countenance an d

support on an great su bj ect affectin g the reli gio u s
y
belief of th e entire nation That this was th e real .

reaso n why Gau tam a wish ed to com m enc e his career

from B enares, adm its of no controv ersy Bu t, if B enares .

was so celebrated at th at era we m u st look awa y fro m it

,

to preceding ages for the date of its fou ndation .

T h e B u ddhists th em selv es giv e u s so m e glim pses of

intelligen ce respecti ng the history of th is ci ty prior
'

to the year of S éky a s visit ; and these , although

’
 s en s e s
,
m sr AN D PRE SENT .

li able to so me suspicion h ave n ever theless in all

, , ,

probability a basis of tru th T h e inform atio n which

, .

t hey incidenta lly furni sh rests p artly u po n th e sta te

m ents of n o oth er than B u ddh a hi m self, corroborated ,

in so m e m easure by th eir own ob servations

,
Thi s .

wonderfu l perso nage, considering th at so m e of th e lead

ing dog m as which h e expo u nded w ere borrowed fro m
‘

Hind ui sm and had been ad voc ated and set forth by

,

vari o us teachers p reviously to his ti m e cleverly avail ed ,

hi m self of the prestige of these earlier instructors by ,

pro no uncing each in su c c ession to h av e b een an incar

nation or m anifestatio n of B u ddha ; thereby coolly at

ta chi ng to him self and his c reed th e san ctio n of th eir

a u tho ri ty and th e w eight of th eir n a m es .

I n any case B enares is a ci ty of no m ean an ti

,

q yu it
. Tw e n ty fi ve c enturi es a o
-
g , at th e l east
,
it w a s

fam o us Wh en B abylon was struggli ng with N ineveh

.

for su prema cy wh en Tyre was pl ant ing h er colo nies

, ,

when A th ens was growi ng in str ength , before R om e

had beco m e k nown , or Greec e had cont end ed with
Persia or Cy rus h ad add ed l us tre to the P ersia n m on
,

a rchy,
or N eb u ch adnezzar had captu red Jeru sal em and ,

the inhabitants of J u daaa had been c arri ed into captivity ,

she had already risen to grea tness if not to glo ry N ay ,

.
,

she m a h a v e h eard of th e fa m e of Solo m on and ha v e

y ,

sent h er ivo ry h er ap es and h er pea cock s to adorn his

, ,

palaces ; while partly with her gold h e may h av e

overla id th e Tem pl e of the Lord N ot only is B enare s
.

remarkabl e for h er v enerable age b u t also for th e ,

vitality and vigou r which so far as we kno w, sh e ,

8 m ean , rm m r assasr .

gone down ; on the c on r at ry for ,

long a es
g p a st it has

nam e descended fro m generatio n to generation,

has and

has ever been a household word ve nerated and ,

be

her destr uction by fire, applied by th e hand of Krishna,

which m ay or m ay not be true and the m anifestations , ,

in her phy sical aspects of repea ted changes, shiftings o f

,

site and resuscita tions y et as a ci ty no sign of feeble

, , , ,

ness no sym pto m of i m pending dissol u ti on so far as

, ,

refere nces to her in native records As a queen sh e .

,

has ev er rec ei ved the willi ng ho m age of her subjects

scattered over all India ; as a lover she has secured ,

th eir affection and regard .

H iouen T hsang the cel ebrated Chi nese traveller who

, , ,

as a B uddhist pilgri m visited In dia in th e seven th cen

,

tury of the Christian era describes Bena res as a ,

“
kingdo m abo u t fo u r tho u sand Ii
( six h u n dred and

the —
capital ncar ,
—
the Ganges , which is fro m eighteen
to ninetee n Ii ( thr ee m il es and u p wards ) lo ng, and
fro m five to six Ii ( abo u t one m ile) broad The villac .

lie v ery n ear tog ether ,

an d conta in a nu m ero u s o
p p u

lotion F a.m ilies of gr ea t wealth whos e hous es are

,
 BRE AKER, rA sr AND Passss r
'
. 9

of Buddha T h e cli mate is te m perate grain is in abun

.
,

dance, the fruit trc es are luxuri ant and th e earth is

-
,

covered with tu fted vegetation Th ere are thirty (Bud .

dhist) m on asteri es co ntaining abo ut three thousand

,

m onks . Th ere are a hundred tem pl es of the

( Hindu ) gods ,
an d abo u t ten thous a n d h er etics ( Hind us ) ,

who for th e m ost part, worship the god T a tseu tlwai

,
- -

( M ahe é w ara
) S o
. m e c u t o ff th eir h a ir ; oth ers preserv e

a tuft u pon the crown of the head , go naked and ,

are d estit u te of an
y kind of cloth i ng S o m e bes m ea r .

th eir bodi es with ash es and practise z ea l ou sly sev ere

,

austerities, in order to obtain rel ease fro m life and

death ( that is fro m trans m igration) I n the capita l

,
.

”1
there are twe nty ( Hind u ) tem ples of th e gods .

A nd now after th e lapse of so m any ages thi s ma gni

, ,

ficent city still m aintai ns m ost of the freshn ess and all
the beau ty of her early you th F or pictu resqu eness and
.

grandeur, no sight in all the wo rld can w ell surpass that

of Benares as se en fro m th e riv er Ganges Macaul ay s ’
.

graphic description of h er appearance towards th e close

of th e last cen tury is for the m ost part appli cabl e to
, ,
“
h er p resen t state H e sp eak s of h er as
. a ci ty whi c h , ,

in wealth , popu lation , dignity and sanctity , was am o ng ,

the fore m ost of Asia It was co m m only believed that

.

half a m illion of human being s was crowded i nto that

’

labyr inth of lofty alleys, rich with shrines, and m inarets ,

S ee Append ix B .

This conj ec ture regard ing the population of Benares is not correc t .

T he Government census gives less th an two hundred thousand ; bu t

thi s is too low an esti ma te T h e nu m ber of p ilgrim s annually visiting
.

the c ity m oreov er is very large being one hundred and fi fty or two
, , ,

hundred th ousand and perhaps m ore while the population of the

, ,

rounding vi llage is ex ceedi ngly dense .

10 ens u e s ,
r Asr
'
AND rene w .

an d balco ni es and carved ori els to which th e sacred apes

, ,

clu ng by h u ndreds T h e travell er could scarcely m ak e

.

hi s way thro u gh the press of holy m endicants and n ot ,

l ess holy bulls T he broad and sta tely flights of steps

.

which desc ended fro m these swarm in g haunts to the bath

ing places al ong th e Gan ges, w ere worn ev ery day by
-

th e footsteps of an inn um erable m ulti tu de of wors hip

pers T he school s and te m ples drew crowds of pious
.

Hindus fro m every provi nce wh ere th e B ra hm inical fai th

was known H undreds of devotees cam e thith er every
.

m on th to die ; for it was believed tha t a p ec u liarly

happy fate awaited th e m an who shou ld p ass fro m th e
sacred ci ty i nto th e sacred riv er N or was s up erstition .

the only m otive whi ch allured stra ngers to that great

m etrop oli s Co mm erce h ad as m any pilgri m s as religion
. .

A ll along the shores of the venerabl e stream lay great

fleets of v essel s l aden with rich m erchandiz e Fro m the .

loo m s of B enares w ent forth th e m ost delica te silks that

adorned th e b alls of S t Jam es s an d of V ersa ill es ; an d
’
.

in the bazaars th e m usli ns of B en gal and th e sab res of

,

O u de w ere m ingl ed with the j ewels of Golconda and the

”l
sh awls of C ash m ere .

T he co nn exio n of B enares with the r eligio us history

of one half the hu m an rac e, inh abiting the countri es of
Eastern Asia, is a su bj ec t of surpassi ng interest Pre .

viously to th e introd u ctio n of th e B u ddhist faith into

Indi a sh e was already the sacred city of th e l and,

,

th e cen tr e of Hin duis m and chi ef seat of its au thority

, ,

J u dgi ng fro m the stro ng feelings of v eneration and

afiec tion with whi ch th e nativ e co m m u nity regard h er

Mac aulay s '

Warren H astings p,
. 55 .
 BENARES PAST AND PRESENT
,
. 11

in the present day , and bearing in m ind that th e fo under

of B u ddhi sm co mm enced his m inistry at this spot it ,

seem s in dispu tabl e th at , in those early tim es preceding

the B u ddhist reform ation th e city m ust hav
,
e exerted a

powerful and wide spread religious influ ence over the

-

l and Thro ughou t the B u ddhist period in I ndia a

.
—
,

period extendin g from seven h un dred to a thousand

—
years she gave the sam e su pport to B u ddhism which
,

she had previo u sly giv en to th e Hin d u fai th Bu d .

dhist work s of that are h av e ab un dant a ll usions to

B enares and clearly establi sh the fact that the Bu d
,

dh ist of those d ays regard ed th e city with m u ch the

sam e kin d of ven eratio n as th e Hi nd u do es n ow T he .

sa c red writings of C eylo n ca lled th e Jatakas which

, ,

contain an i m m ense nu m ber of tales relating to th e life

of B uddh a and to the early history of his reli gion, are

replete wi th referen ces to B enares ; ind eed each Jstake ,

is al m ost inv ari ably connected with a Brahm adatta king ,

of B enares When B uddha deliv ered his first di scourse

.

at I s ipa ttana near B enares not only th e five Bhi ksh us

,
, ,

as a lready stated b ut also Y aéu , son of S uj a

,
ta and h is ,

fifty four royal co m p anio ns or princes em braced the new

-
,

religi on an d becam e b eli evers in B uddha Th u s th ese

,
.

sixty perso ns w ere th e first or am o ngst th e first dis

, ,

c iples of this rem arkabl e perso nage ; an d to th em h e

ga v e instru ctions to proce ed in diflerent directions and

'

announ ce to th e world th at th e S upre m e B u ddha h ad

appea red S tarting fro m th e sacred city th ese em is

.
,

sa ries of B u ddhi sm in obedience to his inj unctions

, ,

wen t forth and becam e th e forerunners and pioneers of

,

that won derful mi ssionary enterprise to other cities and

12 BE N A E E s, rA sr AND PRESENT .

towns, and to oth er and distant l ands which ter ,

m inated in th e conversion to the B u dd hist creed of

the v ast and de nsely peopled co u ntri es of Eas tern Asia
- .

When the im mense influence which he has exerted

upon m anki nd is considered it m ay be safely afli rm ed
,
’

that the career of S éky a Mu ni or B uddh a is unparalleled

in m ere h u m an his tory That h e a solita ry m an prince of
.
, ,

a royal house, beco m in g an asc etic and sea ting hi m self

, ,

down u nder a tree, should h ave re main ed there in m edita

tion for five years and u pwards pond eri ng over the religio n
, ,

the p ri estcraft false dogm as loose m orality u n certainty

, , , ,

doubt an d co nfusio n of his ti m es, u nder which the

,

nation groaned ; tha t h e should hav e c om e to the c on

el usion th at th e existing religion was a delusi on baseless ,

and perni cious ; th at h e should hav e d evised an en tirely

n ew syst em , of which hi m self was th e c en tre, should

hav e thought it ou t and pu t it in ord er so as to be abl e

,

to m eet obj ectors and to overcom e the ir argu m ents ;

that, at the expir ati on of this period h e shou ld have ,

risen up and jo urney ed to B enares and th ere deliv ered

,

his primary discourse respecting th e new doctrine ;

sho u ld ha v e th en ce gon e forth to th e grad ua l con qu es t

of I ndia until the whole land substantially becam e

,

conv erted to Buddhis m , and s ent fo rth missionari es to

Ceylon an d other parts by whose agency that island
, ,

the em pi re of China, Jap an Burm ah Nepal and

, , ,

Tibet with their four or five hu ndred millions of

,

people, received the extraordinary dogm a the gigantic ,

blasphem y that there was no separate, self existent

,
-

S uprem e G od, but that each individual m an by con ,

tem plation could rise into the divinity ; tha t all this
,
14 s au nas PAST AND PRESENT
,
.

There is no oth er city which so appeals to his sym pathi es ,

which so entwin es itself ro und his Spirit, whi ch so stirs

his soul to its i nm ost dep ths .

As Ben ares is the religious centre of In dia it is ,

natural th at pri estly infl uence shou ld there be ex

ceedingly powerfu l E verywhere in I ndia and not .
,

m erely in this city in partic u l ar , th e Brah m an is a cha

rueter a st u dy
,
N o one not even a foreigner newly
.
,

arrived in th e co u ntry , can m ak e a m istak e in rega rd to

him . Light in com pl exion in co m parison with the rest

of th e p eopl e frequ en tly tall in statu re with th e m arks
, ,

of a cl ear penetrati ng in tel ligen c e d epict ed pl ai nly and

,

so m eti m es in a striki ng m anner u pon his co u ntenance ,

erect pro u d self conscio u s, h e walk s alo ng wit h th e air

, ,
-

of a m an u nlike any I have ev er se en in which self ,

sufficiency a sense of su periority , and the conviction of

,

inh erent p urity and sanctity are co mbin ed H e needs .

not th e up a vi la or sac red Brah m anical cord t h rown ov er

the right shoulder or even the streaks in ho nou r of, ,

h is favourit e d eity , painted u pon his foreh ead to poi nt ,

h im ou t I n his v ery gait and step y ou trac e hi s cl aim to

.

his sup eriority ; and did we b ut know the tho ught s ,

dwelling in h is m in d we should possess th e real sec ret of

,

his m aj estic dem eanour With the idea constantly before .

his inner self th at he is hi m self a god, and d eserv es

,

—
divine honou rs which is not a m ere freak of a del uded
,

i m agination on his part bu t is acknowledged by all ,

Hi ndu s so m e of who m , as he pursu es h is way , will

,

stop him and th en offer to h im th e adoration du e only

,

to the A l m ighty , which he receives co m placently as his ,

right — how is it po ssible he should co m fort hi m self

,
 Bananas , m sr '
AND r us smrr
. 15

otherwise than as thou gh th e earth were h ardly worthy

of his tread and the crowd abo u t h im w ere in his pre
, ,

sc nce, a v il e, u ncl ean and abo m inabl e race ?

,
Though
m inglin g with th e vu lgar h erd h e tak es care to avoid ,

contact with th em , l est he shou ld contract som e cere

m oni al im p urity H e is m o st particular on this point
. .

Shou ld a low caste m an by m i stake, or fro m the p ressure

-
,

of the thro ng approach too near to him he cri es out

, ,

sharply and d ecisively thou gh not angrily and, in case

,

brazen vessel in his hand fill ed with water fro m the th e ,

Ganges, which h e is taking to d ri nk or for sacrific e be ,

tou ched by su ch a person h e i m m ediately thro ws the ,

water away and sco u rs the v essel thoro u ghly before

,

us in g it agai n Wh en he prepares his food

. for h e ,

—
cooks it him self should a m an of inferior caste, by
,

ina dverten ce, or fro m any cau se, happen to tou ch it ,

th e whol e is co nsidered as spoil ed , and is thrown

aw ay . I ndeed so rigidly observan t of th e rul es of
,

their ord er are som e of the Brah m ans that even should , ,

the shadow of su ch a m an , or of a Christian fall ,

u pon th eir food whil e b ein g cook ed , it is altogeth er re

s m ysterio u s notio n of di vinity

j ec ted Thi
. p erm ea ti ng ,

the entire l ife of the Brah m an origi nates not only , ,

in the m ind s of th e peopl e, bu t al so in his own

m in d a m arvello u s idea of his spi rit ual authority
,

and pow er Let any m an be so in fa tua ted as to cherish

.

a rea l co nvictio n wi thi n hi m that h e is in so m e sense

divine and h e will of necessity assu m e a bearing and

,

dem eanour different fro m those of ordi nary m ortals .

In Benares th ere are not fewer th an from twenty to

twmi ty flve thousand B rahm ans
-
Th ey h ave control .
16 c au s es PAST AND
,
m asss r .

over the temples , the sac red wells , stream s and reser ,

voirs and oth er h oly pl aces abo u t th e city

,
They su per .

i ntend th e worship of the peopl e and giv e directions re

,
~

spectin g the nu m berl ess c erem onies which are perform ed .

E very sacred spot has so m e p ecu liarity conn ected wi th it ;

and it is of great m o m ent th at no punctilio sho u ld be

om itted Th ey receive the o fferi ngs th e al m s th e

.
, ,

pu blic dinners and the good things which devou t H in

,

dus are ev er rea dy to bes tow .

—
So m e of them not a few
—
in nu m ber are term ed ”
Sons of the Gauges and are ,

chi efly found on th e banks of that stream aidi ng the ,

d evotio ns of the n um erous worshippers daily resorting

D evotees and pilgrim s, separately , or in c rowds s ,

are een

en t eri n g or d epartin g fro m th e city co nstan tly thr ou gh

ou t th e y ear, especi ally on occasio n of great festivals .

Th ey co m e from all parts of I ndia M any carry back .

with them the sac red water of th e Ganges in s mall ,

bottles herm etically sealed pl aced in baskets hanging

,

from the extrem ities of pol es which th ey bear upon

,

th eir sho ulders T he poo r del u ded sensu ali st whose

.
,

life h as been p assed in abo m i nabl e cou rses, or the

cov etou s ma kzij a n or native banker who h as m ad e him
,

self rich by a lo ng co u rse of grindin g ex to rtio n or ,

th e fan atical d evotee, m ore si m pl e th an a bab e y et ,

so m eti m es gu ilty of the fo ulest cri m es still co m es as , ,

of old fro m th e rem otest corners of I nd ia as the sands

, ,

of ti m e are slowly ebbing a way and, fearfu l l est th e

,

l ast golden grains should escape before h is long j ou rney

is ended m akes desperate efforts to hold on h is co u rse
, ,

till, at length, arriving at th e sacred ci ty and to u chi ng

 BaN A nss, PA sr AND r am 17
'
.

h llow
a ed soil his an xio
,
u s spir it beco m es su d denly
m, a s trange sense of relief co mes over him , and h e
at once ch eered and co m fort ed with th e treachero us

that his si ns are forgiv en and his so u l is saved .

in Benares th erefore Hind u is m m ay be said to dwell

, ,

hom e in th e boso m of its best fri end s and ad m irers

, ,

frted by princes and wealthy nativ es and aided and ,

tained by innum erabl e resources an d appli anc es of a

teris l charac ter which giv e sym bolica l significance to
,

existe nce and au thority H er thousands of t em ples ,

.

r
myriads of idols, h er swar ms of pilgrim s, h er hosts
daily worshippers togeth er with th e po m p and cir
,

ustanc e and m ultifarious representations of idol atry ,

their vast aggregate cause the Hind u religion to be

,

ible to th e ey e in this city, in a m ann er and d egree

,

wand er abo ut am ongst its shrin es and sacred places ,

I to tak e note m erely of th e m anifold signs an d mani

tations of Hinduism which he wou ld find th ere and ,

an to quit the city without in qu iri ng furth er without ,

ning his attentio n to those sil ent and u nobtrusiv e ,

potent , infl u ences which are underm ining it in every

acti on an d are in operation thro u gho ut all clas ses of
,

even in this capital and fortress of idol

y, h e w ould i m agi ne that the ci ty was wholly d evote d

the prac ti ce and c erem oni es of h eath en is m , that no

r
of fight had pen etrated its m idnight d arkness and ,

it it was an im practicabl e and i m possibl e task to at

apt its en lighten m en t and refor matio n .

,
—
We com e therefore to this con clusion j ustified I
, , ,

ah by the for egoin g observations ,

,
—tha t th ere are few
2
18 m u ms, PAST AND PRESEN T .

and the philosopher than the sacred city of th e Hindu s .

Calcutta, M adras , and Bom bay are co m m ercial centres

of I ndia directing to a large extent, the trade of the
, ,

coun try . Bu t th ey do not speak to the m asses , who

never ask th eir Opinio n and are nev er guided by th eir
'

or religious u sages Ben ares on the contrary is the

.
, ,

living oracl e of the nation and governs the Hi ndu with

,

a despotic hand in all his sacred rit es and p rac tices abo u t
, ,

which he is vastly m ore concerned than abou t any

thing else Presiding ov er th e religious destinies of one
.

hundred and eighty m illions of people, who m she in

spires wi th h er spirit, and co ntrols at pl easure, it is a
m atter not m erely of c uriosity bu t also of great im
,

portan ce, to kn ow what part she is likely to tak e in th at

extrao rdinary m ov em ent of m enta l awakening and t e
ligiou s reform which has already com m enced in I ndia .

It is not for h er to fall back and resign h er position of

,

infl uence H er place is in th e front rank Whil e all

. .

I ndia is m akin g progress , intell ectually and m orally she ,

m ust advan ce likewise Bu t sh e m ust do m ore She has

. .

always been a l ead er of th e peopl e, in every thi ng sa cred :

suc h she will, I hope and beli eve co ntinue to be A nd

,
.
,

j u dging from the eagerness of m any of her sons in the pur

suit of k nowl edg e fro m the qu ick en ed m oral perceptions
,

of th e popul ation generally and fro m the sy m pathy which

,

m ul tit u d es ch eri sh for th e n ew and liberal id eas tha t

are sp readin g ov er th e co un t ry a t l arge she bids fair to
,

fulfil th e predictions of h er truest and sincerest fri ends .

 C HM EB II .

Benares
.

m onu
m ent of art hitherto discovered in the country There .

is no k nown specim en of s o existing, of any

character, the date of which carries us back beyond the
third ce ntury before Christ T he pillars of Asoka, whic h
.

belong to this period , are the very earliest sculptu red

”
rem ains y et found . Of th ese, says Mr Fergusson ,
.

one is at D elhi ; having been re erected by F erose

-

Sh ah in his pal ace as a m o nu ment of his victory over

,

th e Hi ndus . Three m ore are sta nding near the river

Gund uek in Tirhoot ; and one has been pla ced on a
ped esta l in the fort of Allahabad A fra gm ent of
.

anoth er was ds c ov ered n ear D elhi , and part of a seven th

i
20 E E N A nE s, PAST AND PRESENT .

was used oller on the B enares road by a Co mpany s

as a r
’

”l
engineer officer There is reason for suppo sing that
.

som e of th e Bhilsa topes m ay be assigned to this epoch ,

while oth ers are undoubtedly of a som ewhat l at er date

, ,
.

Of the cave temples so in teresting not only to the

o

archmologist, but lik ewi se to all lov ers of the curiou s ,

not one was excav at ed earli er th an th e first c entur y

before Christ T he great K arl en cav e dates from th e

.

beginning of the Christian era T he Aj u nta cav es b elon g .

to sev eral epochs ; and so m e m ay be as rec ent as th e

ninth or tenth c entury A D T he Viswakarman cave at . .

Ellora is of th e seventh or eighth cent ury A D A m ong .

th e ca ves in B ehar th ere is one call ed fro m Lom aéa th e

B ishi, which , fro m certain pec uliariti es in its constru c
tion m ay it is conj ectu red h av e been excavated p rior
, , ,

to th e Christi an era al thou gh the inscription which

,

covers it is referred to a period so l ate as the fo urth

centu ry after Christ .

It has been asserted on strong au thority that n o, ,

anci ent tem ples or religio us m o nas teri es, apa rt fro m the

cav e str u ct ures exist in I ndia on th e gro un d that the

, ,

re B u ddhist H in d w r t si m pl e nd u n so
p us e e as
y e a
-

p h isticated an d ,
p erform ed th e rites of th eir religion
,

to a great exten t witho u t idols or te m pl es ; or if

, ,

with th em those obj ects were m ade of p erishabl e

,

m ate ri al . T h e fact of no tem pl es or oth er edifices

having been discovered is regarded as a powerful reason
in substa ntiati on of this as sertio n N ow to say the .
,

l east it is exceedin gly prem ature to h azard su ch an

,

opinion foun ded on su ch a basi s, inas m u ch as the stu dy

F ergu sson
'
s H andbook of Architec ture p
, . 7 .
22 E E N A uE s, PA sT AND PRESENT .

on e can look u pon Asoka s m onoliths and believe for an

’

instant that the knowledge of architecture which they

display was developed wholly during that m onarch s ’

reign. N or can it be credited tha t th e beau tiful ca ve

tem ples were withou t th eir predec essors It m ay he .

repli ed however , that fro m a m inu te and carefu l ex

, ,

am ination of I ndian Assyrian and Egyptian archi

, ,

tecture the concl u sion m ay alm ost be dem onstrated that

, ,

the archetyp es of th e two form er styl es w ere origina lly

wooden, while those of the last m entioned were of stone
-
,

and that, therefore

,
there is a n ecessary li m it to our

investi gations beyond which it is u sel ess to atte m pt to

,

go ; for th at the wooden arch etypes hav e m ostly if not ,

entirely perished , and the sto ne are of a l ater period

,
.

Granting that this theo ry is in the m ain , true we are

, ,

not co m pe ll ed to believe th at the earli est ston e erections

in India were as recen t as th e thi rd centu ry before

Christ ; or, if th ere were any before that date that ,

they have all been destroyed Of the ancient Assyrian

.

palaces discovered by La yard , those m ost elabo rate ly

sculptured were built abou t 700 whil e others , in
,

a less ornam en ted styl e w ere erected still ear li er and

,

even these were preceded by wooden buildings If this .

be correct, why should not at l east the sam e antiquity

be con ceded to In dian sc ulptu res su bsequ ent to th e
wooden period Is it at all lik ely tha t the Aryan
rac e existed 1n In di a for between one and tw o thousand

years th at they conquered a large portion of th e

,

c ountry that they attain ed to greatn ess an d glory

, ,

and m ade wond erfu l progress in civiliza tio n equal ling , ,

if not surpassi ng, their contem poraries in other parts

 m am ,
PA sT AND PRESENT . 23

of Asi a, yet, that during all this ti m e th ey were

and , ,

satisfied with only transitory sy m bols of grea tness , and

never conceived the i dea of l ea ving behind them d urable
m onum en ts of th eir pow er, which should hand down
their nam e to m any generations ? Th ey m ust ha ve
hear d of th e vast structures erected in Egyp t, and of
the splendid palaces and sta irs and pillars and oth er
, , ,

edifices with whi ch the Assyrian m onarchs adorned

,

their citi es They w ere not l acking in ge ni us, or in

.

the des ire for kn owledge ; on the contrary th eir m inds ,

inv estigated the highest subj ects , and wh atev er was of

interest to hu m anity in general th ey regarded as of ,

im porta nce to them selv es .

But it m ay be said the Hindus borrowed th eir

, ,

architecture fro m th e Assyri ans ; or the architect u re

of th e t w o races was of a co m m on origin B oth su p .

posi tions m ay be tru e ; and, in m y opinion it is al m ost ,

certa in th at in whatever way it was bro ught abou t both

, , ,

cou ntri es in so m e respects followed the sam e m odels .

Whether Assyrian or P ersian sc ulptors were th e archi

tec ts of the earli est Hi nd u bu ildin gs is open to qu estion ; ,

but if they were it seem s absurd to su ppose that th ey

, ,

should have erected edifices altogether of wood whil e in ,

their own country the p u blic buildings were to a large ,

extent , of sto ne ; especially seei ng th at v ario u s kin ds of

durable sto ne w ere easily procu rabl e in India If on .

,

the other hand the architects w ere natives who had

,

learnt th e principl es of their art chi efly fro m Assyria

or P ersia or fro m a co m m on so u rce it appears equally
, ,

stran ge that they should hav e p erpetu ated the con

san ction of wooden buildings in I ndia for centuries

24 BENARES, PA sr AND PussEN T .

a fter th ey m ust h av e known them to have been aban

doued in other countri es and to hav e given pl ace to
,

vast edifices of wood and stone com bin ed cov ered with ,

carvings and scu lptu res .

W e arrive, th erefore, at this conclusion, th at, as there is

ev ery reason to believe that solid bu ildings partly if not
entirely of sto ne w ere er ected in In dia sev eral h u ndred

—
years preceding th e third cen tury E o , th e earliest da te . .
,

as already rem arked of any m onu m en ts hitherto dis

,

,
—
covered th e probab ility is that if a dili gent search were
, ,

instit uted so m e fragm entary re m ains of th em would be

,

fo und It is a circu m stance highly fa vourable to th e

.

prosecution of thi s search that th e ancient abodes of,

the Aryan race in I ndi a have been for th e m ost part , ,

well ascertained A ll these pl ac es will I h0 pe in th e

.
, ,

course of tim e , be thoroughly exam in ed , and every oh

j cet of interest tending to throw any light on th e su bj ect

before us or on the ancient history of Indi a generally
, ,

noted and described .

It is natural to beli eve that p rimd fac ts Benar es offers

, , ,

as fair a fi eld for arch a eological in v esti ga tion in regard

to the earliest form s of Hindu architecture as any city

in Indi a It is confessedly tru e, howev er, that no v ery
.

anci ent rem ains h ave t b n fo n d th r but th

y e ee u e e ; e

reaso n m ay be, becau se th ey ha v e not been properly

so u ght after O nl y withi n the last few y ears so far
.
,

as I am aw a re have any inqu iri es been m ad e in a

, ,

regular m anner, after old buildings in Benares Mr . .

Jam es Prinsep th e great In dian arch mologist was a

, ,

residen t in th e city for about ten years ; bu t it does not

appear tha t h e m ad e an y i m portant discoveri es in it .
 BE N A nE s, PAST AND PE E sE N T . 25

“
His Views of Benares are chi efly of a popul ar cast ,

and do n ot give evid ence of an ext en siv e observation or

y
research of thi s nature M ajor Kittoe, the l ate Govern
.

m ent arc h reologist and th e architect of th e Govem m eu t

,

—
College a beau tiful Gothic structure in th e su burbs of
,

—
the city al though interesting him self in th e ex cavations
,

of S am ath, so m e three m il es to the north of Benares did ,

not so far as is known, exam ine the city itself Indeed

,
.
,

so ina ttentiv e was he to its claim s to an tiquity , th at h e

rem ov ed many cart loads of h eavy stones som e of which

'

were curiou sly ca rv ed, from Bakariy a Ku ud on th e con ,

fines of the city and not m ore than a m il e from the

coll ege which h e was erecting, without reflecting th at
they m ight possibly be relics of ancient b u ildings
form erly situated on that site As a fact, th ey were
.

ori ginally connec ted with a series of B u ddh ist edifices

covering perhaps as m uch spac e as those stru ctu res
the fou ndatio ns and rem ain s of which are found at
Sarn ath A third arch aeologist , Mr Thom as late Ju dge
. .
,

of Benares , and a distingui shed nu m ism atist trod in th e ,

same footsteps , only taking interest in the coins dis

covered in th e city and in the S arnath explorations .

A s instances of ru thl ess spoliation, I m ay here remark ,

that , in the er ection of one of the bridges ov er the

river Barua, forty eight sta tu es and oth er sculptu red
-

ston es w ere rem oved from S arn ath and thrown into
the river, to serve as a breakw ater to th e piers ; and
that, in the erection of th e seco nd bridge th e iron ,

one fro m fifty to

,
sixty cart loads of stones from
-

th e S é rnath buildings w ere em ploy ed But this van.

dalism hardly equ als that of Babu Jagat S inh who in , ,

26 D E N A nE s, PAST AND PE E sE N T .

the last ce ntury, carted away an entire tap e, or sacred

tower from the sam e vast store house, with which he
,
-

built Jagat Ganj a ward or district in th e suburbs

,

of th e city .

T he chi ef reaso n why Benares h as been thus negl ected

is , in m y j u dgm ent attribu table partly to its great ex
,

tent, and partly to the general ignorance as to the

position of its an cient portions ; and co nsequ ently the , ,

exp lorer in co mm encing his task , has been in co nsider

,

able doubt where to begin N ow it is necessary to

.
,

state that m u ch of th e existing city has been erected

,

in comp arativ ely m odern ti m es and, with the exception ,

of an occasional bit of old frieze or corni ce, or a broken

bass relief or statu e inserted into recent walls depo sited
-
, ,

over drains or lyin g neglected by the side of th e road

, ,

there is nothing of an ancient character visible through

ou t a v ery large sectio n of it Y et all the northern
.

qu arter of th e city , a di strict little freq u ented by Eu ro

pean vi sitors exhibits in abundance isol ated speci m ens
,

of architectu ral rem ains of various stages of antiqu ity .

Independ ently of a few separate bu ildings or p arts of ,

buildi ngs h ere and th ere to be seen of an early style

, ,

of Hind u architect ure, sculptured sto nes of m any kind s

are dist rib ut ed am o ngst th e w alls and fo u nd atio ns of

the m odern houses and in all places wh erev er solid

,

m asonry is required in such great profusion, that it is

,

im possibl e not to believe that on this site stood an

older city or at least a portion of it Moreover th e
, , .
,

very scattered nature of these re mains shows that a

their proper places in th eir own original edifice s . It

 BE N A E E S , PAST AND PRESE NT . 27

m ight be utterly i mpracticabl e to coll ect th e enti re

m a teri als of any one b u ildi ng ; bu t th is is not nec es
sary seei ng tha t th e a e of b u ildi n g ca n b e c om
, g a

m ou ly d eterm in ed by ob servi ng m erely a frag m en t of its

ru ins I n th e case however of ancient Hi nd u remains,
.
, ,

so littl e has been do ne in th eir inv estigation especiall y

,

in co m p aring one wi th anoth er th at th e qu estion of ,

th eir anti qu ity cann ot be at once decided From an .

ignoran ce of prim itive typ es, m istak es of five h undred

or a tho u sand y ears or u pwards m ay be easily m ad e .

In judgin g, therefore, of the age of th e relics fou nd in

B enares we have in reality v ery littl e to guide us
, , ,
.

If there be an ything in the argu m en t based on th e

si m plicity of a styl e or on its ornamenta tion as bearing
, ,

on its greater or l ess anti qu ity th en we can pr edic ate

,

of the b uildings which form erly stood in this part of

B enares variou s stages of antiquity So m e of th e .

capitals, pill ars bases architraves, and m ouldings are

, ,

m ost sev erely si m pl e in th eir typ e whil e oth ers are ,

c rowd ed with ornam enta tio n ; and both sp ecies are v ery

different fro m the styl es in m od ern u se T h e fi rst .

species is dou btl ess th e forerunn er of the seco nd bu t

, , ,

at wh at inter val it is at present i m po ssibl e to affirm

,
.

Th ere is no qu estion that a l arge proportion of the

anci en t rema ins in Benares are of B u ddhi st origin ,

but of v arious epoch s ; and, in so m e cases, those on th e

sam e site are of different ages F or in sta n ce the Bud
.
,

( mi st m onastery and tem pl es of which traces are fou n d

,

at Bakarty a Kund difler in th eir styles of architecture

'

.
,

Of the two small temples parts of which thou gh , ,

possibly al tered and transposed, are still standing, the

28 E EN AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

pillars of the one are square and with ou t ornam ent,

whil e those of th e oth er situ ated abo u t thr ee hundred
,

yards oil, are square below th en eight sided and th en

,
-
,

Sixteen sided, and are adorned with exqu isitely carved

- -

devices Moreover from th e quarry m arks engraved

.
,
-

u pon m an y of th e stones fou n d h er e it is m an ifest tha t

,

a portion of th e b u il di n gs was erected abo u t th e era

of the Gu pta dynasty or perhaps from th e first or

,

second to the third or fourth c en tury A D . .

There are several ancient edifices in B enares whi ch , ,

if not original are certa m to a large extent built of

,

old m aterials In th ese m ore especially in th eir colu mns ,

.
,

m ay be traced a gradatio n of style Wh en we co m p are

.

th e sim pl e bracket or cruciform capita l and its plain

squ are shaft and base, su ch as we find in the pillars of
th e cloisters aroun d the pl at form of Aurungzeb s m osque
’

behind the m odern Bish eéwar t em pl e and also in th e ,

pillars of a Moh am m edan cem etery in the neighbo u rh ood

of T iliy a N ala with the el aborately ornam ented col um ns
,

of the m osq ue in th e R aj Gh at Fort we are at once ,

struck with th e co ntras t and at the extraordi nary de

,

velopm e t which th e s tyl e

n — th e sam e fundam enta lly in
—
both insta nces has receiv ed Variou s interm ediate stage s
.

of diversity are represented in oth er b u ildings ; but I

cannot now further enlarge on them T h e first cl ass of .

pillars however m ust, I contend , be of a m u ch ea rli er

, ,

date than the other Y et it does not follow tha t thi s

.

latter class belongs nec ess arily to a recent epoch T h e .

m osqu e in which th e colum ns are found consists ap ,

pat ently of two B u ddhist cloisters or , po ssibly, of two

, ,

divisions of a B u ddhist tem pl e, and has been, at tim es ,

30 BENARES, PAST AND PRES ENT .

P reviou sly to B u ddhist su premacy in I ndia we know

the ,

tha t B enares was a Brah m anical city ; and there is no

proof that at any period of that su prem acy , Brah m anism
,

was entirely exti rpated; F or m y part I am inclined ,

to beh ave that so m e of these ancient rem ains may be

attribu ted equ ally to Hind u an d B u ddhi st origin T he .

simple styl e of architectu re, to which I have referred ,

was, wi thou t dou bt the earli est introdu ced into B en ares
, ,

perhaps in to Hindusta n and, wheth er the work of Bu d

,

dhista or of Hindus 18 do ubtl ess of high antiqu ity Y et

, ,
.

how it fou nd its way here is open to qu estion Thi s .

part of the existing city as already stated, is m uch

,

older than the res t ; bu t after all there is good reason

, ,

to beli eve that only a sm all portion of ev en this quarter

belonged to the m ost anci ent city in whi ch case the ,

above m enti oned fragm ent ary rem ai ns of a v ery old typ e
-
,

m ay hav e been chi efly b ro u ght fro m the pr im i tiv e city ,

or m ay have been relics of b uildin gs erected after

m odels found there This entire su bj ect will b e dis
.

cu ssed in su bsequ ent ch apters, towards th e cl ose of thi s

volu m e in which so m e acco unt of th e arch aeology of
,

Benares and its neighbo urhood will be given in detail .

It is worthy of no tice as ill ustrating the natur e of

,

Moham m edan rul e in I ndia th at nearly all the b u ildings

,

in B enares of acknowled ged antiq uity , h av e been appro

,

riated by th e M usu l m ans ; being used as m osq u es

p ,

m au sol eu m s d argahs an d so forth ; and also th at a larg e

, ,

portion of the separate pillars architrav es an d various , ,

o th er ancien t rem ai ns which as before rem arked are so

, , ,

plentifu lly fo und in one part of th e city now co ntribu te ,

to the su pp ort or adornm en t of their edifices N ot con .

 EE N AE E S, PAST AN D PassE N T . 31

ten t wi th destroyi ng temples and m u tilating idols, with

all the zea l of fanatics , th ey fix ed th eir greedy eyes on

whatev er obj ect was suited to th eir own purposes and, ,

withou t scruple or any of the te nderness Shown by the

present rulers seized u pon it for them selves A nd thu s
,
.

it has com e to pass, that every solid and d urable strue

ture, and every ancie nt stone of v alue, being estee m ed
by them as their peculiar property , has, with v ery few
exceptions passed into th eir hands
,
We believe it was .

the boast of Alau ddin that he had destroyed one thou

,

sand tem pl es in Benares alone How m any m ore w ere .

razed to the gro und, or transform ed into m osqu es th rough

the icon ocl astic fervour of A urungzeb there is no m eans ,

of knowing ; b ut it is not too m u ch to say , th at he was

un su rpassed in this featu re of religious fanaticism , by

,

an
y of his predecessors If th ere is
. o ne circ u m stance

respecting the Moh am m edan period which Hindus re

m e m ber better th an anoth er it is th e insu lti ng p rid e of
,

the M usu l m ans the o u trages which th ey perpetrated

,

upon th eir religiou s convictions and the extens ive ,

spoliatio n of th eir tem ples and Shri nes It is right .

tha t Eu rop ea ns should cl early understand , that this

spirit of Mohamm edanism is u nch angeable and that , ,

if by any m ischance I ndia sho uld again co m e i nto

, ,

the possession of m en of th is creed , all the ch urches

and coll eges and all th e Mi ssion instit u tions, would
,

not b e worth a w eek s p u rch ase

’
.

When we endea vo ur to ascertain what th e Moham

meda us ha ve l eft to th e Hi nd us of th eir anci ent b uild
ings in B enares , we are startled at the resu lt of our
investigations Altho u gh the city is bes trewn with
.
32 BENARES PAS T AND PRESENT
,
.

te m ples in every di rection, in so m e pl ac es v ery th ickly ,

y e t it wo uld b e d iffic u lt I b eliev,

e to fi n d tw enty
,

tem pl es in all Benares of the age of Au ru ngzeb or

, , ,

fro m 1658 to 1707 T he sam e u nequ al proportion of

.

old tem pl es , as co m pared with new, is vi sibl e thro u gh

out the whole of N orthern I ndia Moreover the di mi .

,

nu tive Size of nearly all th e t em pl es th at exist is

anoth er pow erfu l testi m ony to th e stri ngency of the

Moham m edan ru l e It seems clear, th at for the m ost

.
,

part, the em perors forbade the Hindus to b u ild spacio u s

templ es and suffered them to erect only sm all str uctures,
,

of th e size of cages, for th ei r idol s, and th ese of no pre

te nsions to beau ty T he consequ ence is th at th e Hi ndus
.
,

of the present day bli ndly following th e exam ple of th eir

,

predecessors of two centuries ago com m only b u ild th eir

,

religious edifices of th e sam e dwarfish Siz e as form erly ;

but instead of plai n, u gly buildings th ey are often of
, ,

el egan t constructio n So m e of th em , i nd eed are so

.
,

delicately carv ed externally , are so crowded with bass

reli efs and m inute sc u l tm in are so la vi shly orna
p g
'

wanted , th at the ey e of th e b eholder beco m es satiated

and w earied . I n regard to size, there is a m arked dif
ference between the te m pl es of N o rth ern and Sou thern
I ndia ; the latter being frequently of giganti c di m ensio ns .

Y et in respec t of sy mm etry and beau ty th e di fference

, ,

is i m m ensely in favour of the Northern faneS .

T he p resent city of B enares lik e th e earli er one

, ,

exhibits a t endency to Shift its sit e If any p erso n

.

will take the troubl e to ride throu gh the city fro m

n orth to so u th an d th en all alo ng its ext ensiv e s u b urb s
, ,

from the ancient fort at th e j unction of the Barns and

 BENARES , PAST AND PRESENT . 33

the Ganges, down the road l eading towards the can

tonm ents, th ence m aking a d eto ur as far as D urga k u nd -

u ntil h e again reach es th e Ganges , h e will at o nce be

convinced that the aspects of the city differ greatly

fro m one anoth er H e will be especially stru ck by the
.

apparent n ewness and freshn ess of the hou ses on th e

so uth ern side as com pared with those on the north ern
,

side ; and his attention will be or o ught to be, power ,

fully arrested by th e v enerable app earanc e of m any of

the buildi ngs on the c an ton m ent road j us t all u ded to ,

an d in its n eighbo u rhood .

There is still a scattered pop u lation on th e south er n

bank of the Barns living in sm all villages or ham lets ;
,

and to th e north of th e prese nt city, between it and

,

the Barns m ausol eu m s dargahs m osques and ev en

, , , ,

Hindu buildings m ost of which are in ruins are found

, ,

in ab un d ance, showing that as l at e as the Moham m edan

,

period, this portion of the ci ty now becom e its su burbs

, ,

was possessed of consid erabl e m agnific en ce and indeed , , ,

was a favourite place of resort to its Moham m edan

rul ers T he ten dency of Benares to ch ange its bound
.

ari es — for it shifts conti nually in a so u th westerly direc -

—
tion is w ell ill ustrated by the position of the three
fortresses which the Baj as of B enares hav e occupied
at va rious periods of its history T he old est fort was .

situa ted at B arna Sangam or the confluence of the ,

Barna and the Gau ges ; and a few rem ains of it are
sti ll standing In its day it no dou bt formed a part
.

of th e city and was its chi ef d efence ; but now it is

,

only a re m ote sub urb with a m ere handful of people

,

in its imm ediate neighbourhood T he seco nd in point .

8
34 R EN A R E S , PAST AND PRESEN T .

of ti m e is th e fort at S i v al a Ghet so m e fou r miles '

furth er sou th west in th e m idst of a de nse population : it

-

was the residence of C heit S ingh in th e tim e of Warren ,

H asti ngs bu t is no longer inhabited by the Raj as of

,

B enares T he third fort is that in whi ch the p resent

.

Raj a dwell s and is situated at Ram nagar, upwards

,
'

of a m il e to th e so u th east of S i v ala Ghet on the -

,

Opposite side of the river, wh ere a considerabl e pcpu

l ation has sprung u p .

A t present as has long been the case the city is

, ,

known by the two nam es of Ka and Benares ; the

latter designation being a corruption of the Sanskrit
varanasi Varanasi and Varanasi
,
‘
O n th ese words, as .

si nific ati ve term s we h av e only uncerta in gro u nd s for

g ,

spec ul ation KaSi, the nam e m ost favoured by the

.

Hindus is considered to m ean splendid

,
‘ ’
Varanasi .

is explain ed as a co m pound of Varané and A s1, which

'

refer it is conj ectured to the two stream s b earing th ese

, ,

nam es and s ev erally flowi ng into the Ganges to th e north

,

and so u th of th e city , of which they thus co nstitute to

som e extent a natu ral boundary In so m e la te Brah .

m anica l writings , B enares is spok en of as lying between

th e Varana and the A si ; bu t in fac t, it li es at a con ,

siderab le distance fro m th e V a rané in one direction and ,

in the oth er whil e it h as passed over the s m all rivulet of

,

th e A sf, and now em b races it within its elf, it is evid en t

that at one ti m e it was a long way di stant fro m th at
stream T he Varané ( or Barns as it is popu larly call ed , )
.
,

co ntai ns a considerable body of w ater in th e rainy

season ; bu t th e A 8 1 contin u es a sm all stream all the
w www w
 EE N AR E S , PAST AND m m . 36

year round . There is another derivation current am ong

that acertain R aj a Ban ar form erly rul ed over Benares ,

and gav e his own nam e to the city .

It wou ld appear, that, with the followers of B ud - »

dha, the popular nam e of the city was n ot m e, but

Ben are s ; and on the other hand that whil e the c ity
, , ,

co mm only bore th e nam e of Benares, the circ u mjacc nt

country was called E ast T h e Chinese pilgrim F a .

Hi an who tra v ell ed in In dia at the co mm encem ent

,

of the fifth century A D remarks in the jou rnal of. .

, ,

his trav els that, following the course of the river

,
“
H eng ( Ganges ) towards the west, h e cam e to the
town of P110 lo nai ( or Benares), in the kingdom c f
“
K ia sin? T he ancien t B u ddhist writi ngs of Ceylon
also m ake referen ce to the Sarn ath portion of the
“ ”
old city as exi sting in th e kingdom of KAéi At .

one ti m e, th erefore d u ring the prevalence of the

,

B u ddhist religion in I ndia, the territory surro unding

Benares, and in cl u ding th e city was called the R eef ,

kin gdo m or country ; and it is not unlik ely that both

Kééi and Varanasi w ere term s interchangeably em
ploy ed to designa te the surroundi ng coun try even after
the d ecline and downfall of the B uddhist religion

in India . Dr F Hall concl u des , I find th at so late

. .
,

“
as the el ev enth century A D at a period when . .
,

Kééf was p resu m ably the m ore popular nam e of the

, ,

city of B enares, the circ u mj ace nt territory was known

as va ré nasi “ Indeed th e inscription which gav e rise
.
,

to this remark m ak es use of th e wo rd ve rsu s as de

Laidlay Pilgrim age of Pa H ian p 8 07

'
s , . .

Bengal Asiatic S ociety s Journal for 18 6 2 page 5 Note

’
, ,
.
36 BENARES, PAST AND PRES ENT .

n oting the circ u mj acent territory This use is fou nd

‘
.
’

in a land grant issu ed by Baj a Vinéy akapala and m ay

-
,

be as late as the m iddl e of the el eventh century .

Furth er inform ation respecting the anci ent city being , ,

for the m ost part derived fro m th e exa m inatio n of ruins

,

fou nd in vari ous places , and th erefo re of a technical

character and not perhaps of interest to the general
,

reader althou gh of m uch i mportance to the arc hmologist

,

and to all conc erned in th e phy sical aspects of old

Benares is given in several chapters towards the close

,

of the volum e I proceed now to a description, in

.

deta il, of som e of the noteworthy characteris ti cs of the

city as it at present exi sts I wo ul d prem ise, howev er
.
,

that su ch of th e pec uliarities of th e ci ty as are abo u t to

be referred to are by no m ea ns in tended as an exhaus
tive catalogue of the whole Th ere are v ery m any
.

others m ore or less rem arkable, which any one on th e

,

spot interested in th e s ubj ect wou ld very likely

, find
, , ,

to be deserving of his attention .

38 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

pe rso ns that do not heartily engage in it are co nverts

to Christian ity to whom we m ay add m any of th e
,

young m en educated at the p ublic colleges and schools ,

who either abandon it or while m echanically per form

, ,

ing ou t of d eference to their parents and friend s th e

, ,

prescribed religious duties, have already p erceived the

hollowness and absurdity of Hind uism , and do not
scruple occasionally to betray their senti m ents and ev en ,

to scoff at th eir own religion T o thi s class, which is

.

constan tly increasing, shou ld be added those persons,

the num ber of whom m ay be l arge , bu t whi ch it is
i m possibl e to calcula te, who have paid seriou s attention
to the ex pofitic n of Christian truth by m issionaries,
and who , al though not o u twardly acceptin g Christi anity ,

are yet to so m e extent convinced of the falsity of

Hinduis m .

S ince th e country has co m e into our hands, a great im

et us has bee n giv n to the erectio n of tem pl es , and to
p e

the m anufac ture of idols in Northern I ndia In Benares

,
.
,

te mples have m ultiplied at a prodigious rate ; and this

rate , at the present m om ent, is I beli eve, rather in
,

creasing than dim inishing Judged m erely by its ex

.

ternal appearances, Hinduis m was never so flourishing as

it is now With general p rosperity and universal peace
.
,

and with a Govern m ent based on neutral p rinciples ,

and l argely tol erant of th e nationa l reli gious system s ,

Hindu ism under th e l eadership of m en of the old school

, ,

—princes pandits banyas tradespeople) and priests,

, , ( ,

is making extraordinary c florts to m aintain its positi on

’

against the new doctrines of E uropean civiliza tion and

religion which th ey now begin to recognize as form id

,
 BENARES , PA ST AND PRESENT . 30

able opponents T he rem arks of the Rev D r Mullen s

. . .
,

on the extension of Hind uism m aterially and outwardly , ,

“ ”
in Christian Work for July, 1864, strongly bear out

Th ere can be li ttle doubt he says that a h undred y ears ago ,

”
,
“
,

the tem p les m osques and shrines of India belonging to all the nativ e
, , ,

religions were by no m ean s in a flourishin g c ond ition

, Lu ge num .

prevailed throughout the M ogul em pire after the death of A urung

zc b th e constant wars the terrible visits of foreign armies the
, , ,

duce a state of insecurity

whi c h paralysed trade whic h even hindered ,

agric ul ture and in vol ved all c lasses in a poverty whic h th e e pire
,
m
had not suflered for m any y ears
'

Never were in vasions m ore fierce ; .

nev er w er e fam ines m ore c ruel Though freed from the persec u tions .

of the bigoted em peror the tem p les suflered grievously from the
'

general want ; and it was probably only in the Mahratta provinces , ,

plunder of successful Mahm tta arm ms whose p iety reward ed the ,

shrines of their p rotec tin g diviniti es with a show er of en dowm en ts

and ofierin s whic h rem ain in m easure to the p resent da d

'

g y H i n u ism .

now is externally in a m uc h m ore fl ourishing c on dition than it was

, ,

then A ll ov er North In dia espec ia lly the native m erc hants and
.
,

bankers who hav e prospered by English protection by contrac ts ,

with English armies by the sec urity given by English law to their
,

extens ive trade hav e filled Ben ares and other ci ties wi th new and
,

c ostly shrin es and m any a R aj a and m any a bank er wh en visiting , ,

in state the holy c ity has poured into the lap of the atten dant priests
,

unheard of sum s whic h m ust hav e satisfi ed even their c ovetous and
-
,

grasping souls Thus strangely has the revival of p rosperity under

.

English rule added som ething of external strength to th e ancien t

idolatry , thc resou rc es of which had, in so m any p lacss , be u n to fail
g .

T he new sc ool, h dou bting enli ghten ed and , c eases to bu ild new

M ples or endow the old ones T h e old sc hool p rosp ering in trade
, .
, ,

growing in wealth still trusting to the anc ient su persti tions and
, ,

anxiou s to earn m erit for themselves b uild new tem ples an d presen t ,
40 m anna, rm AND PRESENT .

new gi fls ; t h gh feeling that the dav s of their faith are n um bered

ou ,

h h v ws are gradually p ressing their own into oblivion

and t at ot er ie .
”

This templ e b u ilding m ovem en t, sing ular as it is,

-

is really no gro u nd for disco uragem ent whatever , and

m ust not be perm itted to blin d our ey es to the great
transform ing work which is bei ng acco m plish ed in
B enares and in N orthern India generally I regard it .

as a m ov em en t, to a l arge exte nt spas m odic intended ,

to co unteract the C hristian infl uen ces which in so m any ,

ways and in so m any places are op erati ng u pon the

,

com m unity Undou btedly it is quite tru e that the

.
,

rel igi o us sentim ents of a Hi nd u wo uld pro m pt him

to devote a considerabl e portion of his wealth acqu ired ,

in tim es of tranqu illity and national prosp erity, to sa cred

p urposes At the sa m e tim e h e is qu ickened and
.
,

sti m u l ated in this d esire at th e pres ent da by tro ng

, y, a s

and p ainful co n victio n that his religio n is in danger

,

th at h is children are growing u p unsound in the Hi ndu

faith and that a n ew creed to which th e foreign rul ers
, ,

and gov ernors of his co unt ry are att ach ed is m oving the ,

h ea rts of m ul titudes of his own rac e and tongu e which ,

he m ust resist with all his m ight, and m ust do so now

or never N otwi thst an ding, therefore all th at is being
.
,

done by B rah m ans, Hind u pri ests, and oth er d eter

m ined idol aters, to s ustain Hi nd u ism and to thwart ,

Christianity it is a fact, ad m itting of distinct proof

, ,

that the one is on th e decli ne and th e oth er is in th e

ascendant the one is d ecaying and cr u m bling to pieces
, ,

whil e th e oth er is daily beco m ing stro nger and m ore

influential .

It re m ains to be seen wh ether the new religion or th e

 ssmm ss, rm AND Pas ss sr . 41

— —
old Ch istianity or Hindu ism is the m ore pow erful
r .

T he co ntest between th em has already co mm enced It .

is felt throu ghou t all the divisions of native society I t .

is fi lli ng with anxi ety the high er castes, and is calling

forth all the subtlety of the Brah m ans all thei r intellect,,

and all th eir m y sterious autho rity We m ust expect the

.

opposition to Christianity to be, in m any pl aces , organized

and sy ste m atic d eterm in ed and dogged But if Christians
,
.
,

in India be faithful to th em selv es and to th eir D ivine

Mast er the tri um ph of their cau se is certa in
,
.

Upwards of thirty y ears ago M r Jam es Prinsep th en

,
.
,

stationed at Benares, took a census of th e city, and

also m ad e a co m p u ta tio n of the nu m ber of t em pl es an d

m osq u es existi ng in it . Fro m his calculation, which

was m ad e wi th co nsid erabl e care th ere w er e at that
, ,

tim e , in the city proper, exclusive of the suburbs,

Hind u temples and 333 Moh am m edan m osques Bu t .

this n u m ber of tem pl es which has since been m u ch in

,

creased , did not i ncl ude I i m agine, th e s mall shrines,

,

th e nich es in th e walls , the cavities inside and o u tsid e

m any of th e ho u ses, and the spaces on the ghé ts, in
which im ages in i mm ense m ultitudes were and are still
deposited Th ese seco ndary shrin es if they be worthy
.
,

of thi s designatio n, each occu pied by one or m ore idols ,

are in so m e p arts of th e city

,
exceedingly n u m erous
,
.

Figures of all forms fro m a pl ai n sto ne to the m ost

,

fan tastic shape, whol e and m utilated pain ted and nu ,

painted, som e witho u t adornm ent, oth ers decorated with

garlands, or wet with sacred water, m eet th e ey e in
ev ery di rectio n .These remark s especially refer to the
neighbourhood of the bathing ghats and of the prin
42 Bananas, PAST A ND PRESENT
.

eipel templ es But the abundance of idols and fanes all

.

over the city gives it a strange and repell ent appearance .

By a m ore recent estianate than that made by Mr .

Prinsep th e following results ha ve been arrived at, the

,

accuracy of which ho wever I am unable to vouch for

, , ,

though I dare say they m ay be taken as approximately

mu m ny
of th e ( a . m otor . al e-
nus .

Kotwéli 26 1 19
Kal Bhairo 2 16 20
t em p u ra 48 54
97
'

J aitpnré 30
53 32
Bhelapuré 15 4 16
6 92 34

145 4 2 72
The Hindus h ave a strange fancy for accu m ulating
idols in certain spots N ot co ntent with depositing an
.

i mage in a te mple th ey ornament its portico and walls

,

with deities, or arrange th em in rows in the tem ple en

closure . You m ay so meti mes see twenty fifty and , ,

even a hun dred of th ese idols in one plac e m any of ,

.

which will perhaps receive as m u ch hom age as th e god

who is ex alted to the chi ef sea t wi thin th e te mple itself .

I f it wo uld be diffic ult to co un t the sm all shrin es and sacred

niches aboun ding in the city it wo uld be inco m parably,

m ore so to enu m erate the idol s actu ally worshipped by

the people These inferio r shri nes were, on one occasion
.
,

by a curious co ntri vance im m en sely increased ; and y et

,

the increase could h ardly ha ve b een ge ne rally perceived .

Raja M an S inh of Jey pore, wi shing to present one

,
 m u ss, rm m summer . 43

hundred thousand tem pl es to the city m ade this sti pula ,

tion, that they were all to be co mm enced and finished

in one day T he plan hit upon was to cut ou t on blocks
.
,

of stone a grea t m any tiny carvings, each one represe nt

ing a tem ple The separate blocks therefore on the work

.
, ,

being co m pleted exhibited fro m top to bottem and en

, , ,

all sides a m ass of mi nute te m pl es

, These blocks are .

still to be seen in various art of Benaret e largest

p s

being situa ted above the D asaéamedh Ghst near the ,

M an Mandi] Observatory I n regard to the n um ber of

.

idols of every desc ription act ually worshipped by th e

people, it certainly exceeds the nu mber of people them
selves though m ul tiplied twice over : it cannot be less
,

than half a m illion, and may be m any m ore Indeed .

,

the love for idolatry is so deep seated and intense in

o -

the breast of the Hindu, that it is a co mm on th ing for

both m en and wo men to am use them selves with a pious ,

intent, with man ufacturing littl e gods fro m m ud or cl ay ,

and after paying divi ne hon ours to th em and that too

, , , ,

with the sam e profo und reverence which they displ ay

in their devotions before the well known deiti es of th e -

tem ples to throw the m away

, .

I recall to m ind a re m arkabl e i nstance of this O ne .

day on e ntering the co urtyard of the tem pl e of A nnpurné ,

the goddess of pl enty m y attention was arrested by
,

an aged wo man seated on the ground in fro nt of a

small clay figure which , I ascertained she had, with

, ,

her own hands m anufactured that m orning, and to

,

which she was sole mnly paying ho mage Close by .

was a braze n vessel co ntaini ng water into whic h ,

every now and then she dipped a sm all spoon, and

44 BENARES, rm 111m r assxsr .

th en gen tly poured a few drops u pon the head of the

i mage She th en reverently folded her h ands , and m u t
.

tered words of p ray er, occasio nally m oving one hand

to her face and with finger and th u mb co m pressin g
,

her two nostrils, in order th at, holding her breath as

.

far as possibl e she m ight increase th e m erit of h er

,

worship and the efficacy of her prayer I did not stay .

to the end ; y et I well knew the res ult as the sam e thing ,

is constantly done in Benares Having com pleted her .

devotions, she rose, took the i mage which sh e had

worshipped in h er h ands, and threw it away as of no ,

further use .

B enares, lik e A thens in the ti me of S t P aul, is a .

“ ”
city wholly given to idolatry T he Hind u, it should
.

always be rem em bered, is in his own fashio n, a religious

,

m an of very great earnestness ; but his religio n takes

the fo rm of id ol atry Idolatry enters into all th e
.

associ atio ns and co ncerns of his life H e can tak e no .

step without it H e carries his offerings p ublicly in the

.

streets on his way to th e tem pl e in th e m orni ng and

, ,

receives u po n his foreh ead, from the ofli ciating pri est,
the peculi ar m ark of his god as th e sy m bol of th e ,

worship he h as paid h im which he wears all th e day

,

long A s h e walks abou t you m ay hear him m u ttering

.
,

th e nam es and soun ding the praises of his gods In .

greeting a frien d, he accosts him in the name of a

deity I n a l etter on b usiness or on any other
.
,

m atte r, the first word h e i nvari ably writ es is th e nam e

of a god Should he propose an engage m ent of im
.

portance he first inquires th e pleasur e of the idol

, ,

and a l u cky day for observing it At his birth, his .

46 M PA S T AND W .

atry is a word dm oting all that is wicked in imaginatien

pu ta g or
“
o s
s n of th e Ganges, ”
who may be regarded

resultc of their stn nge religion To speak la inl

.
p y,
and y et v ithout ex travagance, the mc ral nature of su ch
Hindus hu becom e so distorted, that, to a large ex ten t,

tbc y ha ve forgotten the essential distinc tic ns of thiu gs .

T heir idol - worship has plunged the m into imm oralities

of thc rou est forms, has robbed them of truth, has
g
filled their minds with deceit , h as vitiated their h oly

of virtue, has corrupted the common feelings of h n

ma nity wi thin them has di sfigured
, and well ~nigh
destroyed the true notion of God w hich all men in
some shape are beli eved to possess, has degraded them

to the lowest depths , and has re ndered them unfit alike

an inca rna tion of all evil — bu t, nev erth eless, as bewitch o

ing and seductive as a S iren I t ensnares the depraved

n .

heart, coils around it like a serpent transfix es it with ,

itsdeadly fangs, and fina lly stings it to death Idolatry .

has, for m any ce nturies, dru nk th e life blood of the -

Hindu with i nsatiate thirst, has covered wi th its pollu

tions the fair and fertile soil of India has drenched the ,

land with its poisoned waters and has rendered its inhabi
,

tants as godless as it was possibl e for the m to become .

Most of the tem pl es are of m odern date ; bu t m any of

tha n occ upy, in pop ula r belief the sites of im m e m orial
,
 m u s , rms AND PRESENT . 47

is therefore , a comm on reply whi ch one receives on

, ,

inquiring th e date of any given shrine, that it is with

ou t date and has al ways existed
,
These original sites
.

are n um erous
; and ea ch h as a history of its own F or .

instance the pundits say that Genes is worshipped in

,

fifty six pl aces the goddess Y oganf in sixty fou r, Du rga

-
,
-

'

in n ine, Bh airo in eight , S iva in el even, Vishnu in

one and th e S un in twelv e ; all which date fro m th e
,

m ythical period , when D ivodasa the fam ous Raj a of ,

Benares, whose n am e is a household word am ong

th e peopl e was prev ail ed on to permit the gods to
,

return to their ancient and sac red hom e Bu t these .

places do not, by any m eans represent the present ,

nu m ber of shrines at which th ese d eiti es are v en erated .

’
Genes especially the god of wisdo m , son of S iva
,

and P arvati, is v ery extensiv ely worshipped in B enares

and th ere is scarcely a tem pl e in so m e n ich e or corner

of which his m onstrous fig ure m ay not be fo und .

T he tem pl e rweivi ng the hi ghest meed of honou r

in the whole city is that dedicated to th e god Bisheé
war, or S iva, whose im age is the li nga, a plain conical
’

sto ne set on end Bisheswar is the reigning deity

.

of Benares and in the op inion of th e people, holds

, ,

th e positi on of king over all th e o ther deiti es as well ,

as ov er all th e inh abitants residing not only withi n the ,

city itself, but also withi n the circuit of the Panch

kosi road or sacred bo undary of B enares, extending
for n early fifty m iles I n issuing his ord ers he acts
.
,

through Bhaironath , who is the deifi ed kotrmil or god

magistrate of B enares and its extensive suburbs E very .

matter of im porta nce is presum ed to be brought in a

48 BENARES , rm AND PRESENT .

regular m anner by the kotwa l before his roy al m aster .

T he ag en ts of the kotm i l are stationed all along the

Panch kosi road and are the god s or idols loc ated there,
-
,

who are supposed to ac t as cha ukzdé rs or watch m en over

’

the entire bo u ndary . The office of these watch m en is to

ward off all evil fro m the sacred city to contend with ,

such enemies as th ey m ay m eet with endeavou ring to

break in u po n the outer inclosure and to send in th eir ,

reports to the god m agistrate Bhaironath

-
.

Bisheswar, in his capacity of idol ki ng of B enares -

,

dem ands the hom age of his subjects and will not resign ,

his rights to the oth er deiti es who th rong his do minions .

His subjects m ust, first of all worship him and m u st

, ,

bring their offerings to his shrine of whi ch he or rather

, ,

his rapacio us pri ests , are exceedingly fo nd Al tho ugh .

witho ut m ou th or th roat, his thirst seem s to be great ; for

one of th e m ost pl entifu l oflerings presented to him is

that of Ganges water wi th which in the hot season he

, , ,

is k ept perpetu ally drench ed .

It is no m atter of surprise therefore th at Bisheéwar

, ,

shou ld receive m ore adoration than any other idol in

Bena res N ot o nly the perm anent inhabitants of the
.

city , bu t also pilgri ms and oth er travellers m ay be seen ,

pressing i nto th e te m ple during the greater portio n of

th e da y . T h e worsh i ppe rs ar e of a ll classes and con

di tions and p resent a singul ar, and ev en pic turesqu e

, ,

v ari ety of a pp ea ra nce . A m o ng t h e m ost prom inen t of

th e se is ,
w e n eed h ardly sa y, th e p ro u d h a lf n ak ed
,
Brah -

—
m am with shav en hea d, save a long t uft depending
fro m his crown behind th e sacred cord being thrown
,

over one shoulder or ear, and the sym bol of S iva being ’
 E E N A E E s, PA sr
'
AND PRESENT . 49

displ ayed upon his forehead — who

perform s his devotions
,

with punctilious nicety The faq ir, too in al m ost p ri m i

.
,

—
tive nakedness his hair dyed and m atted together, and
—
his body bedaubed with ash es though scarcely noticed ,

by other p eopl e, arrests the attention of the stranger .

F ew of the m en ha ve m u ch clothi ng u po n th eir perso ns ;

yet m any of the m , by th eir carriage, and by th e j ewels
and gold with which th ey are adorned show that they ,

occu py a very respectable position in native society .

T he wo m en are, for th e m ost p art thorou ghly clothed ; ,

and so m e of them
,
occasionally are profusely decorated
, ,

with gold and silver ornam ents studded with precio us

stones All the worshipp ers carry offerings in their
.

hands consi sti ng of s u gar rice gh ee ( or clarified butter)

, , , ,

grain, flowers , water etc O ne of the m ost b eau tiful

, .

of the flowers presented is the lotos th e form and ,

colo ur of which bear so m e resem blance to those of a

large tulip or water lily -
.

Over th e narrow doorway which c onstitu tes the chief

en tranc e to th e tem ple is a sm all fig u re of Genes u po n
, ,

which so m e of the worshippers, as they pass in sp rinkle ,

a few drops of w ater As one enters the enclosure

.
,

several shrines are visibl e T he worshipper p ays hi s

.

homag e to any god , or to all, as he m ay el ect ; bu t he

m ust of necessity approach the param ount deity of the
pl ace, th at is to say , the plain conical stone already
spok en of . H e m akes his obeisance to th e god eith er
—
by bowing h is h ea d his hands being folded in ador
atio n or by pro strati ng hi m self upo n the ground ;

after which h e presents his offeri ng and ri ngs one of ,

the bells su spended fro m the roof of the te mple This “

.
50 BEN A xE s, PAsr
'
AND PxE sE N r .

is to attra ct the atten tion of the —

god , for it is possible
h e m ay be asleep or otherwise occupied and to fix
,
—
it u pon him self T he adoration of an idolater is so m e
.

ti m es distressingly solem n His whol e so ul seem s to

.

be over awed, but with what se nti m en ts it is i m possibl e

-

to affirm ; and the sol emnity , if any is singularly ,,

transient, and l asts only so long as he is in the presence

of the idol It is difficult to analyse his feelings or
.
,

to affirm precisely that they are of this or of that n ature :

neverthel ess , ther e can be little dou bt th at his m ind is
occasionally fill ed with d read and anxi ety , am o u nti ng, it
m ay be to alarm
,
The idolater cherish es no love for
.

th e idols h e worships but, on th e contra ry regards

, ,

th em as beings to be feared, and, th erefore, to be

propitiated by adoration and suitabl e offerings N early .

all th e w orshi ppers engag e in th eir d evotio ns in a qu i et,

ord erly, and decent m anner, but with manifest perfunc

toriness, and with littl e or no thought beyond the desir e
to perform thorou ghly th e task th ey hav e set them
selves, even to th e m inutest partic ular .

T h e templ e of Bisheéwar is situ ated in th e m idst

of a quadrangle covered in wi th a roof above which
, ,

the tower of th e tem pl e is seen A t each corner is a .

dom e and, at the sou th east corner a tem pl e sacred

,
-
,
'
to S iva When observed in the distance, fro m the
.

elev atio n of th e roof the b u ildi ng p resents three di sti nct

,

divisions T he first is the spire of a tem ple of M ah adeva

.
,

whose base is in the quadrangle below ; the seco nd is a

large gilded dome ; and th e third is the gilded tower of
the tem pl e of Bish eswar itself These three objects are
.

all in a row, in th e centre of the quadrangl e filling ,

 m u s s PAST AND PRESENT
, . 51

up most of the m s e other

from one side to the .

T he carving u pon th em is not particularly striking

bu t the do m e and tower glittering in the sun look like
vast masses of burnished gold They are, however only.
,

covered with gold leaf, which is spread over plates of

copper overlayi ng th e stones beneath The ex pense of .

gilding them was borne by the late Maharaj a R unjeet

severally in a sh arp point Attached to the first is a high

, .

pole bearing a s mall flag and tipped with a trident .

T he temp le of Bish eéwar includi ng the tower is fifty

, ,

one feet in h ei ght T he space betw een the te mpl es of

.

Bisheé war and Mahadeva ben eath the dom e, is used as

,

a belfry ; and as many as nine bells are s uspended in it .

O ne is of el egant work manship , and was presented to

the te m pl e by the Baj a of N ep al .

O utside the enclosure, to the nort h is a large collection ,

of deiti es raised u po n a platform called by the natives

, ,

the court of Mahadeva They are for the most part

.
’
, ,

m al e and fem al e embl em s Several s m all idols like wise

.

are b u ilt i nto the wall flanki ng this cour t Th ese are .

evidently not of m odern m anufacture Their ago how .

,

ever, does not seem to be known The probability is, .

th at th ey were ta k en from th e ru ins of th e old templ e

of Bish eé war, which stood to the north w est of th e -

present stru cture and was dem olished by the Em peror

,

Aurungzeb in the seventeen th ce ntury Extensiv e .

rem ains of this ancient tem pl e are still visible They .

fo rm a large portion of the w estern wall of the Moham

m edan m osq ue, which was built u pon its site by this
bi goted oppressor of the Hindus Judging from the .
52 m u s s ,
mm m ranssur .

proportions of these ruins, it is m anifest that the form er

tem pl e of Bisheéwar m ust have been both loftier and
m ore capacious than th e existing structure ; and the
cou rt d is fou r or five tim es m ore spacious than the
entire area occu pi ed by th e m od ern tem pl e T he archi .

tecture of the ruins see m s to be of a m ixed ch aracter,

and co m posed bot h of Js ins and Hi nd u ord ers I ndeed .
,

it is not i mpossible that a few slight traces of B uddhist

architecture m ight be d etected also Wh at m akes this.
,

l atter supposition pl ausible is that, on three sides of the

,

perpendicul ar face of the terrace on which th e m osqu e

stands Buddhist p ill ars of a si m pl e and v ery ea rly type ,
, ,

form ing recesses or roo m s, but which were originally in , ,

all probability cloisters are distin ctly visibl e

, ,
.

T he m osqu e, thou gh not s m all, is by no m eans an

i m posing obj ect It is pl ain and u ninteresti ng and
.
,

displays scarcely any carvi ng or ornam ent Withi n and .

without its walls are besm eared with a dirty white

,

wash m ixed with a little colouring m atte r I ts m ost

,
.

i nteresting feature is a row of B uddhist or Hind u

colum ns in the front el evation T h e presence of this
.

mosque located fro m m otives of insu lt in a place

, , ,

held so sacred by the Hi nd us and around which ,

th eir closest sy mpathi es are gath ered is a constant ,

source of heart b urni ngs and feu ds both to Hin d u s

-

and Moham m edans .The form er whil e unwillin gly,

allowing th e l atter to reta in th e m osqu e cl aim th e ,

courtyard betw een it and the wall as th eir own C on .

seq uently they will not p erm it the Moham m edans to

,

en ter th e m osq ue by m ore than one p ublic entrance ,

which instead of being in fro nt of that b u ilding is

, ,
54 s au na s, PA sr
'
AND PassaN r
'
.

supply of water S iva, on becom ing acquainted with

.

the circu m stan ce, prom ised to take up his abod e in the
well and to reside there for ever It is stated m ore
,
.
,

over, that, on occasion of the destruction of the old

tem ple of Bish eéwar, a p riest took the idol of th e
tem ple and threw it down for safety T h e natives visit .

this well in m ultitudes, and cast in water or flowers ,

and other offerings, as a sacr ifice to the d eity below .

T he com mnnd m ixture thus produ ced is nec em rily

in a cons tant state of putrefaction, and em its a m ost
disgusting stench T he well is surrounded by a ha nd
.

so me low roofed colonnade, the stone pilla rs of which

-
.

are in four rows, and are u pwards of forty in nu m ber .

T he building is sm all but has been designed and ex e

,
~

cuw d with consid erabl e taste It is of very recent date

.
,
“
having been erected in the year 1828 by S ri Maut ,
”
Baij a Bai, widow of Sri M aut Dowlat Bao S indhia
”
Bahadoor, of Gwalior .

I mm edi ately to the east of this colonnade is th e figure

of a large bull about seven feet high , cut in sto ne, d edi
,

osted to the god Mah adeva ; and a few steps furth er east
is a temple b uilt in honour of the sam e deity The bu ll .

is a gift of the Raj a of N epal ; and the te m pl e, of the

Bani of Hyd erabad On th e so u th side of the colo nnade
.

is an iron palisade, in the e nclosure of which are two

small shrin es , one of white m arble the other of stone , ,

and betwee n the m a scaffoldi ng of ca rved sto ne from ,

which a hell is suspended .

Standing in this courty ard the chief objects in w hich

,

have been th u s briefly described , and looking beyond in

a north wes terly direction the eye falls on a te m pl e about
-
,
 naN A nss, rA sr
'
AND PaassN r . 55

sixty feet in height, situated one h undred and fifty yards

dista nt fro m the m osque This is Ad Bisheéwar, that is
.
-
,
”
the tem ple of the P rim eval Lord of All T h e natives .

in the neighbourhood all regard this shri ne as of an

epoch anterior to th at of the old Bisheéwar the r uins ,

of which , as already stated form a consti tu ent porti on

,

of Aurungzeb s m osqu e Hence th e nam e attached to

’
.

it T his templ e is surm ounted by a large dom e the

.
,

decaying condition of which is visible in the gaps on

its o u ter surface caused by the fal ling away of bro ad
,

thick flakes of the cem ent of which it is com posed T he .

tem ple below however, which is fac ed with slabs of

,

sto ne as far as the base of the dom e has lately been ,

extensively repaired by a tob acconist in the n eighbour

hood nam ed Ganpat who has em bellished its interio r

, ,

with p aintin gs traced on the walls, mah ng th em look

fresh and m odern . There is really nothing in thi s
tem ple of an ancient ch aracter ; but, on th e eastern side
of the enclos ure, the gro und becom es consid erably ele

vated and u pon it stands a m osqu e built of very old

,

m aterials , th e pill ars of which dat e as far back as the

Gu pta period, and possibly earlier M ay not these old
.

stones and pillars he remains of th e original Bisheswar ?

Form erly a co m m unication was open between the en
closure of Ad Bisheswar and the courtyard of Aurung
-

zeb s m osqu e already d escribed ; but is now closed

’
.

K ééi Karwat, a sacred w ell of so m e rep u te is situated ,

a short distance to the east of Ad Bisheéw ar Besides

-
.

the v ertical opening there is a passage leadin g down to

,

the wa ter, which for me rly was tra versed daily by re

ligious Hindus desirous of approaching the holiest part
56 m a s s, PAST AND r em ai n .

of the well A few y ears ago a fanatic offered hi m self

.

'

in sac rifice to S i va, the god of th e w ell wh en th e ,

authori ties caused the p assage to be closed ; but, on the

pri ests representing that th eir revenu es wo u ld greatly

suffer, were it to be kept perm anently shu t permission ,

was given for it to be opened once a week, nam ely ,

every Monday .

This neighbourhood is exceedingly rich in temples of

m ost el aborate workm anshi p So m e of th em , fro m the
.

sum m it to the base, are one m ass of c u rious and i ntricate

carving N ot that th e designs represented on th em ,
.

altho u gh in so m e cases el egant, display any v ery rem ark

able genius ; yet the execution of th em is a m arvellous

feat of chiselling O n the south side of Bish eéwar stands

.

one su ch tem pl e T h e gateways l ea din g i nto the co urt

.

yard and into the fane itself are, both, profusely carved ;
and in addition, th e latte r is crowd ed with figures inter
,

m ingl ed with a m ultit ude of short gilded spires .

P roceeding a little beyond these t em ples, we co me to a

sm all shrine dedicated to S anichar or the pl an et Saturn
,
.

T h e d eity within , represe nting the pl anet exhi bits a ,

silver head, ben eath which depends an apron, or what has

the appearance of such The truth is the idol is bodi
.
,

l ess and the apron co nceals the want

,
A garland of .

flowers han gs fro m eith er ear fa ling below the chin ;

l ,

while above the figure a canopy i s spread, design ed, I

imagine to illustrate the m aj esty of th e god It 18 said
,
.

of this deity tha t for seven years and a half, he troubles

, ,

th e life of m en in general , bu t that he exem pts his own

worshippers from th e trials and disasters which, for this
period, he brings on th e rest of m anki nd .
 BE N Aaas
,
rA sr AND a r . 57

A fewsteps further is A nnp urné a goddess of great

on ,

repute in Benares , inasm u ch as u nder the express orders ,

of Bish eéwar, she is supposed to feed all its inhabita nts ,

and to ta ke care that none s uffer fro m h u nger T he .

peopl e h av e a traditi on, that wh en Benares was first ,

m any persons was too hea vy for her Filled with anxiety , .

she knew n ot wha t step to tak e T he goddess of th e .

Ganges, or Gangs, generously cam e to her r elief and ,

told her that, if she wo uld bestow a handful of p u lse

,

on every applicant sh e herself wo uld

,
contrib ute a
la id ( a brass v essel ) full of w ater A nn purna was c om .

forted with the s uggestion in whi ch sh e acq uiesc ed ; and

,

the arrangem ent thus m ade produ ced the m ost satis
“
factory resu lts I n hononr of A nnpfirna, the suppli er
.

”
of food , a c u sto m prev ails am on g all classes, by w hich

hundreds and even thousands of the poor are daily sup

plied with food It is this . Those persons that can
.

afford it put asid e a q u an tity of pulse and m oisten it ,

over night and in the m orning give it away, in h andfuls

, , , ,

to the poor O nly one h andful is given to each person ;

.

but as he and all the m em bers of his fam ily can, each
, ,

proc ure a handful after collecting a supply fro m a nu m ber

,

of do nors, they are abl e, by th e m iddle of the day , to

ob tain in the aggregate, a goodly quantity , which th ey
,

first dry , and then either cook for food , or sell in the
bazaar I have been told that the great co nsu mption
.
,

in this way of this particular kin d of grain is one

,

reaso n why its price is so high in Bena res .

On the grou nd in front of the entrance to the te mpl e

of A nnpurné, beggars are seated, du ring m ost of the day ,
58 BENA RES ,
rA sr AND an swer .

so me of who m have c ups in th eir hands, into which the

worshippers as th ey go in and out of the tem pl e, throw
,

small quanti ti es of grain or rice Passing thro ugh the .

doorway i nto the quad rangl e, a si m ilar system of alm s

givi ng and alm staking displays itself T he pri ests of th e .

tem pl e too receive offerings for th e poor, in addition to

, ,

th e prese nts appropriated to th em selves I n one com er .

of the enclosure is a stone box, which is the com m on

treas ury for the reception of the gifts intended for this
object I n it m ay be see n a singular m edl ey of rice,
.

grain, water, flowers , m ilk etc which , though perhaps

, ,

not unw elc o m e to a Hind u sto ma ch , would revolt a

European N ot that the whol e of this m edl ey is eat en ;

.

bu t the rice and grai n an d oth er edible s ubstances are

separated from the rest, and distributed am on g the
applic ants .

T h e tem pl e of A nnpfirna was erected 150 years ago, by ,

th e Baj a of P oona It possesses a tower, and also a dom e,

.

which is carv ed and ornam ented after the Hi ndu fashion .

T h e do m e is sustain ed by pillars ; and between th em a bell

is suspended which is kept al m ost constantly soundi ng ;
,

for, as soon as one worshipper l eaves it, another , ha ving

perfor med his devotions, takes his turn in beatin g it The .

bells in this and other Hindu tem ples are not rung but
, , ,

are beaten with the c lapper or ton gu e d epending from

within T he carved portions of this temple were o nce

.

partially or entirely p ainted ; and the painting in the in

terstices is still visibl e T h e goddess within th e tem ple
.

is regarded by the natives as a charm ing creature S he

, ,
.

exhibits the ta ste of h er sex in her fondness for orna

m enm for, besides her neckl ace of j ewels and her

 aaN A ass, r A sr AND Pu san . 59

silver eyes, sh e occasionally wears a mask of gold or bur

nich ed copper and thus endeavours to en hance h er beau ty
,

and fascinate her behold ers The tem ple occu pies a l arge
.

portion of the quadrangle, an d stands in its centre I n .

one corner of this quadrangl e is a sm all shrine dedica ted

to th e S un T h e idol representing the S u n is seated in a

.

chariot drawn by seven horses and is surrounded by a

,

glory indicative of th e rays of light which he emits from

his person in all direc tions In a second corn er is another
.

'
shrine in which is an i m age of Gauri Sankar and the
, ,

stone box or receptacle before all uded to In a third is .

a large figu re of Hanu m a n, th e m o nkey god, in bass reli ef :

- -

and, in a fo u rth a fig ure of G enes, with th e h ea d of an

,

el ephant and th e body of a m an .

Not far fro m th e te mple of A nnpfirna is the tem pl e

”
of Sakhi Bin ay aka, or the witn ess beari ng Binéy aka -
.

P ilgrim s, on co m pl eting th e journey of the P anch kosi -

road, m ust pay a visit to this shrin e in order that ,

the fact of th eir pilgrim age m ay be v erified Should .

th ey negl ect to do this, all their pilgri mage would be

witho ut m erit or profit T he temple is in a sq uare
.
,

and was erected by a M ah ratt a, abo u t one h u nd red

years ago On the road between these two temples is a

.

red glari ng figu re of the god Ganes with silv er h ands ,

,

trunk feet, ears , and poll , squatting down on the floor

, ,

which is raised a little abov e the pathway T h e oddi ty .

’
of this pa inted m onster wo u ld excite one s la ughter,

were th e m ind not distressed at the thought that it

Near the t em pl e of Bish eéwar, to the south of

and

small shrine , dedicated to S ukreéwar

'

Sanichar, is a ,
60 BE N ARE S , r A sr A N D PRE SE N T
.

whi ch is visited by persons desirous of becom ing

parents of h andsom e sons It is said that this god wi ll
.

bestow a fine son on his worshippers, even tho u gh fate

sho u ld not h av e conferred one on th em ; and, so long

as h e liv es in B enares h e will p ass his tim e h appily

, ,
'

and, at d eath will d epart to the real m s of S iv a .

,
62 ca m era ,
s PAST AND Passs nr .

hi mself with a truncheon And this is no figm en t of the

.

imagination b ut a veritabl e c u dgel, of enormous thi ck

,

ness ; not indeed, of wood, but, what rs m ore terrible of

, ,

sto ne It is ca ll ed Deadpan from dc ada, a stick , and

.
, ,

in co m m on belief, is nothing l ess th an divin e Whether .

from a desire to enjoy as m uch tranqu illity as po ssible, or

fro m the u niversal Hind u custo m to sh ift anxiety and
trouble fro m one sho ulder to ano ther, I cannot say , but
Bhairo has considerately issued his co m mands to it to ,

beat any person who may be fou nd workin g m ischi ef ,

and, having done so h as resigned him self to a life of

,

ease So that, in fact this intelli gent stick is, defac to

.
, ,

th e divine m agistrate of th e city It m ay seem strange.

,

however that the templ e in which Deadpan is d eposited is

,

not th at of Bh aironé th, b u t 18 anoth er situated a sh rt ,

o

every T uesday and S unday by a grea t m any peopl e It

, .

is set u p on end, the u pper extrem ity receiving occa ,

sionally the adj unct of a silver m ask or face ; but when

, ,

our wonderi ng eyes beheld it there was o nly the bare ,

stone visibl e, wi th a garland depe nding from the upp er

extre m ity In fro n
. t of t h e stick three bells were ,

hanging ; and, on one side , a priest sat with a rod in ,

’
his hand m ade of peacock s feathers, with which in
, ,

th e nam e of D andpén, h e gently t apped th e worshippers ,

and thereby vica rio usly inflict ed punishm ent u pon them
for the offences of whi ch th ey w ere guilty I n this .

tem ple are o ther rem arkable obj ects, which wi ll be pre
sently referred to T he worship of D andpan and the
.
,

00 11
 BsN A nss
,
rA sr AN D r am . 63

stitu te a cli max of absurdity But the Hindu is as .

m —
sole n in the presence of th e divine stick adm inister ,

ing as h e i m agin es divin e j ustice,— as though it w ere

, ,

the chi ef j udge of the S u dder Ad awlut and is totally ,

unconscious of the l udicrous position he occ upies .

T he worship of D andpan ill ustrates v ery instructively, ,

th e changes tha t hav e com e over pop u lar Hi ndu is m ev en

within a few centuri es D andapani to give th e
.
,
-
.

—
corrupted Sanskrit word , is, properly the name of an ,

attend ant of S iva and signifi es stafl in h and T he tru e

‘
'
’
.
,

ch aracter of this personage has been forgotten ; and his

embl em has been el evated to th e rank of a s u bstantiv e

Bu t to ret urn to Bhaironéth T h e wall on either side

.

of th e door, l eading into the e nclosure, is decorated wi th

paintings O n the right is a large figu re of Bhaironath
.

or Bhairo ( for he possesses both titles ) him self, depicted ,

in a deep bl u e colou r, app ro aching to black ; and behind

him is the fig u re of a dog intended for him to ride
,

on T he dog, too , is holy ; and, in the n eighbo urhood

.

of the tem pl e sweetm eat sell ers make sm all im ages

,
-

of a dog in sugar which the worshi ppers p u rchase and

,

present to Bhaironath, as an offeri ng O n the l eft sid e .

of the doorway is a larger figure o f a dog ; and abov e it

are ten s m all pai nti ngs rep resenting the ten a va ta rs
,

of Vish nu T he door its elf is carved and em bellished

.

not i nel egantly O n p assing thro u gh in to th e quad

.

rangl e I was struck with the confined position of the

,

tem ple, which fills up a large portion of the entire area ;

so that fro m the quadrangle itself it is im possible to
gain m ore than a v ery li m ited vi ew of its upper part .
66 s au na s ,
m sr'
AND PRES EN T .

Ketu The first seven give, in Hindi their nam es to the

.
,

seven days of the week, beginni ng with Su nday T he .

N augrah , in popular estim ation is a v ery for m idabl e ,

collecti on of deities It is custo m ary for th e Hind us to

.

co mm ence every im portant religio us cere m ony, as, for

instance that of m arriage, with the worship of th em ;
,

for, unl ess they be propitiated, they m ay vitiate th e entire

ce remony T he idols are placed, in th e tem ple, in three
.

rows three being m each row

,
T h e tem pl e re m ains .

t
closed all th e day lon g, but 18 opened every morning ,

when a pri est com es and peforms m ix that is, wor ,

ships the idols and presents the necessary offerin gs .

This is th e only tem ple dedicated to N augrah in B enares .

N au grah is a corruption of the Sanskri t N eva grai n, -

th e n ine planets
‘ ’
.

P roceeding down this marrow street and passing under ,

an archway to th e l eft y ou co m e to th e tem pl e of D and

,

é n alr eady partially described H ere is also , a fam ous

p ,
.
,

well call ed Kél kup or the Well of Fate Over the

-
,
.

trellis work of the ou ter wall of the buildin g is a square

-

hol e, which is so situated in relation to the sun , that at

, ,

twelve o clock, its rays pa ssing thro u gh the hol e, i m pin ge

’
,

upon th e w ater in the well b elow At this hour of the .

day the w ell is visited by perso ns wishin g to search in to

the secrets of the F uture : and woe be to the m an who
'

is u nabl e to trac e th e sh adow of hi m self in th e fata l

water ; for his doom , it is beli eved, is certainly an d irre
vocably fix ed and within six m onths fro m th at insta nt
,

he will inevita bly die The gen eral ignoran ce respecting

.

the explanation of this dai ly pheno menon does not speak

m uch for the sci entific knowledge of the Hi nd us, or even
 Bananas, PM AND PRESENT . 67

for their co m m on sense Under the sam e roof is an image

.

of M ahé kal, or Great Fate This god virt ually bestows

.

salvation on his worshippers for, on th eir departure from

the world h e spreads ov er th em th e aegis of his protection
, ,

and prohibits Ka l or Evil D estiny fro m co nv eyi ng th em

to the regions of h ell Here, likewise are th e figures
.
,

of the five brothers , or P anch Paudav, whose nam es are

celebrated in the Mah abh arata .

N o lover of the m arvellou s shou ld p ass through Be

nares witho ut paying a visit to Manika rnika the fam ous ,

well of Hind u m y thology It is the first pl ace sou ght

.

after by the tho u san ds of pilgri m s flocking yearly to

the holy city , who are drawn towards it by a m ysterious

and irresistible fascination I ts fetid water is regarded
.

as a hea ling bal m which will , infallibly , w ash away all

,

the si ns of th e soul , and m ak e it pure and holy There .

is no sin so heino u s or abo m inable but in popular , ,

esti ma tion, it is h ere instantly efiaced

'

E ven for the .

cri m e of m urd er it can it is said procure forgiveness

, , .

N o wonder th erefore that conscience stricken sinners

, ,
-

should ru sh to this well fro m all quarters and, delud ,

in g them selv es by its rep u ted sanctity should , by the ,

easy process of washing in its fo ulness seek to atone, ,

in one m inu te, for the c ri m es and sins of a life ti me -

.

Y et it is appalli ng to thin k that the hum an soul, thus

conscious of its g uilt and p erh aps , in m any i nstances,
,

in agony respecting it , and anxio us for pardon, and for

reconciliation with God sho uld be so cruelly m ocked
,

and deceived .Of all places of pilgri mage thro ughou t

Hindostan, th is well is h eld by m any to be the m ost or
, , ,

a m ongst the m ost, ef ficacio us for bestowing sal vati on .

68 BE KA R E S , m ar AND PRESENT .

Y et th e story co nnected with its origin is wild enou gh .

T h e au thor of the X cii i kha nda , n ot in j est as so m e

-
,

m ight su ppose bu t gravely and soberly , furnish es th e

,

following ac co unt of th e m atter

“ ”
T h e god Vish nu , h e says , du g this w ell with his
disc u s, and, in li eu of water fill ed it with the per ,

spiration from his own body and gave it the nam e of

,

Chakra pu shkarini H e then proceed ed to its north side,

-
.

and began to practise asceticis m I n the m eanti m e th e

.
,

god Mah adeva arrived, and looking into the w ell beheld
, ,

in it the beau ty of a h un dred m illions of su ns with ,

which he was so enraptu red, th at h e at once brok e out

in to lou d praises of Vish nu , and in his joy, decl ared ,

that whatever gift h e mi ght ask of him he would

grant Gratified at the offer Vish nu repli ed that h is re
.
,

quest was that Mah adeva should always reside with him .

Mah adeva, hearing this felt greatly flattered by it and

, ,

his body shoc k with d elight Fro m the violen ce of the

.

m otion, an ear ring called M anikarnaka fell fro m his ear

-

into the w ell Fro m this circ umstan ce Mahadeva gav e

.
,

th e w ell th e nam e of Manikarnika Am ong the epith ets .

applied to it are those of M uktiksh etra seat of liber

‘
,

ation and Put naé ubhakaran , ‘

com pl ete source of
'
’
,

felicity Mahadeva fu rther decreed that it sho uld be

.
’

th e chi ef and th e m ost efficacious am ong places of

”
pilgri mage
S u ch is th e tale as fou nd in the K asi kha mla ; but th ere -

is another v ersion current am ong the p eople It is re .

ported that Mah ad eva and his wife P arvati w ere one day
seated by the well wh en, ac cid entally a jewel fell fro m
, ,

the ear of P arvati into th e wate r, on acco u nt of which cir

70 E E N A E E s, PAST AND r aE sE N r
'
.

m o u th of the w ell on the west side, is a row of sixteen

,

dim inutive altars, on which pilgri m s prese nt ofierings to

'

their ancestors T he water of the well is very shallow

.
,

being not m ore than two or three feet in depth It is .

insufferably foul , and the efiluviu m fro m it i m pregnates

the air for so m e dis tance arou nd T he worshipp er de
.
,

sce di ng in to the water lavas his head and body with

n ,

the vil e liquid and, at th e sam e ti m e, u tters certain

,

phrases appointed for the cere m ony .

D irectly in fro nt of Manikarnika, and betwee n it and

th e Gan ges is the t em pl e of T arak eswar, or
,
th e Lord
”
Taraka Wh en a Hi ndu dies and this god is propitia ted
.
, ,

he breathes i nto his car, th ey say , a charm or man tra of

su ch efi cac th t it d elivers him from th e m isery of the
y a

fut ure, and secures for h im happiness and joy T h e idol .

is in a kind of cistern which is kept filled with water

,

offered in sac rifice ; and cons equ ently the deity is in

, ,
~

visible I n th e rainy seaso n, the swollen river flows

.

beyond this tem pl e, which for several m onths stands

, ,

im m ersed in the stream Its found ations are thereby

.

u n derm in ed and th e blocks of sto ne of which it is

,

co m posed incline to separate from one anoth er The .

up per part of the tow er has been entirely rem ov ed, in

order to l essen th e weight resting u pon the base of the

Upon the Manikarnika gh at or stairs , on high er

grou nd than that occu pi ed by the T arakeéwar te m ple ,

is a large round slab ca ll ed O harana paduk a, p roj ecting

,
-

slightly from the pavem ent ; and in the m iddle of it

stands a ston e pedestal the top of which is inlaid with
,

masble In the centre of the marble are two s m all fiat

.
72 BE N A R E B, PA sr AND PRESENT .

an i m al on which h e is su pposed to also a rid e — and

,

m iniature fountai n O n eith er side of the inn er shrine

.

is a statu e of a wo m an, one being call ed S iddhi , and

the oth er B uddhi I n this n eighbourhood there is
,
.
,

lik ewise an im posing tem pl e, erected a few y ears ago

,

by the Raj a of A h m ety .

Near to Manikarnika gh at are S indhi a ghé t and the

Raj a of N agpore s gh at, th e form er of which is rem ark
’

abl e not only for th e m assiven ess of its m asonry bu t ,

a lso for the circum stance t hat th e entire str ucture has

s unk several feet into th e earth since its erection and ,

is still gra d u ally and slowly si nking T he gh ét consists .

of three rows of low towers or turrets T he upperm ost .

row is of two tu rrets one at each extrem ity which are

, ,

the l argest of th e whol e and are exceedingly m assiv e .

T h e second lower down h as six turrets ; and the third ,

five . Th ese tu rrets are call ed marhis by th e natives ,

and are used , by th em , for sitti ng u po n in th e cool of th e

day , or for retiring to after bathi ng in th e Ganges Th ey .

are of stone and are co nnected togeth er by w all s an d

,

stairs of th e sam e m ateri al Before the gh at could b e

.

compl eted, th e m asonry began to sink ; and, on one occa

sion so violent was the m otion that a loud report lik e
, ,

th e disch arge of cannon was h eard A temple to th e .

left of th e so u th turret is rent fro m th e s um m it to th e

base ; and the entire bu ilding is so dilapidated , th at it
looks as if it had been shaken by an earthquake T he .

ghat i tself and also th e sta irs leading u p to the top of

,

the hu ge breastwork uniting th e two largest turrets ,

exhibit an im m ense rent, whi ch is carried down to th e

very base of the gh at T he breastwork , lik ewise , to
.
74 R E N A R E s, PAST AND PRESENT .

tem ple and gave it the nam e of Briddhkal, a corrup

,

tion of two S anskrit words briddha, or m ore properly

’
, ,

vriddlm and i tila th e form er m eaning old an d th e

‘ ’ ‘ ’
, , ,

latter fa te Mah adeva endowed it with two remarkable

, .

properti es ; th e one, that of healing disease and the ,

other th at of prolongi ng life The te m pl e is one of

, .

the oldest in the c ity and stands on the bo undary of ,

—
B enares P roper indispu tably the m ost ancie nt portion
,

of the existi ng city where it unites itself with Khéi

, ,

a l ess ancient portion .

O n asce ndi ng the steps , and traversing th e passage

running from the doo rway to the inner part of the
edifice , we are m et by a red figu re of M ahabh th e ,

m onk ey god , sta nding wi thin a shrine at the corner of

-

a co u rt into which the pass age l ea ds C lose by to .

,

the right is a s m all t em pl e dedi cated to the godd ess

,

K al i, a small black d eity c u t out of stone, dressed in

a red garm ent with a g arland of flowers hangi ng fro m
,

th e neck In front of her is a hollow space in the

.
,

form of a sq uare, for the resid ence of M ah adeva ; and

o uts ide of it is a bull for the god to ride on , .

To th e right of H alf, leaning agai nst the wall are ,

figu res of Ganeé and P arv ati ; and to the left of the
‘

l atter are i m ages representing Bhairo the S u n, Hanu ,

m An, and Laksh m inarti y an or Vishnu, and his wife

Lakshm i I m m edi ately opposite to the tem ple of Kali
.

are two wells T he first is sh allow, and conta ins p utrid

.

w at er, whose disgus ting fetor fills the en tire co urt .

In to this well sick persons, and those w ishing for lo ng

life pl unge their bodies T he form er also take various
, .

m edic in es , and resort to oth er useful m eans for regaining

 BE N A R R s, PAST AND PRESE NT . 75

their health ; and should th ey recover the fou l well

, ,

gets the credit of th eir restoration Should the disease .

,

however, be of an obstinate character such as leprosy ,

or elephantiasis, th ey m ust constantly bathe in th e well

for a period of twelve y ears I nstead of showing us a
.

m an who had been cured, they brought a l eper who

had stro ngly defined m arks of l eprosy on his l egs H e
-
.

was trying th e efficacy of the bath, and said he was

better th an when h e had first arrived The water of .

the w ell is repo rted to be i m pregnated with s ulph u r in ,

which case it would, doubtless, be v ery serviceable in

som e diseases , especially those affecting the skin I n .

co nj unction with washi ng in this well , it is nec essary

also to drink of the water of the seco nd well which
, ,

unlike the other con tains sweet water and has a raised
, ,

parapet ro u nd its m o u th N ear the wall of the court is

.

a coll ectio n of ston e deities , all representing the lin ga .

They are nine in n um ber, of which several are appa ,

ren tly v ery old

, Two stone figures of sa tis have also
.

been placed here, in comm em oration of the self i m m o -

la tio n of widows on this spot in form er tim es .

T o the right of the court is a sm all squ are , with a

tem ple in the m iddle , dedicated to Mah adeva A serpent .

is entwined about th e chief idol, which is ca ll ed N ag

eéwar or the Serpen t god
,
T h e ce ntral dei ty is sur
-
.

rou nded by oth ers of sm aller stature Passi ng b eyond

'

this squ are, we co m e to another in which two peep ul

,

trees and one neem tree are growing This quadrangl e .

has no tem pl e in it, bu t is used as a residence for

devotees Close by is anoth er quadrangle the residence
.
,

of the dei ty Briddhkal The shrin e with in co ntains two

.
76 R EN A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

com partm ents one of which Briddhké l occupies H e

,
.

sits in a cistern whil e ov er his h ead ha ngs a s mall ,

, ,

brass vessel filled with water, which drops thro ugh a

,

hol e upo n him witho ut interm ission Tho ugh only a

,
.

plain stone or linga, he is regarded as a v ery sacred

obj ect In a nich e in the verandah is an antique i m age
.

of the el eph an t h eaded god Genes Th ere is another

-
.

shr ine in th e area of this quadra ngle flat roofed and -

,
,

containing an i m age of Han um an .

Returning to th e co urt, in which the wells are

si tua ted ,
and p assing thro ugh a corridor to th e north ,

we co m e to a s mall enclosure, th e wall s of which are

in a dilapidated con dition Here are two sh ri nes of
.
,

considerabl e in terest on acco u nt of the singu l ar l egends

associated with th em Th at on the right is called M é r
.

kandeéwar .M arkanda was a Rishi , who m Mah adeva,

it is said for his piety , endowed with i m m o rta lity ;
,

and who in ack nowl edgm ent of th e ho no ur d edica ted ,

,

this t em pl e to M ah adeva That on th e l eft is called

.

D aksheSwar th e legen d respecti ng whom fills sev eral

,

pages of the K ati M a nda T he tal e as revealing so m e

-
.
,

strange events co nnec ted with the dom estic life of the
ruling god of B enares, is worth recounting Raj a .

D akah , one of the h eroes of the story, is still fam ous

in B enares, and was, no do ubt, a real perso nage .

T he wife of S iva, it seem s, altho ugh a goddess

'

di es like co m m on m ortals ; but, u nlike th em , shortly

after h er d eath, she is born aga in into th e wo rld and , ,

ass u m i ng anoth er nam e on arriving at m at urity , is

always m arri ed to th e sam e h u sband, nam ely Mah ad eva ,
'
or S iva . On one occasion, th e story goes Mah adeva ,
 78 sau n as ,
m sr '
AND W .

Moreover the h ea ve ns themselves sent do wn a shower

,

of blood , in token of th eir sym pathy with h er Sev eral .

of the gods of the party disapp roving of Raj a D aksh s

’
,

proceeding, rose and left O n th eir depar ture Sati

.
, ,

beco ming still m ore exc ited , sought out the hole in
which the sacrifice was being cons um ed and, throwin g ,

herself into it, was burnt to ashes When N arad M un i .

brought news of this sad catastrophe to Mah adeva his ,

wrath rose to fierceness ; and, creati ng an arm y of

demons, he placed it u nder th e com mand of Btrbhadra ,

a d emon of giant strength , and sent it against th e

Baj a, with orders to kill him and to frustra te his sacri

,

fic ial cerem ony . O n th e way , Birbhadra pl ucked u p

forests and m ountains, and carried them along in his
h ands Having reached the Raj a s palace the dem ons
.
’
,

flew upon the people , slaughtered to righ t and le ft and ,

devo ured the viands provided for th e sacred feast T he .

invincibl e Birb hadra so u ght ou t th e Baja, and findi ng ,

him , seized hi m with his hands , and, aft er crying out

“ Why did you blasphem e the god Mah a d eva cu t

off h is head .

This bloody work bei ng finished , Brah m a the first ,

o f th e thre e d eiti es pl a c ed a t th e he ad of th e Hi n du
pantheon proceeded , in great consternati on, to Mahadeva ,
,

with whom he reasoned and expost ulated respecting

th e a wf u l ca l am ity th a t h ad j ust occurred a nd pre ,

vei le d on h im to acco m p a n y h im to th e sce n e of the

recent carnage O n reaching the pla ce, Mahadeva s
.
’

h eart was sm itte n with co m passion for the sla in ; and

he g a v e order s th a t a ll th e gods , R
ishi s
,
a nd R a j as should
be again gathered togeth er , as well the living as the
 ssN A ass, PA sr AND PRESENT . 79

dead . The beads, arm s, l egs , and oth er m em bers that

had been l apped ofi the kill ed and wounded d uring
‘

the conflict were also collected , and were s ev erally

,

joined afresh to the bodies to which th ey belonged .

Thus Mah adeva healed all th e wou nd ed and restored ,

to life all th e slain Bu t, in the search for the em pu

.

tated mem bers Raj a D aksh s h ea d cou ld nowh ere be

’
,

found .T he god howev er, co mm anded th at a goat

,

should be bro u ght to him, th e h ead of which being ,

cut ofi, was stuck upon the trunk of th e Raj a s body

‘
’
,

which becam e forthwith reani m ated with its form er

life After this the sacrifice which h ad been so
.
,

viole ntly interrupted was co m pleted Mah adeva th en l eft, .

with all his d em ons, for his residence on the Kail as

m ou n tain T he rest of the d eiti es al so d eparted, wi th
.

the exception of Brah m a, who rem ai ned behi nd , in ord er

to talk with Raj a Bak sh to whom he represented in , ,

its t rue colours the heino us sin h e had comm itted in

,

reviling Mahadeva, and in u tterly defeati ng the sacred

fes tival the sacrifice at which could not possibly be
,

performed withou t the presence of tha t deity He .

con cluded by recom mending the Baj a to visit B enares ,

and th ere to dedica te an idol to Mah adeva, and thus

try to propitiate h im I n accordance with this advice, .

the Baj a forsook his throne and h is do m inions,

and proceeded to Benares , wh ere h e dedicated an idol

to Mahadev a and applied hi mself to the perfo rmance

,

of asceti c and oth er r eligio u s rites Th ere he rem ained .

for m any y ears I n th e m eantime, Sati , the wi fe of

.

H ah fi ewa, who had perished in th e sacrificial fire, was

born aga in am ong m orta ls , under the nam e of P arvati,
80 BENARES, PA sr AND PRESENT .

her fath er this ti m e being Raj a Mount Him alaya ; and ,

on arrivin g at wo m anhood sh e was agai n m arri ed to h er ,

form er husband M ahadeva T h e happy coupl e travel

,
.

led to Be nares for the p u rpose of spendi ng th eir honey

,

m oo n ; and whil e th ere wh at was th eir s u rprise to see

, ,

old go at headed Raj a D aksh, who was still absorbed

-

in h is religio us exercises ! H e, too , was doubtl ess

eq u ally asto nish ed to see M ah a d eva, whom , of co urse ,

he recognized although his m ental eyes w ere closed

,

in regard to P arvat i who m h e di d not perceiv e to be

,

his own dau ghter Sati T he Raj a pl ead ed with Mic hi

.

deva for the forgiveness of his sin T he god h eard his .

petition and granted it and the old m an filled wi th

, ,

a ted a shrin e to Mahadeva ca lled D aksheéwar

j y
o ,
dedic , ,

which is said to be that situated in the interior of the

tem pl e of Briddhkal This tale is as entertaining as
.

m any of the l egends onnected with th e Bl ack Forest ;

c
th e only difference th ou gh an essential one being that
, , ,

they are designed for am usem ent and fun wh ereas ,

t his strangely enough , is in tend ed for the pro m otion of

,

religion .

Leavi ng this tem ple and proceeding along the street

,

by its sou th ern wall, we com e to a shrine stan ding at its

south w estern angl e and form i ng part of the Briddhkél
-
,

edifice Its nam e is A lpm riteswar, fro m the god to

.

whom it is dedicated , who, it is reported is endowed ,

with th e m iraculous power of prolongi ng the liv es of

persons apparently in ac t to die T h e fam e of thi s .

shrine is considerable ; and it is the resort of a l arge

nu m ber of worshippers who seek for them selves and ,

their friends an escape fro m sickness and d eath I n the .

 D hu u r kfip ~
W Kriahm — T be R i Km or S erpent
'
c Well
g .

s m o uen the ci ty of Benares is now regarded as sa cre d

tha t there was a tim e when such a di vinity was not wor
shipped here but divine hono urs were bestowed on a
,

Baja call ed D ivodés T h e tradi ti on, too is sanc tioned

.
,

by th e E di t M anda-
I t is said tha t this personage
.
, ,

whom Brahma raised to the dig uity of Baj a of Benares ,

and vested with j urisdictio n over both gods and m en ,

took it into his head to banish all th e gods from th e ci ty .

This ru thless ac t seem s to have produced i mm ense con

sternation thro u ghou t the Hin d u panth eon ; b u t th e Baja

thwarted in all their efforts to reenter the city Headed .

by S iva, they form ed a conspiracy to unseat him , and in ,

order to effect their purpose attem pted to inveigl e Divo

,

das into so m e ac t of sin ; knowi ng th at th e m om ent the

, ,

sin was perpetrated, his divine power and authority would

 BENARES, r A sr AND m ean . 83

cam e to nothing ; for D ivodas was a m an of unspotted

p urity and of th e strictest integrity At l ast, Ganeé hit .

u pon a sch em e which was singularly cunning an d suc

,

cessful In th e character of a great Guru or t each er he

.
,

app eared one da , at th e door of the Raj a s palace and

’
, y ,

solicited an au di ence with h im This the Raj a granted, .

a nd in course of conv ersa ti on , was so m uch pleased with

,

th e intelligen ce l ea rning and sanctity of his n ew

, ,

acq ua intance that h e wi shed to sit at h is feet

,
as his ,

disciple With thi s requ est Genes refused to com ply ;

.

b u t taking ad van ta ge of th e Baj a s good opinio n of h im ,

,
’

h e ind uced him to consent to follow ou t what ever in

stru c tions sho u ld be co mm unicated to him in a dr ea m .

These instructions sim ply w ere that he should quit ,

B enares Feeling bound to fu lfil his pro mise, h e aban

.

doned the governm ent abdi cated the thro ne and retired
, ,

fro m the place an d was th ere u pon conv ey ed by S iva

, , , ,

him self, to the Kail as m o untain O n hi s d eparture, the .

gods reentered the city , and S iva becam e th eir su prem e

ruler and the h ead of th e city Th ese are reported to be .

the old d eiti es of B enares ; and to th em pilgri m ages are

m ade . T h e m yriad dei ti es whi ch hav e been i ntroduced ,

at v ario us tim es in to th e city since this i m aginary em i ,

,

rati on of the gods m st th efore be look d po n in

g ,
u er , ,
e u

the light of interl opers .

In en deavou rin g to extract a few grai ns of truth out

of this strang e m ythological story we are led to s u ppose ,

that there was a ti m e when B enares was not im b u ed

with Hi nduism as it is now This Raj a D ivodas, who , no.

doubt was a real personage, m ay be co nceived to have

,

resisted the encroach ments of Hi nduism , on its first

84 D nN A nss, rA sr
r AND PRESENT .

a pproach to Benares, bu t was, eventually, obli ged to

su cc u mb to it, and to surrender his crown to the Brah
m anical invad ers ; or it m ay be that in a re m ote age in
, , ,

th e history of Hi nd u is m th e Raj a m ay hav e becom e

,

possessed of the city perhaps by right of conq u est , and

, ,

bei ng attac h ed to anoth er owed m ay have forthwith ex ,

p e lled th e Brah m ans ,

tog eth er with the sy m bols o f th ei r
religion from the pl ace bu t after viol ent opposi tion on
, , ,

th eir part, was, at len gth ou twitted and su pplanted by

,

th em T he seco nd supposition co ntai ns so m e show of

.

historical truth ; in as m uch as it is a well establish ed fact -

,

th at Brahm anism was co m pell ed to retreat before Bu d

dhism , not o nly in Benares but throu gho u t a large ,

portion of India ; and that B uddhism , after bein g th e

p aramou nt religion for m any centuries, was com pell ed in ,

its tu rn , to retreat before Brahm anism A s there is no .

record of any oth er creed having beco m e su p rem e in

B enares besides these two, which , we know su ccessiv ely ,

were so, it is not un lik ely that D ivodés who was, evi ,

dently a sworn enem y of th e Brahm ans and th eir gods,

,

was a B uddhist Thi s ejection from th e city by a s ubt l e

.

and knavish sch em e ma p erh ps b o nly noth m ode

, y a , , e a er

of expressing the downfal of the religion which he had

strenu ously s upported, and the return and triu m ph of the
B rah m ans ‘
.

T he tem ple of D ivodaseéwar in which D i vodas i s ,

worshipped stands in a co u rt a short distan ce fro m M ir

,

Gh at T he idol consists of a bl ack em ble m of S iva

.
.

I t is not alone b ut is associated with other gods on e

, ,

of whom is ca lled Bisbahuka, or the Twenty handed -

S ee Appendix C .
86 ssN A ass, PAST AND PRESENT .

of as D ham mo In th e ti m e of Asoka, th e comm on

.

term em ployed to denote this religion was D ham m o ,

which is found inscribed on B u ddhist m onu m en ts reared

by him and standing to the present day I n the pas .

sage l ea din g to th e court is a tem ple d edi cated to D h ar

,

m eéwar, or Lo rd D harm a — that is th e deity who per

, ,

sonifie s dlmrm . If D harm be regard ed as th e B u ddh ist

creed th en this appella ti on wou ld refer to th e supposed
,

divin e h ead of su ch creed , or B u ddh a This en tire

.

Mahalla or ward of the city is call ed D harm k u p -

,

th ereby showing th at in all likelihood , the well is as

, ,

anci en t as th e Mah all a itself T he antiqu i ty of the

.

well therefore is placed beyo nd all doubt ; and its con

, ,

nex ion with B u ddhism , at so m e period of its history ,

is i nvested with som e probabili ty We do not fo rget

.

that the term dlzarma, m eaning virtue , m erit, justi ce ,

d uty piety, and many oth er things, is in constant use
,

a m o ng Hind u s b t still perh ps it h h rdly th at

; u
,
a ,
as a

stro ng and distinctive signification of a sy stem of re

ligion of a natio nal fai th , which it had with th e B ud

,

dhista in India in form er ti m es .

Returning to th e street , a few steps bring us to a

tem pl e inhabited by the goddess Viéalékshi literally —
, ,

”
the large eyed an epith et of P a rv at i, S iva s wife,
‘ -
’
,

wh ose crown ed h ead o nly is visibl e, the rest of her per

son bei ng cov ered with a y ellow cloth A short dista nce
.

fro m this spot is Mir Ghat, leadi ng down to the river .

The gh at is narrow, but strongly m ade ; and its stairs

are pl aced at conv enie nt interv als for perso ns ascendi ng

and descending th em so as to indu ce as littl e fatigue as

,

possibl e by the exercise In passing down the gh at y ou

.
,
 BENARE S, PAST AND PRESENT . 87

are a ttracted by a row of shrines on the l eft, e mbel

lished in strong gl aring colours ; and, at on e angl e of the
g h a ,
t a t em ple is s ee n on th e right hand sid e filling
-
u
p ,

the corner in tha t direction on arrivi ng at which y ou

,

com e in sight of the river It is dedicated to R é dh a

.

Krish na, that is, to Kris hna and his wife who are ,

standi ng side by side They are both com pletely

.

dressed ; Krish na h as tinsel drapery abo u t h im and ,

presen ts a so m ewh at rakish appea rance H e is pl ayi ng .

on a flu te ; yet is , neverthel ess holdi ng in each hand a

,

—
m arigold and a rose not artifici al bu t nat u ral flowers ,
.

The te m pl e contai ns a nu m ber of small painti ngs, a red

idol of Gauss, and a ti ny shrine in white m arble which ,

cost the sum of one h und red ru pees or ten po unds ,

.

T h e N ag Khan or Serp ent s Well is situ ated in a

’

ward of the city called after the nam e of the well ,

or N ag Kh a n M ahall a which adjoins th e Ansan Ganj

,

Mahalla Thi s w ell bears m arks of considerabl e anti

.

q y ;
u it a n d ,
fro m th e circ u m sta nce of an ext ensiv e

distri ct of B enares bei ng designated by its name, th ere

is no dou bt that it m ust be regarded as one of the
oldest histori cal pl aces the present city possesses T he .

con struction of this w ell was, probably , nearly , if not

quite coeval with the bu ilding of the Maha lla or ward
,

itself which , we m ay i magi ne was d escribed as that

, ,

—
part of the city containi ng th e w ell the w ell bein g
th e m ost im portant and noticeable obj ect th ere : and
so gradually , the i nh abitants associated the Mah alla
,

with the well, and called th em by the sam e nam e .

T he w ard is in the north western part of the city , at

-

s om e distance fro m the Ganges The quarter lying

.
88 ass u re s, rAsr AND rasssN r.

to the east of thi s ward that is, between it and the ,

Ganges, is, as I have already remark ed, in all likeli'

~

hood , th e oldest portion of the present city and ,

therefore the N ag Ku é nward wou ld h ave bee n origin

, ,

ally in its sub u rbs

,
It is ev en possible that one of
.

the first pla ces bu ilt in th ese sub u rbs and frequ ented ,

by th e people, was thi s w ell and that its existence

. ,

was one of th e reasons, perh aps the chief, for the

settling of a population in its neighbourhood N o .
‘

person in B enares c an tell when th e w ell was made ;

b ut there is a reference to its existen ce in th e E di t »

Steep sto ne stairs, in the form of a square lead down

,

to the well ; and a broad wall of good masonry , six

or sev en feet thick surrounds the m at th eir su m m it ,
,

rising to the height of four or five feet above the

groun d Each of the four series of stairs has an
.

e ntrance of its own Their j unction below form s a

.

small square in the cen tre of which is the well D e

,
.

scending twelve stone steps, y ou reach the wa ter , which

is stagnant and foul Beneath the water is a sh eet.

of iron , which co nstitutes the door leading to a still

lower w ell which perha ps may be the old well in its

, , ,

original state T he sta irs I suspect are not of great

.
, ,

date On the inside of those to the east is an in

.

scription, to the effect , that in 1825 Sam vat or nearly , ,

one hundred y ears ago, a Baj a extensively repaired the

well It is possible he m ay h ave built the sta irs then

. .

Many of the slabs of stone of which they are

posed display carvings on their external surface,
of which bear un m istakeable m arks of considerable
90 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

wart . face consists of a co mpound of eight kin ds

H er
of m eta l, which is of a p al e h u e, and highly burn ish ed .

S he wears on her head a l arge crown surm ou nted with ,

balls, lik e the coronets of th e nobili ty H er person is .

covered with a cloth ; and fro m her neck depend several

garlands of flowers T he goddess is sea ted on a lion in
.

a r ecu m b en t postu re Th ese figures are in a chapel in

.

th e i nner ch am ber of th e tem pl e, which appears to ha ve

been once painted of a silvery whi te T he v erandah .

leading to this cham ber conta in s paintin gs in fresh ,

gl ari ng colou rs , representing m ythical subjects of grea t

interest to the cred ulous Hind u I n the sma ll quad .

rangl e is a sto ne statu e of a lion the vé lmn or riding ,

ani m al of th e godd ess which was p resented to th e

tem pl e by Lé l B ah adar S inh , Raj a of Am ethi This .

Raj a has dedicated four si m ilar statues of th e lion to

th e servic e of the pri ncip al d eiti es of fou r oth er tem ples
in B enares : one is in the temple at D u rga Kund ; a
second is in the C hausathi devr tem pl e in the B engali
-
'

Tola ; a third is in the S iddhim ata d ev i te m pl e, in th e -

Bulhanala; and a fourth is in th e possessi on of the

Guj arati Paudi t Orc r Jr awaitin g its u ltim ate desti
,

nation In the niches in th e wall of th e q uadrangle

.

are vari ous divinities I n one are three figures , t e

.

presenting BAm , Lakshm an and Janaki, cu t in black ,

stone or m arble I n another is an old figure of A gwan

.
,

the porter of B ageswari ; and by his side is a seco nd

figu re, sti ll older abo u t whom no one could give any
,

i nform ation A third ni ch e holds the goddess Bindhy a

.

chal a seated on th e back of a lion In a ch am ber in one

, .

corner of the enclosure I observed a l arge red idol, which

 arN A a ss, PAsr AND PRESENT . 91

I soon discov ered to be th e ill form ed Ganeé On one

-
.

side of this cham ber is a row of i m ages , and on the ,

floor a sin gul arly carved figu re called N augrah, whi ch

,
-
,

em bodies in itsel f all th e planets O n the exterior

.

face of the te m pl e wall is a niche , four or five feet

-

in h eight which is filled up by the god Hanum an

,
.

H e is painted bright red, and stand with h ands folded ;

while on one shou lder sits th e god R am and on the , ,

other his brother Lakshm an

, .

I n sight of this tem pl e are two oth ers nam ely, ,

the tem pl es of Jwarahareéwar and S iddh eswar which , ,

together with B ageswari are regarded as old pl aces

,

of pilgrima ge Jmara signifies fev er ; ha m , d estroy

.

ing or conquering : so that Jwarahareéwar is fam ous for

his supposed power of dissipating fever T h e worship .
'

per, on approachi ng th e idol, vows, that , should he

recover he will presen t to it dzidlrbhangd, that is
, ,

dad!: or m ilk ; bluing l eaves of h em p ; and sweet

,

m eats , m ix ed u p togeth er S iddheswar professes to

.

grant ability to consu m ma te any u ndertaking in

whi ch a m an m ay wish to engage N ear th ese .

tem ples are several to m bs to devote es and also a ,

num ber of m u tilated figures, which , it is said h ave ,

been dug up in this n eighbourhood Several of these .

are placed together on a s m all m ound of earth They .

are not all worshipped , which is rather strange con ,

idering h ow prom pt the Hind us are to worship carved

s
images of ev ery kind But the reason of their not
.

bein g worshipped is I im agine because th ey are so

, ,

unlike the idols that are now found in Hindu temples .

They are m ore delicately sculptured, and are m ore

02 ssN Aa ss, PA sr A N D ra sssN r .

c hu te in their design, than the productions of m odern

ll lmlu art : indeed , their superiority in this respect
in exceedingly noticeable . To what epoch they ought
to be ascribed , it is not easy to say I question if they
.

are Hindu sculptures at all ,

and should be disposed

to assign a Buddhist origin to m ost if not all of them

, , .

I was m u ch struck with one stone which seem ed ,

to r epresent , at least, two und eniabl e em bl em s of

Buddha The apex of the stone was ornam ented with
.

a c ircl e, with radii div ergi ng fro m th e centre, in oth er

words with the B uddhist wheel Various stones built

,
.

into th e wall , in this quarter of the city , are, likewise ,

elaborately carvod These, it is possible are connected

.
,

with the same era as th e figures just referred to .

94 am a s s, m sr AND PRESENT .

no —
Hindu te mples incl uding th e tem pl e of Briddh
ké l, which has, undou btedly an antiqu ity of several ,

—
h un dred years wh atever exist to which th e epithets
, ,
‘
old and ancient can properly be appli ed ; thereby
’ ’

corroborating what has been previou sly asserted , that

th e m odern city has, to a large extent shifted fro m its ,

original site The pri ests tell y ou , th at wh ere tem ples

.
,

n ow stand oth ers on ce stood and th at the d eiti es n ow

, ,

worshipped hav e been worshipped at th ese precise spots

throu gh all p ast ti m e ; but this of co u rse is said with , ,

th e obj ect of extolli ng th eir gods N o d ependence can .

be plac ed on traditio n in ascertainin g the d ates of ,

tem ples so long as your infor mant can o nly sta te that
,

a cert ain tem pl e on a certain site, ha d a pred ecessor

,

on th at site and th at p red ecessor had a previo us one,

,

and so on in an endl ess seri es

, .

There are in the divisio n of B enares Proper a few

, ,

Hindu tem ples, which , p erhaps on good gro unds, lay

clai m to an antiqu ity of sev eral hu ndred years ; but the
nu m ber of s u c h tem pl es is v ery s m all T he central por .

tion or Kééi, which now constitutes the heart of the

,

city , cannot, so far as m y knowl edge extends m ake even ,

su ch a boast Y et it is th e favo u rite resort of Hind us

.
,

and is literally chok ed with its ab u ndant population and

th e pilgri m s who fro m all pa rts of I ndia, are perp etu ally
,

flocking thither I ts tem ples and idols its sym bols of

.
,

idolatry an d its pri ests are all on so vast a scale as to

, ,

d efy calcu lation ; whil e, as if in honour of this portion

of it, the entire city is spoken of, throu ghou t I ndia as ,

Kééi But althou gh the K aéi divi sion now receives

.
,
’
the lion s share of respect and attention, and the
 B ENARES, m sr AND Pas ssxr
. 95

Benares division , except on spec ial occasions and at

special festivals obtains only a v ery inferio r share
, ,

there was a tim e when the two stood in a revers e

rel ation to one anoth er
,
and B en ares P rop er was th e

co mm on resort of Hindu vota ri es, while the Kési

division was its m ere suburb, and scarcely honoured
at all an d the Kedér divisio n was a j ungl e Where
, , ,

possibly, stood a seclu ded tem pl e or two, and a few

au stere naked ascetics resid ed in sa vage si m p lici ty .

Altho ugh I regard th e central portion of the city, or

tha t which disti nctively hears the nam e of K aéi as , ,

spea king generally less ancien t than th e divi sion to the

,

north of it I wo uld not h av e it su pposed that I doubt

,

th e consid erabl e an tiqui ty of a certain po rtion of it I .

refer especia lly to th e fo undations of m any of the b u ild

ings in the streets im m ediat ely adj acent to the Ganges ;
and I conceiv e it to be not at all i m p robabl e that , even
,
.

in those early ag es wh en the city extended for m il es

on the banks of th e grea t riv er to th e n orth and north

east of th e Barns stream , its so u th ern extrem ity not

only incl u ded of the m od ern city what I have termed

Benares P roper, bu t also a thin band of what is now
th e Kéé i division of th e c ity str etching along the
,

Ganges in a so u th w esterly direction, as far, possibly,

-

as the D as asam edh Gh at .

Whil e, as already rem arked in a previous chapter, the

presen t form of Hi ndu is m in the city is P uranic y et I ,

would apply that term in an emphatic and special m an

,

ner, to the Kééi division , because of the stro ng and

very intima te association which it has with the lates t

develop m en t and manifestation of Hinduis m in th e
96 BBN A R E B, rssr m rssss s r .

Puré nas, an d
with th e present featu res of idolatry
am on gst the Hindu ra ce The tem ples which stud
.

the streets the idols worshipped in them , the religiou s

,

Observances practised by the peopl e in short the m ate , ,

rialisti c and sens u ou s ch aracteri stics of the Hi nd u faith

,

as exhibited th ere are, to a very grea t exten t P uranic

, ,

in th eir origin .

Respecti ng ancien t Hind u b uildi ngs in the ci ty no ,

definit e and trustworthy inform ation whatev er can be

gath ered either from the lips of Hindus or fro m the
writings which have com e down to th em from past
ages . Tha t remai ns of such bu ildi ngs actu ally exist
so mewhere, ad m i ts of no question ; but we are left
utterly in the dark co ncerning them and have to de ,

pen d entirely upon perso nal observation, in searchi ng

them ou t O ne would h av e su ppo sed , that works written
.

u on B enares and
p in its pra is e s u ch as th
, e E di t
rahaay a, which nu m bers thirty chapt ers th E i st m ai
l i
; e x c -

tmy a which contains five ; an d E di t khc nda taken

,
-
,

from the S kamj a p ur asa which co nsists of one h undred

-
,

chapters would h ave shed som e light on this interest

,

ing subj ect : but the authors and co m pilers of these

books hav e con tented them selves with bare generali
ties and h ave not trou bled th em selves abou t th e epoc h
,

of any one t em pl e or gh at, or well or other st ru cture

, ,

to which they m ay hav e referred It is not known .

,

with certainty , when the above works were written

bu t this , howe ver, is well ascertained th at not one of ,

th em was written till several hundred years after the

have been discovered in the city .

98 m u ms, rA sr AND rssssN r .

tim e, and cou nting the number o ffered What m . his

surprise wh en , on arriving at the nine hun dred and
,

ninety ninth, he found that one was m issing !

- He
was totally unable to acceunt for the loss ; but, as he
had no other at hand, and it was necessary to ccm

plate the sacrifice which he had begun he removed an ,

ey e fro m its socket, and offered it instead O n apply .

ing the eye to the foreh ead of the idol it adhered to ,

the spot on which he placed it S iva imm ediately .

bega n to se e with it, and fro m that tim e forwards pos

sessed three organs of vision .

Th ere is however, another tale connected with this

,

tem ple and the third eye of S iva Traditio n aflirms,

’
.

that the emble m of this god, which is worshipped in

his tem ple having passed through the seven p é ta las or
’

subterraneous regions, had made its ho me in this place .

Gauri , wife of S iva, was, at t his tim e seeking, bu t could ,

not find him S iva, with his third ey e, the ey e of re

.

—
flec tiom distingu i shed fiom his other two ey es whi ch
‘

are m er ly
e e o s —
yes of b erva tiom percei ved her It is .

co m m only believed, th at, on the site of this te m ple, the

three rivers, the G anges , the J u mna and the Saraswati , ,

m eet . Moreover, three notabl e d eiti es are spok en of as

residing h ere , corruptly called S araswateswar Jemanes ,

war and N irbuddheéwa r T he first two idols ac tually do

,
.

exist h ere and are pointed out in the enc losur e of the
,

te m pl e ; and the l ast has a separate te m pl e to herself,

at a sho rt distance fro m the T riloc h an fane It is not .

at all u nlikely , that , fo rm erly , this idol was also wor

shipped in this place ; for all three are referred to in th e

K dét kha ada, in connexion with it .
 ssN A mi s, rAsr A N D PRESENT . 99

T he fruits of perform ing religio us ceremo ni es in the

T riloc han temm e are regarded by the idol ate r as of a
, ,

v aried character As, in hi s esti m ation it is high up

.
,

in th e scale of sanc tity it is not su rpris ing that h e

,

i magines great blessings are to be obtained from the

worship of its idols Th at m ystery in Hin du id ea,
.

call ed spirit ual e mancipation, which in this land m eans

, ,

th e d es tru ctio n of personal iden tity or the ann ihilation

,

of self and absorptio n into Brah m a preceded it m ay , ,

be by a transmigratio n through the bodies of oth er

,

creatures, on the d eath of the presen t body, is in his ,

beli ef as eflec tually sec ured h ere as elsewhere More

,
’
.

over th ere is a sp ecial be nefit attached by th e peopl e

, ,

generally to the performance of religio us rites in this

,

templ e ; nam ely that, whoever does so , should be full

,
’

ill in any other p art of the country and die is certain , ,

not to si nk into h ell , bu t to enjoy everl asti ng happi

ness . I n the m o nth of B aisakh , sho uld any one

in this tem pl e u ni nterruptedly engaged in religious
,

ex ercises d u ri ng the whol e of one da and night, with

y
ou t sl eepi ng h e is pro m ised et ern al liberatio n as his
,

reward .

T he tem pl e sta nds in the m idst of a qua drangl e a nd ,

is of recent date, h avi ng been built a few y ears ago by

N ew s 1341s of P oo nah ; but the pri ests st at e th at the
,

q ua drangl e itself is u pward s of three h u ndred yea rs old .

There is little q uestion however, that the o riginal T ri

,

lochau tem pl e was earli er even than this So m e of the .

nu m ero u s id ols d eposited within the circ uit of th e quad

rangl e exhibit signs of an age equa l to if not greater ,

than, that ascribed to th e earlier fane O n enteri ng the .

100 BKN A R BS , PAST AND r usssN r .

high wall ed enclosure the large num ber of ima ges which
-
,

m eet the ey e on both sides and in fro nt is so m ewh at

am using Most of them thou gh not all are of dim i
.
, ,

nu tive size and are placed in sep arate shrines in gro u ps

, ,

of five ten , twenty , and upwards O n the left, by

, .

th e wall, are two tem pl es on e of which is surm o un ted

,

by a low sp ire or ste eple, and the other by a small

dom e ; and the tiny d eiti es to who m they are dedicated
are partly d eposited u po n the floor s of the tem pl es,

and p artly inserted in to the walls Figures of bu lls,

.

likewise in tended for these gods to ride on, are placed

,

near . O n th e right h and side is a series of shrin es

-

occupied by asse m blages of idols There is also , an .

,

im age looking lik e a h u ge cl ub which is not ho nou red

,

with a residence bu t stands apart from all the shrines

,
.

I t is m ade of stone , and is three feet hi gh above its

base, and ten i nches or a foot in thickness Its nam e .

is Kot Lingeéwar
-
from th e circu m stance th at its
,

surface is s upposed to have a Irotf or ten m illions

of the em blem s of S iva carved u po n it T h e actu al .

n u m ber c u t out on the superfic ies of the ston e is

not m ore th an a few hundred ; bu t th e Hin d us are

n ot partic u l ar in th eir d efi nitio n of nu m bers I n th e .

sou th west co rner, a peepu l tree grows near the foot

-
,

of which in a chapel or nich e attached to its tru nk ,

,

is a figure of the m onk ey god Hanu m an ; and close

-
,

by , two im ages of Genes and S ital a ( or th e goddess

of Sm all pox) hav e been let into the wall
-
O n th e .

south side a sm all shri ne contains the black ugly

,

figu re of the goddess Barnarasi presented , I was told,,

by Raja B au er a rep uted old R aj a of B enares There

, .
102 res u lt s PAST
,
A ND rnssm .

m arbl e, in niche in the wall on the left ; and near

a

it a p ainting represen tin g N anak S hii h , the Guru

'

or spiritu a l guide of the S ikh race As the Sikh .

eli
r g ion is re a
g rd ed by the
,
H indus in th e ligh t of a
,

to decorate the walls of one of their principal shrines .

I n a niche on the right are two black fig ures of N at a

yan a or Vish nu an d his wif
,
e Laksh m i .

the divine vengeance execu ted on sinners in hell In .

the fo reg ro u nd is the R iver of D eath , through which

perso ns are seen endeavouring to make th eir way to
So m e are l eft alon e to buflet with
'

the other sid e .

the wav es in their own stre ngth ; while others who, ,

when living in this world supported Brahm ans, are ,

helped across by the sacred cow, who swim s before,

and drags th em alo ng by h er ta il which they grasp ,

fast hold of with their hands This explanation was .

given by th e priests ; for really no cow was visible

, ,

as the attendant on any one . As soon as they are

landed on the opposite shore , the new arrivals are re

presented as im m ediately led away : and the rem aind er
of the picture consists in a delineation of the punish
m ent of th e wicked T h e pri ests stated that the poor
.

wretches are first j udged and then punished ac ,

cordi ng to th eir deeds In one place , a conscience

.

another isenormous vessel , fu ll of boiling ghee or

an

clarified butter, into which the wick ed are plunged .

 m u m s, rA sr AND PRESENT . 10 8

Here and there executioners are standi ng arm ed with

, ,

prodigious clubs with which they cruelly belabour

,

their h elpless and despairing victi m s O ne conspicuo us .

obj ect in the pic ture is a pillar of red h ot iron, on the -

ts p of which lies a writhi ng and ago nizing m as s of

h u manity This punish ment is reserved exclusi vely for
.

those who have been g uil ty of adult ery and im cleanness .

T h e i nterior of th e temple is very si m pl e and is ex ,

ceedin gl di ty n d fo l A br zen cist r with knobs

y r a u a . e n ,

at each corner is let into the floor nd in th e m iddl e

, ; a ,

of it, stands the emblem of S iva who is h ere called ,

Lingeswar ; and near it is S i va s wife, P ar vati

’
A .

small oil lam p is kept co nstantly b urn ing not far fro m
the idol , whose da ily su pply of water and flowers — the ,

ffe n —
o ri gs of his worshi ppers would be enough did he , ,

possess the flesh and blood of a h uman creature , to

suflocate and drown him
'

Qui ttin g this spot and proceeding to T rilochan G h ét

, ,

we pass a beautiful li ttle tem ple situated at the corner ,

of two streets , lately built by Kunti S ahu Its porch is '

.

su pported on pillars, th e elegant carving of which dis

pla ys m uch taste and skill I mm edi ately opposite this
.

is a large te m ple in a quadrangle also new Above

, ,
.

th e ghat is a s m all shrine, containin g a nu m ber of old

i ma ges ; and a short distance down th e stairs, are two
,

m ore in the walls of which idols of great age are in

,

serted .I m ay here rem ark th at th e neighbourhood of

,

the T riloc han te m ple abounds with shrin es .

T he T riloc an Gh at i s called, al o t e Pilpills Tirth

h s ,
h ,
bey ond the hank .

of the same cm as the T rilochan fane . T he first is the

ta uple c irbuddh eéwar, situ ated onl
y afew ste s to
p
the m th -
wst of this atm c ture. I t is an ex ceedin gly

un fet tivsl day s T he other is the tem ple of A d Mahé

'

-
.

dcva, at thc entranc e of which is a tiny shi i ne, fac ed

in red yellow, white and black colours ; while, on the

, ,

floor, other idols were lying In this cage like place

.
-
 CHAPTER VII .

PAN C B O A N G A Ghee— Legend res pect ing it Lekahm eebae T em ple

. .

T h e M ina reta — Tem ple of Kameswar — T he Mecha udari rm or

'

Plac e of Pilg im ag
r e.

Tm; Panchgangé Gh at is one of th e five chief

places of pilgri m age on the banks of th e Ganges T he .

Hindus believe th at five rivers m eet at this spot Their .

nam es are D hii tapapé , Jarnanada Kirananadi , Saraswat i

’ '

, ,

and
( Gangs) Ganges R especti.
ng these strea m s ,
Mr .

“ ”
Prinsep m ak es th e following observatio ns A virgin -
,
“
he say s, nam ed D horé tpépa , whom Brah m a pro no un ces
’

to be m ore pure than three and a h alf crores of the

holy tira ths ( places of pilgrimage) having cause of com ,

plaint against her adm irer D harm a, politely pronounces

a m aledictio n u pon h im , and turns h im into the D harm a

nada ( river of virtu e) H e, in revenge , con verts her

.

into a rock ; but her father Vedasoor i n com p assion,

, ,

m etam orphoses her again into th e Chandrakanta ( m oon

stone) , which m elting in the m oon forms a stream
, , ,

called D horatpapé ( channel of sin ), an appropriate bride

’

for th e river of virtue T he third stream , called Kim

.

n add a ( brook of rays ), was produced fi om the per '

spiration of the S un, while perform ing pe nance in

honour of Mangulgouree ( a form of D evi) , on an ad
108 B ENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

joining gh at These three with the Ganges and Saras

.
,

wati, co m plete th e nu m ber of Panchanada to the satis ,

faction even of the deities them selves who condescend ,

”
to bath e on th e spot during their residence in Kashi .

O nly one of these stream s n am ely the Ganges is

, , ,

visibl e ; but the rema ini ng fou r are su pposed by the ,

cred ulo us to be so m ewh ere u nder ground T he gh at

,
.

is broad and deep , and exceedingly strong Its sta irs .

and tu rrets are all of sto ne and fro m th eir grea t,

,

n u m ber, afford acco m m od ation to a m ulti tud e of wor

shippers and b ath ers T h e turrets are low and hollow

.
,

and are em ploy ed as te m ples or shri nes Each one .

contains several deiti es whi ch are m ostly em blem s of

, , ,

S iv a. A n ordin ary observer would be in ignorance of

the fact th at th es e are filled with idols and woul d ,

scarcely i m agine th at he was w alking u pon the top of

a lo ng s u cc ession of shrin es and ov er th e h ea ds of
,

h undreds of gods H e would hav e to descend sev eral

.

steps before discov ering th e sacrilege which he was

,

ignorantly com m ittin g ; bu t, h aving done so , he would

at o nce p erc eiv e tha t th e t u rrets are open towards
th e river , and are, th erefore, v ery co nv enient for
devotional p u rposes T h e pl atform above the gh at
.
,

alo ng w h ich ru ns a narrow, tho u gh excell ent road is , ,

below the steep bank of the river Fro m the platform .

a n u m ber of stairs thr ead their way u p the bank ,

uniting th e gh at with this qu arter of the city The .

sam e rem ark is for th e m ost part, appli cable to the

,

other gh ats Th ey are all conn ected together by a

.

road, which is in so m e plac es p aved , and in the hot

, ,

Princep s Views
’
of Benares—S econd S eries .
110 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

b ut without gilding or glory A few feet in front of

.

these idols, a sm all lam p is kept burning T he wor .

shippers pass in and out of this roo m and perform their,

devotions as though it were an ordinary tem ple It is .

th e only tem pl e in B enares, however, so far as m y obser

v ation has exten ded , in which persons, seating th em

cises T he tem ples in B en ares and in N orth ern India

.
,

ge nerally , with th eir courts porch es and subordinate

, ,

shrines , though they , in som e instances cover a con ,

siderable area , are for th e greater part , of v ery narrow

,

dimensions and conta in only one sm all roo m in whic h

, , ,

besides the presiding deity, several i nferior divinities are -

frequ en tly placed lea ving not room enou gh for a dozen
,

pe rsons to presen t th eir offeri ngs at one and the same

ti me and to observe the prescribed cere monies in an
,

orderly m ann er .

A scending another series of stairs from the P anch -

b

a
g gn s Gh at , y
ou ap pro ach th e lofty m os qu e of Au r ung
seb known , by th e nativ es as
, ,
,
“
M adh u das ké D ewhré ”
.

The edifice itself is above the bank of the river ; b ut

its foundations si nk deep into the gro u nd ; and th eir
en orm ous stone b reastworks extend far down the bank .

Indeed, it is said th at the fo undatio ns of the m osque

are as deep as th e b uildin g is high Altho ugh m ore
.

than a ce ntu ry and a h alf h as elapsed sin ce this strue

ture was reared y et it appears as solid and strong as
,

on the day of its co m pl etio n T he m assive pile is on

.

the v ery edge of a steep bank or cliff ; y et not a stone

of it h as been loosened . There is a high wall next to ,

the street ru nning by the western side of th e m osque,

1 12 R EN AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

are, and were cut down to th eir present h eight, in con

sequ ence of exhibiting si gns of weakness and insecurity .

Th ere is a staircase in each tower, from the sum m it of

which y ou gain a co m plete vi ew of B ena res and its
su burbs nd of portio n of th e surroun din g co ntry
,
a a u
;
but th e ascen t and descent are attended with consider

It is astonishi ng that this m osque , althou gh so m u ch

visited by E u ropeans and regard ed by them as one of
, , ,

the chief sigh ts of B enar es shou ld be al m ost aban doned

,

by the Mohamm ed ans O n Fridays a sm all nu m ber of

.
,

th e faithful asse m bl e within its walls for religio u s pur

poses, but on no other day ; and during the rem ai ning
,

six d ays of th e w eek , it is hand ed ov er to th e care of

two m en These consist of a M ulls and his servant ,

.

wh o alone h ave ch arge of the buil ding It see m s that .

the office h eld by th e M ulls was form erly h eld by

his ancestors, who received it, possibly , fro m Aurungzeb

A s m all village was, ti m e in possession of th e

at one ,

m osq u e fro m th e proceed s of which its expenses w ere

,

partially paid : bu t it has l apsed to th e Governm ent ;

and co nsequ ently, th e expenses of r ep airin g and cl ean
,

i ng th e m osqu e so far as I was abl e to l earn, are

,

d efrayed by th e contribu tions of visitors Its existe nce .

in this part of city, whi ch is al most entirely inh abited

by Hin dus , affords the strongest p roof of the rancour
and viol ence with which the e m peror A urungz eb c
p
posed the i dolatrous practices of the peopl e, and en
deavou red to prop agate his own religio n Tra ditio n .

says, tha t, on the Si te of the m osqu e, a tem pl e once

 E EN AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT . 113

stood , which was re moved in order to make room for

it ; and th ere is every reason to beli eve that the tra
dition is tru e T h e Gov ernm ent tak es care of the
.

m inarets, and k eeps th em in order .

T h e templ e of K am eé war in the north ern division ,

of B enares is one of the few te m pl es ,in th e city , not

,

of com paratively m odern date ; and y et lik e them , it ,

by no m eans belongs to a very distant epoch It is .

re m arkabl e als o for the v ast acc u m ul ation of shrin es

, ,

and i m ages within its bo und aries At the entrance .

,

towards the street is a t em pl e with a group of deiti es

, ,

inside who are s upposed to gu ard the p assage P assing

,
.

alo ng we co m e to the first co urt in which is a k ettl e

, ,

dru m which is beaten at intervals during the day

, ,

in ho no ur of the p residi ng divinity P roceeding into .

th e seco nd court an extrao rdin ary sight presents itself

,
.

T he entire area of the quadrangl e is literally fill ed with

tem pl es so th at it seems i mpossibl e to insert anoth er
,
.

T he quadrangl e is not l arge whe n co mpared with som e,

oth ers in B enares A ll the tem pl es are pai nted red

.
,

and h av e sho rt steepl es The pri ncipal one is dedicated

.

to Ké m ananath or Kam eéwar the Lo rd of D esire who

, , , ,

acco rdi ng to Hind u beli ef assists his worshippers in

,

the realization of wh atev er th ey asp ire to achi eve A n .

oth er tem ple is i nhabited by the god R am S ita ( his ,

wife) the goddess Lakshm i and the S un T he tem ples

, ,
.

altogeth er am o u nt to ten or a doz en , each contain ing

sev eral idols .

O n the north side of th e enclosure is a peepu l tree ;

and on a pl at fo rm su rro undi ng its base , is a group
,

of idols O ne of these is N arsinh , an incarnation of

.

a
114 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

Vishnu, and a m onster of horrible appearance . H is

birth is sa id to have been out of which a pillar or o
p ,
st
split down the m iddle in order to ad mit h im into th e
,

world T he two parts of the pillar are represented in

.

th e sto ne figu re one being on each side of th e idol

, ,

which in the form of a m an with two horns on his head,

,

is seated in the fork of the divided pillar gloating ,

over the victi m who lies prostrate across his lap This .

is s da ily a or dem on who m he is disem bowelling and

,

pulling to piece s with his n ails and greedily drinking ,

hi s blood Besides other im ages, th ere is the usual

.

emblem of Siva, with a snak e creeping up it ; and on

the horizontal sto ne which is al ways co nnec ted with
,

it are carv ed ten other em blem s exact cou nterparts

, ,

of th e entire idol with the exception of the snak e

,
.

O n the sides of the quadrangl e, lo ng narrow roo m s

Open on the centre of the sq uare ; and these m ay be
regarded as so m any separate shrines i nasm uch as ,

th ey are occupied by gro u ps of d eities Two of these .

are fill ed with th e peculiar emblem s of S iva ; and one

of them holds as m any as tw enty five A thi rd has a -

.

figu re of N arsinh , si m ilar to that j u st desc ribed, and ,

also , th e godd ess Machau dari, an i m m od est figure ,

seated on a peac oc k . T here is, likewise, in the sam e

room , an image of th e Rishi D urvasas, whose asceti

ciam is said to have been so vigorous tha t h e was ,

rai sed by its instru m enta lity , to an equali ty with the

,

gods and sat with Vishnu as his peer

,
.

T he tem pl e of Kama nanath is con nected with a de

prem ed plain close by which was formerly an extensive
,

j hi l or pon d,
and was then ca ll ed th e Mac haudari T irth,
 CHAPTER VII I .

T am Jdges war, a esort of the

of
'

R ati e ristocrac of N v A
enares y B
—
.

K v dd
ant D e i, Go ess of the C it of
-
enares y B
Kam ghanta T 5150
or ank — T T p
em le of the em on Bh fit haira — em le of ari
d -
B T p B

IN the Iswar Gangi street Situ ated in the A uS S n

-
,

ganj M ahalla or ward of the City is th e ari stocratic ,

—
tem pl e of Jegeéwar m ore correctly Y éjeéwara Lord ‘
, , ,

—
of Sacrifice that is S iva to which all the nobility
’
, , ,

an d gent ry of B enares, fro m the M ah araj a downwards ,

occasionally resort A scending a flight of steps y ou

.
,

enter th e o u t er court of the t em pl e wh ere are sev era l

,

sh rines standing in a row, each of which contai ns an

asse m bl age of sm all idols This court fo rm s a plat
.

form ; and, as it is spacio us, cl ean, and o rd erly it ,

serv es as an agreeabl e lounge, in the cool of the day ,

for persons freq u enting the spot But the obj ect of .

i nterest here is the tem pl e of J egeéwar, which is in a

court of its own, w alled in all ro und T h e t em pl e .

occ upies a large portion of th e enclosure ; bu t th ere

is, n everthel ess , a narro w space between it and the
walls so th at worshippers are able to carry out their
,

favourite custo m of traversi ng the circu mference of the

te mpl e a m ultit ude of ti m es T h e portico rests on.

pillars ; and its floor is paved with small square slabs

 RE N A nE s, PAST AND PRESENT . 1 17

of polished marble In the centre of the portico

.
,

facin g th e doo r of the te mple, crouches a large ba ll,

call ed N andi the ani mal on w hich the god rides But
,
.

wh at would one fancy the Size and form of the idol

which the elite of B enares, its m en of opulence, of
illustri ous birth of intelligence , and ed ucation reve
, ,

rentl worship n d b fore who m th y b t th eir hea ds

y a ,
e e ea

upo n th e threshold, and even prostrate them selves upon

th e floo r and to whom th ey pay th at su prem e hom age
,

and adora tion due only to the Lord God Al m ighty

It m ight be supposed th at it was an obj ect of sur

passing spl endour with diam ond sparkling eyes, and a
,
-

body of gold, adorned with garlands, necklaces, and

bracel ets, of costly valu e and of dazzling beau ty But .

its pretensions are of a v ery diflerent order ; for it is

sim ply an enormous block of stone round and black , ,

six feet in h eight, and tw elv e in c ircum ference The .

tradi tion is th at, on one occasion the gods assembled

, ,

to perform a great sacrifice and th at out of the burn

,

ing oblation issu ed S iva in the shape of this stone

,
.

Abov e the tem pl e is a capacious spout, looki ng not

unlike a chim ney, pl aced imm ediately over the shape
less idol below I n th e hot wea ther this spout is kept
.

filled with water, which dribbles perpetually upon the

o
g ,d through on e or m ore holes in th e botto m ,
an d
keeps h im cool At the entrance to the temple from
.

the portico are two small shrines, one on each side of

Adjoining the A usauganj Mahalla is Mahalla of the

M pura, where, at th e j unction of several narrow
streets, s tands a banyan tree , near which is a temple
118 B ananas, rm m ream .

divided into two ch am bers In one of th ese cham bers ,

.

in a niche let into the wall si ts Kaéi deVi or the god ,

-
,

dess of Benares P ilgrim s m aking the tour of the city

.
,

for the p urpose of performing their devotions at its

mm cel ebrated shrin es, do not fail to visit this tute
lary d eity The spot is also interesti ng to the natives ,
.

as being in their estim ation, the centre of Benares

, ,

though it is exceedingly do ubtfu l whether it is so in

reality A few steps brin g us to the Kam ghanta
.

Talao a tank nam ed fro m the goblin Ghanté karna,

,

Bell eared
-
’
This tank is in a quadrangle between
.
,

which and the neighbouring street a garden is sit u ated .

On descendi ng a flight of steps y ou enter the quad ,

rangl e A t the foot of the st eps is a platform extend

.

ing all rou nd the enclo sure ; and fro m it is a succes

sion of sto ne stairs loading down to the water of the
tank On the so u th side of the platform overlooking
.

th e tank are three tem pl es on e of whi ch nam ely that

, , ,

in the m iddle, is of considerabl e interest It is dedicated .

to Vedavy as, the co mpiler of the Vedas, and is called

Vyé seéwar The deified co mpiler is seated in a niche
.

in the wall , and is decorated with a garland and also ,

wi th arm l ets and ankl ets There is another tem ple

.
,

erected in honour of this fam ous m an in th e palace of

,

the M ah araj a of Be nares at Ramnagar ; b ut th ere he

is associated with S iva, and is worshipped through th e
em blem of the l atter divin ity , whereas , in the te mpl e

at Karn hanta T é la o h e is represented by an im age of

g ,

his own In the m onth of S awan , m ultitudes of people,

.

especially wo men, visit this tank bathe in its unclean ,

water , and worship the peepul, kadam , and banyan trees .

120 m anna, m ar m mm .

the youth of the tree it was inserted in the earth

,

imm edia tely at i ts base and that, as th e tree grew,

,

it grad ually enveloped the stone which being large , ,

and strongly fixed in th e gro un d was not expelled, ,

but, on the co ntrary , becam e m ore firm ly set by the

lateral pressure of the tree This explanation is
.

stren gth ened by the su pposition that the tree was

the sacred peepul , the tr unk of which is so strangely
corru gated as often to appear to consist of a m ul ti
,

tude of small trees united together P reparations .

were m ade for erecting a temple around this sacred

stone but the perso n who had undertaken the task
died before m uch progress had been m ade in the
work .Fragments of carved stones are lying abou t ,

which w ere doubtless originally destined for th e new

, ,

templ e : but there is now little chance of its ever

being raised ; as no Hindu lik es to prosecu te an en
terprise begun by another m an inasm u ch as wh en , ,

co mpl eted he believes that all the m erit r esultin g

,

from it will go to s uch person and not to him self .

I n the A usanganj Mahalla is the well known fans -

of Bars Ganeé or the Great Ganeé An alley branches

,
.

off fro m th e m ain ro ad and co nducts to this tem pl e

,
.

At an angl e of the all ey is a low shrine dedicated ,

to Jagann ath , containi ng three figures, of horribl e u gli

119 88. O n the right is Jagann ath ; on the l eft is his
brother Balbhadra ; and in the m iddle, is their sister
,

S ubha dra T he two form er have arm s, but no hands or

.

feet ; while the latter is destit u te of arms as well as ,

of feet These large m outhed, goggle eyed , round faced

.
- - -

deities are equal in frightfulness to so me of the idols

 m s
am a , r m AND PRESENT . 121

made and worshipped by th e savages of the Fiji I sl ands

in the South Seas In anoth er place, in a corner of
.

this alley, are two Satis, that is to say , two figures

of wom en, in bass reli ef, placed upon a squ are pedestal,
in co m m em orati on of th e cremation of widows on the
funeral pile of th eir hu sbands at this spot I n addition .

to th e Satis there are two oth er obj ects of i nterest

,

placed u po n the p edestal O ne is a bass relief sc ulptu re

.
-

of a sm all figure, m uch worn by tim e T he other .

presen ts in a sm all com pass , m ost elaborate chiselling ;

,

the design ill ustrat ed b eing of a co mplicat ed character .

There is a central figure in an erect postu re, b u t head

,

l ess ; and in the back gro und, a ni m b us surro unds th e

,
-

space form erly occupied by the head O n eith er side .

are sev eral other figu res but of s maller sta ture, and
,

also a col umn with a capital on the su mm it of which

, ,

is a dimi nutive stat ue of a m an B etween th e colum ns,

.

bu t raised abov e th em , in a lin e with the ce ntral object

beneath , is , likewise, another sm all sta tu e of a m an .

Altogeth er this delicate pi ece of statuary exhibits ten

,

hum an figures, besides v arious oth er obj ects , all which

are d efin ed with consid erabl e nicety It is not easy to .

co mpreh end th e general design which the sculptor had

before his m in d, or to furni sh a satisfactory account of
thi s work of art It is, certa inly, far superior to m od ern
.

produ ctions of Hindu art ; and I suspect it is not,

properly, of Hin du origin at all .

The towers of two temples are seen rising high

above th e Sat is ; and in th e adjoining enclosu re
stands the t em ple of Baré Gaueé T he quadrangle .

is open to the sky ; but it has a covered verandah ,

122 EEN A E ES , PAST AND PRESENT .

supported on pillars, running round the fou r walls,

their inner side Opposite to the tem ple in the centre
, ,
.

In the m idst of the tem ple is a large idol of Genes,

the elephantwheaded god, with Silv er hands and feet .

T he h ead is d ec orated with a gild ed ni m bu s I nside .

the tem pl e four bells are su spe nded ; and i m medi ately
,

over the doorway, and in front of the idol three sm all ,

m irrors are plac ed , the obj ect of which , possibly is to ,

‘

prod uc ed a threefold i m age or reflexion of the idol ;

for even a refiex ion of a god is accou nted a sacred
obj ect and worthy of v eneration On eith er side of
, .

the threshold l eading into the tem ple is an other idol of

, ,

Genes; but both are w ell worn and eviden tly m an y

, , ,

ce ntu ries old T h e present tem ple was erected only

.

so m e twen ty four y ears ago ; bu t the priests say that

-

these two figures have always existed here The ex .

tensive v erandah of th e q uadrangl e contains sev eral

oth er figu res of Genes, of apparently, as great anti
,

q y
u it as those j u st d escribed .
124 E E N A E E S , PAsr AN D PE E smvr.

stronger th an they , he overcam e th em, and, crossing

the road e nt ered the enclosure
,
H e then pursu ed his
.

course, u ntil he reached the spot where the Pisach

Mocha n tank is now situ ated and would have effected
,

an entrance into the holy city its elf had not Bhairo ,

n ath , the kotuml or deified Chi ef Magistrate of the

place , m et him th ere An enco unter im m ediam com
.

m enced betw een th ese two worthies, which en ded in

the m agistrate cutti ng 0 6 the head of th e co m m on
enem y . Ha ving perform ed this ac t of valour Bhairo ,

nath co nv ey ed th e h ead to his royal m aster Bish eéw ar, ,

and stated all th e circum sta n ces of th e co nflict B ut the .

dem on, tho ugh overcom e and bodiless had lost nei ther ,

his life nor his tongue ; and, therefore, he im plored

Bisheéwar not to banish him fro m the city bu t to ,

allow him to reside on the spot where he was de

capitated H e also had the boldness to requ est in

.
,

addition ,
th at all pilgri ms proceeding to th e city of
Gay s sho u ld be directed first to visit him To this .

th e king gave hi s co nsent but stated that h e should

,

allow n o oth er evil spirit to visit Benares and tha t ,

he, the dem on, was to take care that none ever did 8 0 .

S uch is th e qu aint story which the Hind us believe

respectin g this pl ace T h e great ugly head of the
.

demon, c rved in stone, is seen on the top of the ghat

a

in case any travelling fro m distant parts of the country ,

,

should fro m ignorance or other causes, reach Ga s with

, y
out ha vin g first co m e to Pisac h Mochan , in Benares
-
,
 E EN AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT . 12 5

obviate the nwessity of th eir trav elli ng to B enares ,

and th en returni ng to Ga s anoth er P iéé c h Moch an

y
-
,

has been erected in the l atter pl ace as represen tative ,

of th at in Be nares where th ey m ay p erfor m p zij ci

,

or religious rites , and th us after th e pay m ent of th e

,

prescribed fees to the pri ests ( a sine qua non) acquire ,

the full stock of m erit which wou ld have accru ed to

th em had they really visited the Piéach in B enares .

In additi on to several s mall meltis or festivals a v ery ,

large one is h eld every year at Piéé ch Mochan This -

.

meld is call ed Lo ts D hanta fro m the si ngular c usto m

-
,

which p revails, on th at occasion, of gri ndi ng the v egs

table call ed blumtd or egg pl ant, and m ixing it with
,
-

flour, form ing it into cak es which are eaten at th e

,

meld. T he tank is a square, with gh é ts or stairs on

the fo ur sides A portion of the gh at, to th e east,
.

was erected , about eighty y ea rs ago, by Gopal D és

Sah u ; and the rem aini ng portion and also a t em pl e on
,

the bank, by a Hi nd u lady , nam ed Mi rch Bai about ,

the sam e time . T h e gh at and wall to th e w est d at e

, ,

from the sam e p eriod ; the former, together wi th the

tower rising above it havi ng b een erec ted by a Hind u
, ,

Balwant R ao Békira, and the l atter by a Moham ,

m edan, Mirza Kh u rram Sh ah , of D elhi T he gh at to .

th e n o rth was b u ilt m ore th an a h undred y ea rs ago ,

by Raj a M uralidhar ; and that to the so u th which ,

bears u pon it the m arks of age partly by Raj a S iva,

Sam bar so m e three hundred years ago, and partly

,

by Binaik Ba o, a few years Since .

On th e eastern bank of th e tank , occ upying a pro

minent positio n, are two te mples , one of which is a
126 EE N A R E S , PAST AND PR ssEN T .

m odern ructu re and was built by N akku Misr, a

st ,

servant of the Government ; and the other is that

erected by Mirch Bai, already spoken of T he latter .

only presents features of interest T he fo undations .

of this tem pl e are raised so m e dista nce above the

lev el of the neighbou ring street I ts roo f is flat ;

.

and in the centre of it

, a pe epul an d a b any an tree
,

have fixed their roots, while thei r tru nks rise up

high i nto the air O n all the fo ur sides of the te mpl e
.

are s m all shrines or nich es con ta inin g a rea t collection

, g
of idols . Here is S iva ; next to him the hideous ,

head of the dem on Piéach Mochau ; and beyond it,-

,

th e fo ur handed god Vish nu holding in one hand a

-
,

cou ch , in another a lotos , in a third a club , and in a

fourth a discus, while a garland of lotoses hangs from

his neck N ext to him is his wife Lakshm i who has
.
,

an i m age of th e S un on h er l eft ; beyo nd which is the

figu re of a Brah man, in sto ne Then co mes a shrine .

in which is a large red idol representing th e Monkey

od H n um an All these e on o n e sid of th e
g a . ar e

tem ple ; and im mediately round the corner to the east

is a cu rious figure of the god Gaueé, who instead of ,

on e elephant s trunk which he com m only possesses,

’
,

has, in this case five All the rem aining sides are
,
.

si m ilarly d ecorated with d ei ties, with the exception

of th e west Side fa cing the tank, which has fewer in
nu mber than the rest Away fro m the tem pl e itself
.
,

but resting upon the raised pedestal on which the

t em pl e s tands is one of those cu rious stones repre
,

sen ting a m ultitu de of tiny shrines, found in various

plac es in Benares .
128 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

tradition adds he was heal ed Hence, it is affirm ed

,
.
,

the round stone above referred to is called S ambédit .

A m util ated figure of the god A shtAng Bhairo stands -

n ear Su raj k u nd, in a sm all tem ple open in front Th ere

-
.

are eight idols beari ng the n am e of Bhairo in B enares ,

to eac h and all of which pilgri m s resort This i m age

.

was m util ated by that fierce iconocl ast, the E m peror

Au rungzeb .

T h e t emple of D hru veéwar or th e P ol e Star , is also

,

in this quarte r of th e city It is said that Dh ru v a

.
,

B ishi or Sa in t,
afte rwards th e P ol e S tar once visited ,

Be nares and that S iva honou ring his sanctity and

, ,

devotion, u nited his name with his own, so that they

m ight be worshipped in th e sam e tem pl e as a u nited ,

and individ ual deity But this l egend is an ou t

.

growth fro m pop ul ar etym ology ; for the word {Swan

in D h ru veéwara , Lo rd D hru va h as bee n ignorantly
‘
,
’

confounded with a fam iliar synony m of S iv a If ,

war or Lord by em inence T he old t empl e of D brn

,
‘ ’
.

veéwar fell down so m e ti m e Sinc e ; and in its pla ce , ,

a new one has b een erected which st ands on an ele

,

vation at the corner of an extensive enclosure in the ,

m id st of which is a l arge t em pl e dedicated to S iva ,

built by so m e Gosains or devot ees, u pwards of seventy

years ago .
 CHAPTER X .

Man -
M andi]
G hfit — T e p h
m le of D rilb y ef war — Tem ple of the M oon
‘
.

or S omea war — T h e bu n M andi! O bs ervatory erec ted by Raj a Jay

'

-
.

S inh D escription of its Instrum ents

- — T he N epalese T em ple .

T H E M an Mandil C h at is principally re m arkabl e for

-

the old Observ atory situa ted u pon the banks of the
,

Ganges at this spot, and which will presently be , ,

m ore partic ul arly referred to This lofty building gives

.

a noble appearance to the gh at and co m mands a fine ,

view of th e river N ear the entrance to it is a c ol

.
.

lection of ancient idols which have been worn away

by ti m e and perpetual sacrificial ablutions Several .

of these are figures of m onkeys represe nting the ,

god Hanu m an A flag waves fro m the t0 p of a high

.

stafi at this spot in hono ur of the Raj a of Ja

’

, ypore,

the proprietor of this entire Mah alla or ward of the

—
city , whose ancestor Raj a Jay S inh erected the O h
servatory I n a lane l eading to the gh at is the
te mple of D élbhy eéwar which d eity is supposed to ,

exercise great power over the clouds in procuring ,

rain. T he image is in a cistern, low down in th e

cen tre of the templ e If th e idol is properly wor
.

shipped and kept drenched with water, pious Hin

9
130 EE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

dus beli eve th at h e will look with favour on th e prayer

for rain .As the h eat is now daily increasing in in
tensity and the rain s, both for the cooling of the
,

atm osph ere and for the fertilizi ng of the soil , are be

g in ni n g to be d esir ed th e god w as l a tely

,
tr ea te d to a

delightful bath which h e is im agined to have received

,

with prodigious satisfaction N ot only the cistern , but .

also th e en tire t em pl e up to the threshold , was fill ed ,

with water This ev ent, which was noi sed abroad

.

am o ng th e n atives, has considerably h eighte ned, in

their estim ation th e probabili ty of rain D é lbhy eéwar
,
‘
.

is also known as th e P oor Man s Friend ; for should

’
,

a m an in straite ned circ um stan ces visit this shrin e and ,

duly perform the p rescribed ceremonies , his poverty ,

th ey say , will disappear and his w ants be reli eved ,

.

O ne would h ave thought that th e squ alid and indi

gent peopl e inh abiti ng the sacred city and resorting
thith er wou ld h ave flock ed eagerly to thi s tem pl e ,

had th ey h ad th e sm all est particl e of faith in the

o d th ere A ssoci ated with D é lbh eéw ar e C h t
g .
y ar a ur
'
bhuj or Vi shnu , S ital a ( th e goddess of S mall pox), and -

other deities .

Close by is S om eéwar Mandil or th e Tem ple of the

Moon, fro m S ome th e m oon Here , it is ima gin ed ,
,
.

diseases of ev ery ch aracter m ay be healed ; and while ,

th e god is regarded in th e light of an all pow erful -

physician his tem pl e is spoken of as a hospital It

,
.

n eed hardly be rem arked th at since th ese are the senti, ,

m ents of th e peopl e their practice strangely beli es

,

‘
T his was written as th e summ er was advancing, before the rains
l 2 DE NARE S , PAST AND PRESENT .

M t “O B, find “38 spectator O f the th

3dN iring Of ; l g

st e
1 a wisdom and providence , Su vai Jey S ingh ,

the first dawning of reason in his m ind, and

during its progress towards maturity was entirely ,

devoted to the study of m athe matical science, and

the bent of his m i nd was co nsta ntly dirww d th e 1

solution of its most difi c ult probl ems by the aid of ,

the S u preme A r tificer, he obtained a thorough know s

ledge of in principles and rul es H e found that th e .

c ulafion of th e pl am of the stars , as obtained a:

A oiah c R esearc h es pp
’

, Vol . v
.
,
. 17 7, 17 8 .
 E EN A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT . 133

the tables in com m o n use s uch as the new tables of

,

Seid Goorganee and Khaeanee, and the I nsheelat o

Mu la Chand Akber shahee and the Hindu books , and

- - -
,

the E uropean tables, in very many cases give them ,

wid ely diflereu t fro m those d eterm ined by observation ;

'

especially th e appearan ce of the n ew m oo ns th e c om

,

p utation of which do es not agree with observatio n .

Seeing that very i mportant affairs, both regarding re

ligion and the ad m inistration of em pire depe nd upon ,

these, and that, in the tim e of the risi ng and setting

of the planets, and the seasons of the eclipses of the
sun and m oo n m any considerabl e disagreem ents of a
,

simi lar nature are fo und h e represented it to his

,

—
Maj esty of dignity and power, the sun of the firm s
,

m en t of feli city and do m ini on, the spl endour of the

forehead of i mperial m agnificence , the unrivalled pearl
of the sea of sovereign ty , the incom p arably brightest

star of the h ea v en of em pire whose standard is the

,

S un , whose retinu e th e Moon , whose lance is Mars ,

and his pen lik e Mercury , Whose th reshold is the Sky ,

whose Signet is J upiter, whose sentinel Sa turn the ,

E mperor descended fro m a long race of kings, an

Alexander in dignity , th e shadow of God the victorious,

—
king , Mahomm ed S hah, may he ever be tri um phant in
”
battle I
“
Thereupon the E mperor graciously ord ered him to
.

labour for the ascerta ining of the point in qu estion ,

that the disagree ment between the calculated tim es of

those phenom ena, and the tim es in which they are
” “
observed to happen, m ay be rectified Finding that
.

brass instrum ents did not come u p to the ideas which

18 4 m a g n u m

be had fiu m ed of m y, beu nse of the smal n essl

d their siz e, fi1e v t nt of division into mim rtes, th e

M g fl ww h g d thd r m fi displacem m t
d th m hm d th s chd q and the s hifiing of

the ph nu of th e instr q he c onclnded th at flxe

rm why the determ mafiom of the m eim ta su eh

have beeu of this kind . T hereforq he oonstr uoted, in

tiom m ch u Jey pergés, and Bé m Jnnter, and S em rat

cu bits, and one minu te on it is a ba rley oom and a

—
half, of stone lim e, of perfect stability, with at
an d

tentio n to the rules of geom etry, and adj ustm ent to

the m eridian, and to the lati tude of the place and ,

with care in the m easu ring and fixing of them so ,

that the inaccuracies from the shaking of the circ les ,

and the wearing of th eir axes , and displacem en t of

t heir centres, and the inequality of the m inu tes, m ight

be corrected Thus an accurate m ethod of construc t
.

ing an Observ atory was establish ed ; and th e diflerence ’

which had existed between th e com puted and observed

places of th e fixed stars and planets, by m eans of oh
serving th eir m ean m otions and aberrations with such
instru ments, was re m oved And , in order to confirm
.

the truth of these observatio ns, he constructed insan

ments of the sam e kind ( as those co nstr ucted in the
observatory at D elhi ) in S u vai Jeypore, and Mattra ,

and B enares d i Whe h co p red thes

,
an O u
j e n n e .m a e
136 E E N A R E S, PAST AND PRESENT .

Sight see m, wou ld be an ind u ce m ent to the Brah mans

-

to keep the building and its instru ments in repair ,

an d so preve nt them fro m falli ng into decay ; bu t they

seem to be utterly carel ess on these poin ts and are ,

allowing the hot su n and the dre nchin g rai ns of su m m er

to play u pon exquisitely e nam ell ed surfaces the parts of ,

which are divided and s ubdivided into regular distances

with th e nicest accuracy, wi thou t attempting to restore
th e breaches in th e m ortar, an d to keep th e instrum ents
from inj ury .

On ent ering the Observ atory, the first instrum ent

you co m e to is th e Bhittiyantra or M ural Qua drant
, ,

which consists of a wall el even feet hi gh and nine

, ,

feet one and a quarter inches broad in th e plane of th e

,

m eridian By this instru ment th e sun s altitude and ’

.

zenith distance, at noon, m ay be ascertained ; and, also ,

’
the su n s great est d eclin ation, and th e latitu de of the
place N ot far distant are two large circles one built
.
,

of stone, the other of lim e and also a large squa re ,

b uilt of ston e These m ay perhaps, have been used

.
,

for the purpose of ascertaining the shadow of th e

g no m on cast by the su n, and the degrees of azim uth ,

but all the m arks u pon th em are obliterated .

Th ere is an enorm ous instru m ent called Yan tra ,

Sam r at ( or prince of instrum ents) whose wall is thirty

,

six feet in length and fou r and a half feet in breadth ,

,

and is set in the pl ane of the m eridian One extre mity

.

is six feet four and a qu art er inch es high , and th e

other, twen ty two feet three and a half inches, slopin g
-

gradually u pwards so as to point directly to th e north

,

p ol e. B y th e aid of this instru m ent ,

the distance
138 DEN AE E S, PAST AND PRESE NT .

C h at, is atrikingly picturesque obj ect and does not

s ,

fail to arre st the attention of every vi sitor to

qu arter of th e city I n its external app earance it is
.
,

altogeth er u nlik e th e S hrines erected by th e Hindu s

for the practice of th eir religion .

 CHAP TER XI .

C hat Tem ple — Legend — S iddh eswafi

'

D A sAs A n S
’

DE of D ads-am edh
T em ple —C handm Kfip o Well of the M oon
-
. r — T em ple of the god
d S ankata D evi —S ankata C hi t — Ri m G hAt
' '

ess .

T o the outh of
s Mandil C hat is the D a§
th e M én
- ~

asam edh C ha t, a spot exceedingly venerated by the

natives of the city , as w ell as by pilgri ms and devotees,
and m uch frequ ented for its supposed sancti ty It .

is one of the five celebrated plac es of pilgri mage in

Benares The o ther four are Asi Sangam Manikarniké ,
.
,

Panc h gangé and Barns Sangam ,

These five places , in .

addition to their proper attra ctions are associ ated to

,

gether and furnish the devotee with a com pl ete course

,

of pilgri m age in the sam e manner as a journey to

,

Jagannath, or Gays, or Benares, or Hardwar is re ,

garded as such P roceeding fro m As 1 Ghét or Sangam ,

'

at the extre m e south of th e city the pilgri m h aving

, ,

al ready perform ed proper r eligious cere m oni es at this

gh a t arrives at D aéééam edh , and worships the gods in

,

the tem pl e there , and, passing thence to Manikarnika,

bathes in the well Having done this, he advances
.

to Panc h gangé , and on to Barns Sangam , the northern

extrem ity of the city, at both which places he
bestows the custo mary offerings, and pays reverence to
140 EE N AE E S, PAST AND PRESEN T .

the deities peculiar to them He has thus traversed

.

the city fro m so uth to north h aving kept u pon th e

,

bank of the river throughout the whol e di stance and ,

p assed ov er ev ery gh at This pilgri m age is call ed the

.

Panch tirth , to perform which is considered a very

-

m eritorio us ac t.

T he l egend co nnected with the D asaéam edh te m pl e

and gh at as th e found a tio n of th e sanctity of both ,
,

and on acco u nt of which the Hind us regard th em as

the v ery gateway to h eaven, m ust not be o mitted here .

I t is another of the l egends co nnected with th e fam ous

D ivodés It is said th at S iva and Gauri ( his wife) were
.

Sitting together, one day , on the Mandarachal m oun

tain when th e form er exhibited great distress of mi nd
,

at not h avin g receiv ed an i nte lligence fro m B enares

y
for so me tim e . The city was then in the hands of
Raj a D ivodés, who, as already narrated, on accepting
its sovereignty , had expelled from it all the gods, and
S iva, the head of th em all, am ongst th e nu mber .

A l though S iv a had sent sev eral persons, successiv ely ,

to inquire into th e sta te of th e city , y et non e of th em
had returned ; in as m uch as, on reaching it, every one
had been so captivated with its tranquillity and blessed
ness, as to have been powerl ess to quit so happy 8
region I n his anxi ety S iva thou ght to him self, that,
.
,

should I send Brahm a ( the first god of the Hindu triad),

who is a dear friend of mine, he will , without fail ,

brin g m e word again abo u t its condition He then .

fixed his tho ughts on Brahm a, who, in obedi ence to

the secret sum mons, was im m ediately at his side On .

arri ving , S iva unburthened his m ind to hi m, and wished

142 EE N AR ES
,
PAST AND PRESENT .

wh ere m aterials for ten su ch sacrifices were brought

to him Not one ingredi ent was m issing ; all w ere
.

perfectly com plete B rah m a then oflered the ten sacri

'

fices ; and at each of th em , a horse was co nsum ed .

The spot on which th e ten sacrific es were o ffered

Brahm a called D aS éSwam edha Ghé t, or gh at of the
—
ten horse sac rific ea fro m data ten ; sizes , a horse ; and
-
,

median, sacrifice, which b eca m e, then ceforw ard in ,

Hindu esti m ation, a plac e of eminent sanctity , and

end u ed with the pow er of conferri ng a m ultitude of

bl essings on all who sacrificed and bathed th ere .

Brah m a constituted D aéaéam edh the prince of pl aces

of pilgrim age, equ al to P ray ag ( Alla habad ) Should .

a Hindu , th erefore wishin g to proceed to P ray ag , at

,
’

th e tim e of th e mela or r eligiou s festival th ere not ,

be abl e to undertake the journey , he m ay at this ,

gh at, obtain all th e m erit which h e would have ac

quired had he actually co m pleted th e pilgri m age to
,

P ray ag, and bath ed at th e sacred j unction of th e

Ganges and the J um na Brah m a also dedicated two
.

i m ages in honour of S iva one of which h e call ed

,

D aéaéwam edh eéwar and th e oth er, Brahm eéwar

,
The .

form er is a pl ain black stone of enorm ou s ,

being not l ess than five or six feet in gi rth and three ,

or four in h eight in front of which is a bull also of

, ,

l arge proportions T h e other i mage is m u ch s m aller

. .

Whoever worships D aéaéwam edheSWar will , it is sup

posed, escape all future transm igration ; and his soul ,

instead of passing in to a m an, a m ouse, or a frog will ,

—
go straight to paradi se th at is th e h eaven of Siva .
, ,

I n like m anner, he who worship s Brahm eéwar will ,

 EE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESE NT . 143

it is said, at death , fly at once into Brah m aloka or the ,

sph ere of Brah m a I n th e te mpl e whi ch contains these

.

idols th ere is a great assem blage of other images,

,

consisting, for the m ost part of lingers representing

, ,

S iva, which are chiefly arranged by the wall, and

form , what th e natives term a Icachahri or court of
,

gods In the latter h alf of th e m onth of Jeth, a great

.

many persons ba th e at this gh at , and, also in a small ,

tank , near by , call ed Bu drasar, which shares in th e

sanctity of the neighbourhood For fifteen days th e
.

bathin g and p ractice of religious cerem oni es contin ue ,

th e virt ue of each day increasing in an arith m etical

series ; so that the virtue acquired on the fifteenth day
is fifteen tim es as grea t as th at acquired on the first ;
and th e aggregate virtue am ass ed during th e entire

fifteen days, consequently, am ounts to the virtu e of

one hundred and twenty days .

Aft er term i nating the ten sacrifices, it occ urred to

Brahm a, that h e h ad not effected his obj ect wi th Raj a
D ivodas, in ind u cing h im to co m m it sin How could
.

h e th erefore, return to S iva

,
And, enam oured with
all h e saw aro u nd hi m , and flattered by D ivodés, who

built for h im a house of great beau ty , he settled th e

difficul ty by determ ining to re main wh ere he was, u ntil
S iv a cam e to hi m
.

In the Siddheswari Mahalla are two tem ples h eld ,

by devou t Hindus in great repute O ne is the S iddh eé

.
~

wari te m ple itself, to which is attach ed the anci ent

well known as Chandra k u p ; th e other is the tem pl e
-

of S ankaté D evi T h e form er consists of two sm all

.

quadrangles , in the first of which, in the centre of th e

144 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

open space , is C handre kfip or the well dedicated to

,

th e m oon —
,
fro m chandra, the m oon , and h ip s, a well .

I n the m o nth of Chait on the day of the full m oon this

, ,

spot is visited by pflgri ma who cast their oflerings

into the well in hon our of th e l unar d eity They
, .

also resort thither when ever a new m oon occurs on a

Monday ; as that day is sacred to thi s lum inary I n .

the sacred quadra ngle a figure of the goddess D urga

is seen in a nich e at the base of the wall on the ,

right h and side as you enter With one h and she .

grasps a lotos and with another a sword ; the third

, ,

hand rests upon a lion , and the fourth upon a buffalo ,

.

A verandah extends along two sides of this enclosure,

su pported on pillars th e wall s of which are decorated
,

with paintings in vivid colours several of whi ch repre,

sent incarnations of the god Genes Behind the .

andah is th e shri ne of S iddheéwari , th e goddess who

contributes perfection Oppressed with the ills and

.

trials of life the Hindu approach es the goddess, and

,

presents to her newly gath ered flowers and water fro m

-
,

the Ganges h 0 ping to obtain th e pro m ised bl essing

, .

H e retires believing in th e virtue of his sacrifice , y et

,

sick at h eart, with his sorrows u nrelieved and his Sins

S ankata D evi is another goddess who is thought to

bestow sim ilar favours on h er votaries H er shrine .

is situat ed on one side of a spacious quadrangle in ,

the m iddl e of which , raised u pon a pl atform is an ,

asse m bla ge of tem pl es and idols ; and on th e western

,

side of th e pla tfor m , a bell hangs, su sp end ed from

the stone scaffolding A portion of th e q uadrangle is
.
 ass u me, m sr AND r a sss sr . 145

a ppropriated to a ma th or Hind u monastery Am ong .

the persons attached to t h e m onastery are c ertain devo u t

Hind us who have co me to the sacred city to die ; but
by far the larger nu mber of residents are yo ung m en
receiving instruction in the Hindu S é stras T he San '
.

katé Ghat, leading down to the river, is a short d is tance

fro m this place O n the s tairs stands a Large figure
.

of M ahabir the m onkey god and lower down is a

,
-
‘

do m ed tem pl e, containing an em ble m of S iva, over ,

which a gobl et is suspended fro m which water drops

'

i ncessantly u pon the idol through a hole in the bottom

,
'

To the north of S ankata Ghat is R am Ghé t on the ,

steps of which is a tem ple or m ore properly a roo m

, , , ,

fill ed with the m ost grotesque collection of deities to

be fo u nd in B enares T he im ages are dressed in bright
.

coloured garments interwoven with tinsel and are of ,

vario us shapes and forms S o m e present a hideous

.
~ .

appearance , ha vin g large eyes and m ouths, and being

destit u te of hands and feet T he whole collec tio n .

looks lik e a doll shop of a very vulgar description It

-
.

is difficult to u nderst and how p ersons in th eir senses

can pay divine ho mage to su ch frightfu l obj ects ; y et ,

on co nv ersing with the pri es ts they boldly d efended ,

th e adoration of th em and perceived, or pretended to

,

perceiv e neith er the abs urdity nor th e degradation of

,

such a proce eding .

Most of the gh ats leading from the streets of the

city down into th e river ha ve been built by Raj as or
.

other powerfu l natives and are generally, provided with

, ,

on e or m ore t em ples , especially S zvdlay as or te m ples

’ ’

ded icated to S i va .
 CHAPTER XII .

Bengali popul tion of Benares —T he popula Tem ple of Kedflreéwar

T an a r .

— L gend of R odi n —m
e T ank nd surro n ding T on pl
ar a u i ea

Bfl kri hu
s and C hat
a bhuj I dola — Mfin w T em ple —T h C e t
ur
’

cs ar e r s

I ge
m a of T il h nde war
b u a — '

s .
—
An cient m utilated S tat e Tem pl of u e

T H E B engalis inh abiting B enares form a co nsiderable

co m m unity They reside, for the m ost part by th em
.
,

selv es, iu a qu art er of the city called the Bengali T ole ,

and are noted chie fly for th e superior ed u cation which

m any of th em ha ve receiv ed , in com parison with th e

Hindusta ni portion of the popu lation Not a few .

am ong th em are m ore or l ess ac quainted wi th th e

English langu age and pride them selves on this cir
,

c um stance, and on the various kinds of kn owledge

which , throu gh its instrum enta lity , they h ave acqu ired .

In th eir social habit s how ever m any of this class are

, ,

not m uch , I fear, in adv an c e of th eir n eighbours l

; a

though , I rejoice to be abl e to say , there is reason to

beli ev e th at so m e h av e m ade considerabl e p rogress in
su ch m atters of l ate years Being m ore enlighten ed
,
.

than Hindus gen erally it is strange that in m any

, ,

respects th eir in ner dom estic life is scarcely better

,

than thei rs So m e of th em are beginni ng to ed u cate

.

th eir wives and daughters and are anxious for th eir

,

inte llectual i m prov em ent Y et the unedu cated portion

.

of the Bengali co mm unity adhere to the custo ms of

148 BE N ABE S , rm m raxsxsr .

I could j udge, appeared to be of i m posing dimensions .

They stand in a cag e like looking place ; bu t why th ey

-

are so concealed fro m th e p u blic gaze by th e wrappings

abo u t th em , it is hard to say. Perh aps it is in order to

protect them from the dust and filth of the enclosure,
or because they have not been as yet, properly con
,

sec d and transform ed into deities worthy of wor

ship, by m eans of certa in cerem onies prescribed by the

sacred books and perform ed by th e Br ahm ans which , ,

as is fondly asserted, are capabl e of prod u cing such an

astoun di ng and i m possible result T he pri ncipal tem ple

.

in the ce ntre of the quadrangle like th e te mpl es at each

,

of its corners, is surmounted by a dom e Its ou ter .

walls, as high as the ceiling of the court , and indeed , ,

all the w alls of the court and passages , and th e pillars

of the inner verandah, are painted red and white, the

form er colour predom inating .The entrance to th e
te mpl e itself is on its eastern side from which a broad
,

path l eads down to the Ganges Two black ston e

.

statues in bass reli ef, six feet in height, stand on either

-

side of the doorway, and are supposed to gu ard the

approach to th e inn er cham b er The figures
.

c c edin gly w ell executed , and have a striking and life

like appearance Each has four hands, and in form

.
-
,

and posture , is th e exact counterpart of th e oth er In .

one hand th ey hold a tride nt , in th e second a cl u b in ,

the third a flow er while the fourth is em pty , an d is

,

raised for th e purpose of attracting attention one finger ,

being extended as tho u gh expressive of prohibition or

warning The m eaning of this peculiar positi on of the
.

finger is, I understand, as if these doorkeepers stopped

 B ENARES , m ar AND PRESENT . 149

the worshipp er , wishing to cross th e threshold into the

sacred cham ber where the idol dwells, and addressed
him as follows Wait a little and wh en y ou get
, ,
”
perm ission from the god, then y ou m ay enter This .

m ay explain the circu m stance , that th e door of th e

t em ple is for a certain tim e in the day , kept closed
, ,

an d the worshippers ha v e to rem ain outsid e until it is

thrown open again, when th ey are allowed to enter .

B etween th e statues is a door leading into the ia

terior of the shrin e and to its out er fra m ework sixty
,

seven sm all lam ps are attach ed which are lighted u p

,

with oil ev ery evening Within the temple is the god

.

Kedé reéwar who is represented sim ply by a sto ne, th e

,

em blem of S iva ; for Kedareswar is strictly speaki ng , ,

only anoth er nam e for this divinity Kedér is, properly, .

no nam e of a person b ut of a plac e in th e Hi ma lay as .

,

Siv a, it is b eliev ed , resided th ere ; and h ence is called

Kedé reéwar or K edarnath, Lord of Ked ar Y et in .
’
,

Benares there is a tradition, that Ked ar was a devout

,

Brah m an who, in co m pany with th e M uni Vasieh

,

t ha
,
visited a m ou n ta in form i ng part of th e H i m a

laya range, wh ere h e died At his death , it is said

.
,

S iva endowed him wi th the attri butes of deity , and

allowed hi m to be worshipped in co njunction w i th him
self and thro u gh the sam e sym bol
,
A ppearing to .

Vasishtha in a dream h e said h e wo u ld co m ply with any

,

request he m ight mak e ; where upo n Vasishtha requested

that he would take u p hi s residence in Benares S u ch .

is the origin of the tem ple here as given in the K dci

'

M anda . Th ere is a tem ple dedicated to Kedéreéwar

near the fam ous te mple of H arinath , on Mount Him a
152 BxN A ass, F AST AND PRESENT .

fec ted by steps T h e tem pl e, consequ en tly is a pro m i

.
,

nent obj ect in this qu arter of the city A sculptu red .

bull li es cro u ching in th e vera n dah Opposite the idol .

O n either sid e of th e entran ce to the te m pl e are sm a ll

shrin es containing a num ber of idols one of which
, ,

bears th e strange nam e of S amkatik This idol is rare .

in th e B enares tem ples P assing round to th e east

.

side of th e tem pl e, sev eral nich es in the w all are seen .

These co ntain nu m erous idols I n one is a representa .

tion of the sol e of Vishnu s foot, in m arble, besides

’

three snak e gods, three em blems of Mah adeva and an

-
,

old figure of Ganeé Anoth er has a la rge black idol

.

of S iv a, with h ead hands, and feet This idol is very

,
.

seldom found in Benares ; as S iva is alm ost always

worshipped throu gh a ph allic sym bol , which is the
com m onest and m ost popul ar obj ect of adoration in
ev ery qu art er of th e city T h e idol is good lookin g
.
-
,

and is sea ted in a m edit ativ e postu re its h air falling

,

in ringl ets u pon its shou lders A pl antain tree carved .

-
,

in stone stands on either side of him ; and, in a

,

corner, is a figure of S amkAtik who is reading to Siva .

T he verandah of th e tem pl e was once beau tifully em bel

lish ed ; but th e sm all and d elicate paintin gs which crowd
th e roof an d capit als of th e pill ars are exceedi ngly faded .

O n a second pl atform lower than that on which the Ti

,

lu bha ndeéwar t em pl e stands is a pe epul tree, resting

,

u pon whi ch is a large m u tilated statue Its h ead is two .

feet in h eight, and a foot in breadth ; and its body is of

propo rtionat e size T he h eight of the h ea d is partly
.

owin g to th e m ode in which the hair is arranged u pon

it ; for it is pl aited and bound round the crown , so as to
 as N A ass, PAST AND PRESENT . 153

have th e ppearance of a high h ead dress The face is

a -
.

round and not at all of the Hindu expression T he

, .

Brah manical cord passes over one shoulder, and des

osud a to th e waist ; but, notwithstanding thi s circum
stance, I am stro ngly inclined to th ink th at th e figure
is rath er of th e B u ddhist than of th e Hindu era T he .

presence of th e cord is no difficulty in th e way of this

su pposition ; inas m uch as several of the pre historical -

Buddhas w ere Brah mans T h e h air is arran ged in a

.

m anner altogether differen t from th at which th e m odern

Hindus practise It is said th at Aur ungzeb m utilated
.

this statue T h e thighs are im bedded in the ground ;

.

bu t the l egs, I was told , from th e kn ees downwards ,

are n ot in exist ence T he sta t ue is sym m etrically pro

.

portioned, and its parts are fin ely chiselled Hindu .

sculptors of th e present day are utt erly incapable of

produ cing su ch a piece of workm anship ; and, th erefore ,

one is c u rious to know how it cam e h ere an d from ,

what place it was brou ght T h e priest in attendance

.

gave it the nam e of Birbh adra a fam ou s m essenger

,

of Siva A m u ltitu de of idols not fewer th an thirty ,

.
,

are pl ac ed aroun d h im and th e trunk of th e tr ee against

which h e l eans There is a neem tree a few paces ofl,

‘

at the foot of which reclin es the eight handed godd ess -

A shtbhuj i and close to her is a coll ection of nine d eities .

I n th e enclosure of this t em pl e are several im ages of

considerable antiquity A bull, especi ally in the lower
.
,

enclosu re, bea rs m arks of im m ense age and form erly , ,

it is said, stood in front of th e idol T ilubh andeéwar .

O n th e way fro m K ed ar nath te mpl e to D aéasam edh

tem ple v ariou s objects of interest are to be seen A t .
156 BBN A R s s, PA sT AND PasssN T .

quart er of the city m ust have been frequ ented if not ,

partially inhabited at the sam e epoch , T he few idols .

of an ancient appearance fo un d in this p art of B enares ,

prove, in them selves, nothing ; as th ey m ay hav e bee n

brou ght from other parts of th e city , or indeed from , ,

elsewh ere S om e of them are st u ck into the w all s,

'

and th e sid es of houses, bui lt ten or tw enty y ea rs

ago ; whil e others are pl aced by the trunks of trees ,

planted within the m em or y of living m en or upon , ,

or in, the walls of the ped estals of m asonry form ed

roun d th eir base N eith er th e Kedar nor th e Kaéi
.

quarter of B enares contains, so far as m y i nvesti gations

have gone any bona fide rem ains of ancien t tem ples
, ,

such as th e T rilochan or B enares quarter presents ,

unl ess it m ay be th e walls of the form er tem ple of
Bish eéwar, now part of a m o squ e, b u ilt by A uru ngzeb ,
and th e tem pl e of Briddhka l, on th e boun dary between
the K551 and th e B enares qu arters S till, it m u st he
’

confessed, th at tim e worn idols do exist in the KedAT

-

quarter as well as in the two remaining quarters of

,

B enares Th ese no dou bt, fu rnish a strong proof of

.
,

th e antiqu ity of th e city its elf, though not of thi s

individual portion of it ; and their existen ce to a ,

sm all extent, in it throws no light u pon its real epoch .

O n the co ntrary , how ever tem pl es and other buildings

,

whi ch are sta tionary and im moveabl e, so long as they

stand, do det erm ine th e era of their own neighbo u r
hood, and furnish som e reasons for supposing th at
other edifices m ay possibly be found n ear th em , of
eq ua l an tiqui ty with th em selves .
 CHAP TER X III .

D uaoA K und d S ac re
k —
M on y Lege d of D rg nd D gfi
n
e s x — AuD ev
ao tee — D t y K nd
u u u

o T nk — Ku uks hetr wa
r a s o
r T n k — T he L IArik K ass or W ll
r a O e

An i nt S culptures
c e .

O NE of the popular and m ost frequ ented temples in

B enares is that of Du rga wife of Mah adeva or Siva,
,

situated at the sou thern extrem ity of the city Bloody .

sacrifices are oflered to the goddess in great abundance,

'

by persons wishing to obtain her aid in cases of sick

ness , un der the im pression tha t she will accept the
life of an animal in exchange for the life of a human
being N ot that th ey have any notion whatever of
.

atone m en t effected th ereby , or of the sacrifices ha ving

any co nnexion with sin and its forgiv eness ; but their

sim pl e idea is, that the goddess delights in blood,

that she takes pl easure in the sickness and death of
m ankind , and that sh e can only be appeased if ap ,
~

peased at all by an irrational creature being ded icated

,

to h er in the place of a rational one, who m she had

,

doo m ed to sickness or death Sacrifices are also pre .

sented to her for all kinds of obj ects For instance , .

m en out of e m ploym ent will ofler a kid to D urgé ,

‘

in order that, through her, they may speedily obtain

 158 R E N A R E s, PAST AND PRESENT .

work Form erly a sm all shrine was situated on this

.
,

spot
,
in the m idst of what, it is asserted, was then
wild j ungle : but it seem s to h ave been v ery little
resorted to ; and it is far fro m clear when or by what ,

m eans, the shrin e began to be fam ous A t the tim e.

that th e new tem pl e and tank were erected by the

fam ous M arathi , Rani Bhawani , no doubt th eir
splendid appearance constitu ted a strong reason why
larger n um bers were attracted to the place N ow , no .

Hindu in the neighbou rhood, of any pretensions to

earnestn ess in his religion, negl ects to visit the tem pl e
occasionally P ilg ri m s also, from a distance find their
.
,

way to it Throughout th e day worshippers m ay be

.

seen perform ing their d evotions in the presence of th e

idol , whil e, every Tu esday , a meld or fair is h eld in
its honour ; and, on the Tu esdays of one m onth of
th e year nam ely , the m outh of S é wan, th ese melé a
,

are att end ed by an enorm o u s m ultitud e of p eople wh o ,

fill th e road and spaciou s gardens adj acent to the tem ple .

Co nnected with the D urga shri ne is what m ay wi th ,

as m u ch appropriate ness as is ofte n atta ched to th e

’
word, be called th e institu tion of m onk eys These .

creatures — all livi ng deiti es , gods , and goddesses

, ,

literally swarm upon the p ri vate houses and abo u t ,

th e streets and bazars in a wid e circ uit around the

,

tem ple They are of all sizes and ages, of all tem pers
.

an d peculiariti es and I v en tu re to say rep resent in

, , , ,

th eir aggregation all the trick ery and c unn ing of which
,

m onkeyhood is capabl e I was told that th ey n um ber

.

on e h u ndred tho u sand ; b ut this of cou rse, is a great ex

,

aggeration Bu t that th ey am ount to sev eral thousand

.
160 BENARES , PAST AND PRESENT .

world Indra hi m self, the king of the gods was ob

.
,

ligad to surrender his sceptre to him ; and in like ,

mann er, A gni ( the god of Fire) , P avana ( the god of

th e Winds ) , and Jala ( the god of Water ) s ubm itted to
hi s irresistibl e authority T he dem on “mt a stop to
.

religio n am ong m en ; and injustice tyranny and op , ,

pression spread over the earth H e treated the gods .

m ost ignom in io u sly, and ordered th em to feed his

cows Th ese di vine perso nages, in th eir distress wen t
.
, ,

in a body, to M ah ad eva, to who m th ey represented

their m iserable condition Taking pity on them, Maha
.

deva comm anded Gau ri his wife, to go and kill the

,

dem on, and d eliver the gods fro m th eir ca lam iti es .

Thereupo n Gau ri su m m oned the bloody goddess Maha

kah , and instruct ed h er to slay the d em on I n obe
'

di en c e to h er in str uctions , M ah akali set out to attack

D urg bu t D u rg h earing of her appro ach call ed to
, ,

gether his rela tives and serv ants and said to them : ,

”
Seize this woman, and tak e care she do es not escape 1
They th en seized Mahak ali and w ere carrying her
,

ofi to th e ho u se of th e d em o n ; but on the way , in

'

her anger sh e darted fire fro m her m ou th , and burnt

,

them all to ash es On witn essi ng t his m ishap , D urg

.

gath ered together a l arger num ber of his adhere nts,

and sent th em to recapture th e godd ess Bu t th ese .

fared no better than their predecessors, and w ere de

stroy ed in a sim ilar manner T h e d em on was now ex
.

ceedingly annoyed and assem bled an i mm ense arm y ,

,

n um beri ng sev eral m illio ns of per so ns and sent it ,

against the goddess D aunted by su ch a host, Mah a

.
 E E N A E E s, PAST AND PRESENT . 161

half fled and ascended to hea v en in the form of a

,

balloon , followed by the arm y which so ared u p to the,

skies in pursuit of her After a ti me th e arm y des

.

cended to th e earth again, and en cam p ed on Bindhy a

chal ; but Mahakali kept on her way , u n til she cam e to

Gau ri to whom she narrated the c irc u mstances of her
,

journey, adding that a v ast arm y was on its way to

capture her On receiving this intelligence, Gauri be
.

cam e incarnate in a body possessing a thousand arm s

, ,

of such gigantic dim ensio ns th at it reached fro m ear th

,

to hea ven When D urg beheld her, he was s mitten

.

wi th h er beau ty and declar ed to his peopl e that who

, ,

ever am o ngst the m should capture h er should sit on

the throne of Indra .

Exci ted by the prospect of obtaining such a high dis

tinction , several regi ments of the arm y m ade a rush
upon Ga uri, with so great an uproar, that the four
elephants which su pported the earth on th eir backs
becam e terrifi ed , and fled, in d is may, to Bindby échal .

Gauri was delighted at seeing th em and in h er own , ,

defence, im m ediately created an arm y of gods and in

stru m en ts of w arfare A large num ber of the enem y
.

were slai n th ro ugh th e power and activity of the god

dess ; and D urg hi mself, s ma rti ng u nder th e loss he
had s usta ined , now took part in the co nflict Holding .

in his hands a t ri dent a Sword a bow and arrows , he

, , ,

cam e on with irresistible im petu osity and, approachi ng ,

Gauri inflicted u pon her a hea vy blow T he goddess

, .

fainte d, but, presently recovering herself, arose and

ordered the gods to engage with the foe T he b attle .

bet ween the gods and the de mons now became general,
11
162 E E NAR ES , PAST AND PRESENT .

du ri ng which D urg and Gauri fou ght together, and,

fighting ascended to heaven and desce nded to the earth
,

agai n .O n reaching th e earth , th e d em on seized a stone,

and thr ew it at th e goddess who on its co m ing n ear ,
,
,

brea th ed a curse upo n it, and red uced it to powder He .

then laid hold of an entire mou n tain and raising it u p, , ,

hurl ed it at Gau ri bu t she crum bl ed it also to powder , , ,

and with h er w eapo n struck the d em o n who u tt erin g

, ,
, ,

a lou d c ry , fell to th e gro u nd T h e m ercil ess goddess

.

then cu t off the h ead of D urg ; and, all th e enem ies

being slain, the battle was m ost satisfactorily ended .

T he gods now approach ed Gau ri , and began to extol

her for h er v alour and exploits and showered flo wers
,

from heav en on the earth b elow T he celestial das .

S euses, m u sici ans , and m instrels — Ap sarases G audhar

, ,

vas, and Kinnaras, — were su mm oned, and, together with

the gods M u nis and Rishis, joined in rendering praise
, ,

to Gau ri Gratified with th e ho nou r paid to h er, th e

.

goddess gav e u tteranc e to th ese words : Who ev er shall

“

repeat wh at h as been written in m y praise shall be de

livered fro m p ain and fear ; and I wi ll m ak e m yself
prese nt, wh en invok ed with eulogi es th at nam e m e .

I will , also , change m y appellation to D urga by which , ,

in future, I wish to be addressed, b ecause I h av e slain

”
th e d em on D urg .Having said this sh e vanished ; and
,

order was everywh ere re established .

Su ch is the history of this Hindu deity, which for ,

wildness and m arv el , is not surpassed by the legenda ry

stories connected with the Middl e A ges Let us look .

at th e t emple wh ere the goddess holds her co u rt This .

is situated in the m idst of a quadrangl e surrounded

164 m u ms , m ar A N D PRESENT .

figu re of a b ull , also of m arbl e kneels in front To ,

.

th eir right is another shrine, in honour of M ah adeva .

On th e sides of th e enclosure extending all round it , ,

is a pl atform or t errace, built into the four walls, and

covered in with a roof : it furnishes room for accom
m odating large num bers of perso ns, and protecting them
from the sun and rain Here I saw a pain ted d evotee,
.

abso rbed in m edita tio n seated before a few l eaves of

,

a S anskrit book His right h and was in a sock , and

.

held a m ild or rosary which , concealed fro m observation ,

,

it revolved ; and as h e m u ttered his mantras h e cou nted

, ,

the beads u nceasingly Upon this platform is a c urious

.

little building with an iron grati ng in front looking

, ,

lik e a cage or den for th e abod e of so m e wild beast,

bu t which is none oth er tha n the residence of th e
golden faced go ddess Bageswari
-
A sh ort distance .

from this shrine is an im m odest figure of a woman, in

bass reli ef
-
.

Between the pl atform and the te mple which together , ,

with its porc h, occupies m ost of th e remaini ng space

of th e quadrangle a b road path runs separati ng th e
, ,

form er from the latter I n this path on the so u th side

.
, ,

is a stone scaffolding from the arch of which a hell is

,

suspended th e gift of a Raj a of Nepal ; and on either

,

side of th e arch is a sma ll figure of a lion T he te m pl e .

and the porch although united togeth er

,
form ing one ,

edifice are in r eality two distin ct b u ildi ngs and w ere

, , , ,

erected at two different periods T he tem pl e was erec ted .

by Ba ni Bha wani as before m entioned during the last

, ,

cent u ry ; while th e porch was erected by a S ubahdar ,

or s uperior co m missioned native ofiicer, a few years ago .

 Bananas, PA sT AND PRESENT . 1 65

The porch stands upon twelve elaborately carved pillars,

-

the designs of which are fantastic, yet not without taste .

All the pillars are sim ilarly carved Th eir base rests
.

upon a floor raised about four feet from the ground ;

an d they are su rm ounted by a dom e , with cupolas at

each corner, conn ected together by a breast work The -

.

inner part of the dom e is e m bellished with a vari ety

of colours , bu t the painting, in several pl aces, has suf
fered injury . From the centre of the dom e a large hell
is suspended, which , it is reported, was presented to the
temple, by a E uropean m agistrate of M irzapore, about
forty y ears ago This tal e incredible as its sounds and
.
, ,

th e truth of which I am not prepared to vouch for, is

co m m only b elieved by th e peopl e .

T he t em pl e is built after the orthodox m odel of Hindu

tem pl es, bu t not with that excessive displ ay of mi nu te
carving and sculpture , represen ting m onstrous and inde
cent figure s which m ay be seen on m any Hindu edifices
,

of more m od ern ti m es Y et its ca rving is not scanty

. .

The cornices, indeed, of the doors, situated on each of the

four sides, are so covered with carving, as to be liable,
to so m e extent, to the rem ark just applied to m ore re
ce nt buildings Bu t th e upper pa rt of the tem ple, not
.

withstanding ths m ultitude of sm all cupolas surroundi ng

th e steepl e and rising up to its very apex exhibits a ,

simplicity of design which every one m ust behold with

pleasure and admiration Each cupola term inates in a
.

gilded point ; and the steeple has a gilded trident crown

ing its sum m it T h e cornic es of the doors above spoken
.

of have the peculiarity of a double arch , a n inner and -

an ou ter. Over the outer arch are figures of men, in

16 6 s,
annexe ru n AN D PRESENT .

bass reli ef, each seated on a bird, and holding a kind of

-

gu itar in hi s h ands ; while the second or inner arch is

ornam ented with figures of D urga and other deiti es .

T he cornices of the door at the m ain entrance to the

,

tem pl e leading throu gh the porch exhibit designs of a ,

different ch aracter from the rest Figures of m en riding

.

on lio ns are carv ed u po n th e fac e of the out er arch ;

an d of G auss and two wo m en u po n the face of th e inner .

,

I n the interior of the te m pl e is a s m all shrin e, the

residence of the goddess p ainted over with bright
,

gl aring colours The idol within is covered with tin

.

selled cloth an d h as a fac e of brass , or of silv er, or

,

of oth er kin d of m etal according to the whim of th e

,

pri ests who k eep a stock of m asks on h and which fit

, ,

on th e h ea d of the i m age It is also decorated with a

.

garl and , rising lik e horns abov e its h ead ; and with
sev eral necklaces of gold coins hanging low down as
far as the ch est A sm all l am p bu rns inside the shri ne ;
.

and i m m ediat ely in front of th e l atter is a silv er bath

su nk into the grou nd Flowers are strewn abou t, the

.

offerings of th e worshippers, and being perm itted to ,

decay e mit an efilu vium in the highest degree per

,

nic ious to all who appro ach th e pl ace .

O n th e north side of the outer w all of the qu adrangl e

is one of those noble tanks which abound in northern
India It is within the j urisdiction of the tem ple and
.
, ,

so far, m ay be regarded as sacred ; but its waters are

not held in sp ecial esti m ation for reli gio u s purposes ,

altho u gh they are of great dom estic utility to the

A short distance to the east of D urga Kund in the ,

168 m m ,
Pm AND m m .

and Am rit R ao but it is uncertain by who m the

or iginal well was built In a niche on the stairs is a
disk of the sun, which is so m uch worn , th at it was wi th
so m e th at by the fading light of the waning
difi c ulty ,

day I could distin gu ish the carving u pon it T his sacred

,
.

object is worshipped on the day de voted to th e su n,

that is our Sund ay
,
O n a platform, about half way
.
-

down is a figu re of the god Genes, in a standing posture

, ,

which gives a v ery lu dicrous appearance to his prota

berant abdo men and his el ephant h ead
,
By his side -
.

—
is a m u tilated figure, not I am satisfied , of Hindu ,

—
origin wi th a h ead dress ri sing to an apex h aving a
,
-
,

knob standing ou t in front T h e te mpl es are bound by a .

fill et ; and arou nd th e neck is a double necklace fast ened

by a cl asp Several other sculp tures on th e walls of th e
.

so u th stairs arrested m y att ention, as bei ng v ery different

fro m m odern works of Hind u art, both in design and in
exec uti on Th ey are partly bass reliefs of figu res ou t on
.
o

separate stones and insert ed i nto the walls They m u st, .

therefore, h ave b een brought from som e ot h er b uilding,

of a d ate an terio r to th e erection of th e w alls now c on

taining th em The tem pl e of Bhadreéwar stands on

.

the south side of the wall , and di splays a large em blem

of S iva .
 CH AP TER X IV .

m of th e M aharaja of Benares at —
M arm a ra R aj a Gheit S ingh s
’

Tank — Virtue of Pilgrimage to the R i m nagar sid e of Benares

T m ple of Ved vy i s T he P n h kosi R ow or S a red Boundary
.

e a . a c -
c

of Bena res — P ilgrim age of th e Panc h kos L—S anitary c ondition of

-

Bow — Im provements m ggestod .

AT distance of a m ile from the Fort of R am nagar,

a

the residen ce of the Ma haraj a of B enares is a h and ,

som e tem pl e situated on the eastern side of a capacious

,

tank Its foundations were laid, and the fi nest portions

.

of its tower was erected , abo u t one hun dred years ago,
by Raj a C heit Singh ; but it was co m pl eted by the
prese nt Raj a T he t em ple, incl u ding th e pl atform on
.

w hich it rests, is fully one hundred feet high Each .

of its four sides, from the base to a h eight of thirty

five or forty feet is crowded with elaborately carved
,
-

figures in bass reli ef These are in so m e pl aces, broken,

,
-
.
,

but, generally speaking are in a good state of pre

,

servation They are in five rows, six being in a row ;

.
°

so that each side of th e tower contains thirty figures ,

and th e four sides one h un dred and twenty As no

,
.

expense has been spared in the execu tion of this pro

digious wo rk , it m ay be rega rded as fairly representing

wh at Hind u genius, in m odern tim es can accomplish ,

in th e art of sculpture, and should be visited and

studied as such The lowerm ost row is filled with
.
170 BE N A R E s, PAST AND PR E sE N T .

eel phants and the next, in succession, with lions , each

,

of which stands on two sm all elephants The lions .

have v ery sp are bodi es , and, in this and oth er respec ts ,

are grotesqu ely m ad e

; showing th a t the sculptors h ad

no livi ng m odel before th em , and drew liberally on

their own i maginations T he three u pper rows exhibit .

divers figures of deiti es, in carn ations, and oth er sacred

objects T he three goddesses of the Ganges th e Ju mn a,
.
,

and the S aras wat i have each a sep arat e nich e Kri sh na , .
, ,

too has his pl ace ; but he is not alon e, for two of his
,

favourite gop is or m ilk m aids are close by Ind ra ( th e

-
.

king of the gods) , Brah m a Vish nu and Mah adeva or , ,

Si va ( the three deiti es of th e Hi ndu triad ) Kuber ,

( the god of w e alth ), Bh a iro ( th e D ivi n e M a gi strate of

Benares) , the h ero R am and his wife S its, Hanu m an

( the m onk ey g ),
o d G en ,es B-
a ldeo ( brother o f K rishn a ),
etc are each honoured with a st a tu e H e re too is
, , , , .
,

Vayu , or the wind ; Su ry a, or th e su n ; Agni or fire ; ,

and Chandram a or th e m oon the l tter h vin g rays

, ; a a

of glory darting from h er head and being seated in a ,

carriage drawn by two deer A num ber of sacred per .

sonages Ris his, are also represented, such as N arad

,

and G a endram oksh and lik ewise , th e thousand arm ed

j , ,
-

Arjun a or Kartavi ry a, whom Paraéuram a fought and

killed In the centre of the upperm ost row, on the
.

south side is a figure of th e goddess D urgé , wife of

,

Mah adeva and in a si m ilar position on th e east

, ,

side, is a figure of the bloody goddess Mah ak ali , who

thirsts continually for human victim s I n a niche on .

the north side a strange feat of Krishna is d epicted .

This versa tile deity , it is said, on one occasion diverted

172 E E N A R R s, PA sT AND PRESEN T .

which is that of a lion intended as the Vahan or,

riding animal of Durga Over the entrance itself are

.

peacocks in bass reli ef, standing with their heads to

,
-

wards each other The door is not l arge, b ut is ribbed

.

and m assive and is cov ered with brass o th at viewi n g

, ; s ,

it fro m the fro nt it has the appearance of being m ade

,

entirely of that m etal .

T he interior of the te mpl e, like m ost Hindu shrin es,

is confined and gloo m y D irectly opposite the door
.

s tands the goddess D ru gs H er body is of m arble,.

cov ered wi th gold , and is array ed in a y ellow dress

partially concealed by a scarf T h e im age is in a sm all
'

shrine in front of which is a table ; and on the tabl e

,

lie v arious v essels used at the hour of sacrifice It .

is over thi s tabl e, and before the face of the idol, that
th e sacred fire is waved T o the le ft is another table,
.

of s m aller dim ensions which, when I saw it was com

, ,

p let ely cov ered with whit e blosso m s of flow er s N ea r .

by in a n iche in th e wall are two idols, r epresenting

, ,

Krish na and his wife B adh a To the right of D urga .

is h er five headed husband S iva

-
.

T he tank and a garden in th e neighbou rhood were

also the work of Raj a C h eit Singh T he form er is .

su rrou nded by a spac ious gh at, the stairs of which are

built of stone O n occasion of the natives of B enares
.

proceeding on pilgrimage to t his spot, th ey are ac

custo med to bath e in the ta nk ; and sometim es large
crowds m ay be seen assem bled on th e stairs Bu t so .

ext ensive are th e ghéts, that hundreds of persons might

dress and u ndress upon th em withou t inco mm oding one,

another . T he tank is a square , at each corner of which

 a A ass, PAsT AND PRESENT . 17 3

is a temple The pilgri ms who com e to bath e, there

.

fore , pass and repass at least one tem pl e .

T he obj ect of the pilgri m age to Ram nagar is so m e

what am using I t is said t hat Vedavy as the co mpil er
.
,

of th e Vedas once paid a visit to R am nagar, inte nding

,

to p roceed to B enares but, on reachi ng this pl ace, and

beholding the ci ty in th e distance his soul was so ,

ravish ed with delight, that he did not d esire to enter

the city itself Rem ai ning at R amnagar, h e sign alized
.

his visit by the i nstitution of a pilgri m age, which should

conduce to the w el fare of its i nh abitants and of all
oth ers in danger of future degradation T he sanctity .

of R é m nagar, it appea rs was nev er eq u al to th at of

,

Benares ; and, whil e all persons who died in the l atter

place perforce, it is beli eved obtained after death
, , , ,

happiness and h eaven, all those, on the co ntrary , who

died in the form er had the m isfortune to enter u pon
,

anoth er life in the d egraded and m iserabl e co ndition

of an ass It was conseq u ently th e custo m report

.
, , ,

says in the age of V edavy as and is still for persons

, , ,

residing on the Ram nagar side of th e river which is ,

call ed mega when taken seriously ill, to repair to the

,

Benares side in order, if d eath should co m e to die

, ,

there, and so esca pe an asinine conditi o n in the next

birth V edavy as however taking pity on the mags
.
, ,

land , established at Ram nagar a firth or pl ace of pilgrim

age to be ho noured in the m onth of M agh ( January
,

February ) prom isi ng, that whoever attended it should

,

he d elivered fro m the danger of beco m ing an ass after

death N ot only do the people of Ramnagar perform
.

this pilgrim age , but great multitudes from Benares,

174 E E N A R E S , PA sT AND PR E sE N T .

lik ewise , resort thither, that th ey m ay make th eir own

deliveran ce fro m assh ood doubly sure P ilgri m s con .

tinu ally arrive d u ring the whol e of the m o nth ; bu t

Mondays and Fridays are days especially preferred and ,

on which the ass em bl ages are greatest .

Th ere is a tem ple dedicated to Vedavy ti s in the

Raj a s fort of Ram nagar It is situated abov e the p ara
’
.

pet overlooking the river T he appr oach to it is by

.

the m ai n stairs or gh at l eading u p fro m the Gan ges

in to th e fort Upon th e stairs to the l eft, in a s mall
.

shrine, is a richly dressed figu re of Gangs, or the god

-

dess of th e Ganges , in white m arbl e, seated on a croco

dil e and ha ving a crown on h er h ead S he h as four
,
.

hands : one of them hangs down, a second is U plifted a ,

thi rd grasps a lotos , and the fo urth holds a b rass v essel .

P roceeding to the top of the stairs , and turning to th e

l eft, you enter a court, bo unded on one side by the para
e t of th e fo rt and open to th e sk H ere are s ev eral
p , y .

shri nes . I n th e fi rst, M ah adeva resid es Another .

rests against the tru nk of a tr ee, and contains v arious

small deiti es N ear to this sh rine is a pl at form, on
.

wh ich is a t emple bearing the n am e of Vedavy as .

Th ere is , however no im age of h im inside ; and the

,

obj ect of worship is the embl em of Siva O n th e floor .

of the pl atform is a carv ed disk representing th e S un ;

and a short distanc e off, a fig ure of G enes
,
.

M ention h as alr eady b een m ade of the Panch kosi -

road, which encom passes B enares This fam o us road

.

form s the boundary of the sacred do m ain on the ex ,

tre me east of which the city stands Its l ength is abou t

.

fifty m iles Comm encing at th e river Gauges, and quit

.
176 DnN AR ns, PAST AND PnBS E N T .

braces, th ey say , even E uropeans and Moham m edans ,

even Pariahs and oth er outcasts, ev en liars, m urderers ,

and thi eves . That no soul can p erish i n Benares 18 thus , ,

the ch aritable su perstition of the Hi nd us .

To perform the pilgrimage of th e P anch kosf is ac -

counted a v ery m eritorious set It is necessary th at

.

every good Hindu residing in the city of Benares should

twice a year accom plish this pilgri mage, in ord er that
the im p urity which the soul and body h ave con tracted
d rm g the year m ay be obliterated ; for it is h eld to be
p
i mpossibl e even to reside i n su ch a holy city as Benares ,

without co ntrac ting some defilem ent N ot only the 1m

.

habitants of B enares but also m ultitudes of persons

,

from various parts of India, traverse the road and seek ,

to obtain th e bl essing w h ich th ey are told , s u ch a pious

,

ac t ensures . I t is customary for a large nu mber of pil

gri m s to trav el together on this jou rney Before setting
.

out each m ornin g, th ey m u st b ath e in a ta nk or stream ,

and, on term inating th eir m arch each day m ust p erform ,

the sam e rite Th ey do not perm it th em selves the

.

luxury of Shoes ; nor do th ey reli ev e th e fatigu e of the

journey by the assist ance of either hors e, or ass, or cam el,
or elephant, or of any carriage or cart , or v ehicle what
,

ever Anxious to secure a fu ll m easure of m erit , th ey

.

cannot afford th at it should be l essened by the appliances

and arts of civilized life . All , therefore, m en wom en, ,

and children , rich and poor, prin ces and pea sants , travel

on foot . The only exception to this strin gent rul e is

in the case of the sick and in firm ; and it is qu estionabl e
if even they will obtain s uch a full m d of m erit as the
'

rest On the way ; the pilgrim s m ust not eat pawn, of

.
 R EN A R E S , PAST AND PR E sR N T . 177

which all natives are passionately fond ; and th ey m u st

take great care th at the Benares sid e of the road is not
defiled . Th ey m u st not quarrel or give one another bad
,

language ; m u st not rec eiv e any pres ent and m u st not ,

give any food or water, or anything else even to a friend

, ,

or tak e an y su ch thi ngs fro m him This l ast require

.

m ent h as b een dictated by a spirit of selfis hn ess ; for the

pilgri m is so intent on th e acqu isition of m erit, that he
cannot b ring hi mself to Sh are it with any one tho ugh — ,

it be even his dearest friend H e wi ll render no assist

.

ance to his neighbo ur to en ter th e gates of h ea v en, nu

l ess he can do so without loss to hi m self Whil e striving .

to enter withi n th e sacred gates hi m self h e will suffer ,

his fainting foot so re brother to die upo n th e ro ad

,
-
.

S uch is the hard selfishn ess of Hi nd uism I ndeed, sel .

fish ness is the very root of Hind uism, is its sap and life,
is its branches, and blosso ms , and fru it .

Starting fro m th e ManikarnikaGh at the pilgrim keeps ,

along th e b ank s of th e G ang es u n til h e arriv es a t th e A si

Sann and A si Ghat where a petty stream flo ws into

,

the g reat riv er Fro m this spot h e p roceeds to a templ e

.

of Jagannath close by , and th ence on to the village of

Kandhawa where h e stays for the rem aind er of th e day
, ,

ha ving perform ed a jou rney of six m il es T he seco nd .

day s m arch is to th e vill age of D hupchandi, ten m iles

’

further on, wh ere h e worships the t u tel ary goddess of

that nam e O n the third day he arrives at R am eéwar,
.

a fter a lo ng w alk of fourteen m il es T he fo u rth day

.

brings h im to S ivapur, where he visi ts the fam ous

shrin e of the P anch Pandav, or five brothers who were
all m arried to one wo m an .
178 E EN A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

'

O n this day he travels eight m iles, and, on the fifth

day , six m ore, na m ely, to th e vi lla ge of Kapildh é ra,
where he worships the god Mah adeva The sixth and .

last stage is from Kapildhé ré to the Berna Sangam, and .

thence to ManikarnikaGhat from which he first set ou t , ,

whic h is also six m iles in length H e has thus com .

p let ed in
,
six days a m arch of ne arly ,
fifty m i les ,

about six of which , — nam ely, the space between the

Berna Sann and Asi San gam , the two extrem iti es of

—
B enares are along th e banks of th e Ganges
'
All the .

way from Kapildh aré to Manikarniké Ghat, the pilgrim

scatters on the gro un d grains of barley which he carries ,

in a bag mad e for the purpose : this curious cu stom is

in honour of Siva O n reaching the gh at he ba thes in
.
,

th e riv er m ak es his o ffering of m oney to th e pri ests in

,

attendance, and th en goes to the tem ple of S zi khi viné

'
-

k or th e wi tness bearing Gam e in o rd er th at t he -

y a -
, r

fac t of h is pilgri mage m ay be duly attested by tha t

—
d eity , and th ence to his ho m e A few grains of barley .

are reserved for an obl ation to th e idol Yav a vina y ak -

,

or Barl ey G aneé wh ose tem ple rises im mediately above

-
,

the M anikarnika Gh at .

With the exception of the tem pl e of Kardam eéwar at

K andh awa which is of co nsid erabl e an tiq u ity, and is
,

th e finest spec im en of anci ent Hi nd u archi tect ure in

this part of I ndia no templ e along the road can in m y
, ,

opi nion d ate further bac k than two hu ndr ed an d fifty

,

y ears Th ere m ay be a few of abo ut this age ; bu t I

.

should sa y th at m ore than five h u ndred ou t of the si x

hundred templ es which I co m pute to be now standing

,

there , h av e been erected si nce the E nglish ca me into

180 RE N AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

division of th e road towards Kapildhéra, certain ia

,

disputable m arks and signs of age are apparent ; but

these I hold , are not co nnected with the Panchkosi
,

ro ad but rath er with S am ath and other Buddhist sites

,

in this neighbourhood .

A gain ro ads which h ave been trodden for m any cen

,

tu ries, not to say tho u sands of y ears are co m m ,

m uch worn, and, occasio nally si nk far below the ad ,

j ace nt soil T he li mesto ne soil of B enares and th e

.

s urrounding co u ntry is no exception to thi s rule The .

old Ghazeepore road which crosses th e Panchkosi to

,

the west of Kapildhara, is, in one place, sev eral feet

below the fi elds on either side ; which circu m stance is
v alid proof of its bein g to say the least somewha t , ,

anci ent Bu t the Panch kosi is throu gho u t , on a l evel

.
,

with the land through which it winds its way , or

nearly so If th e road were traversed by only a few
.

p erso ns yearly , this arg um ent wo uld not be v ery stro ng ;

b u t seei ng th at inn u m erabl e pilgri m s p ass alo ng it
,

in th e co u rse of the y ear it is, in m y opi nio n, al ,

m ost physically i m possibl e th at it sho u ld be of anci en t

date Upon the whol e I am incli ned to the belief
.
, ,

that previo usly to th e repai r of th e road by Rani

,

Bh awani th ere was a narrow path only which the

,
‘

Hi nd us dreading the vengeance of the Moh am m edans

, ,

occ asionally t rav ersed in sm all nu mbers ; bu t for how

long this path had been a pilgri m s walk it is im pos ’
,

sibl e to conj ectu re F ro m the v ery great scarcity of

.

old rem ai ns however, it is m y firm beli ef th at it can

,

lay no cl aim wh atev er to antiq uity properly so call ed

; ,

and the probabili ty is tha t it was originated by so m e

,
 RENAR ES
,
PAST AND PRESENT . 18 1

zealous devotee, who conceived th e novel idea of honour

ing the sacred city by desc ribing an im m ense circuit
rou nd it which he, first of all trod him self, an d which ,
, ,

do ubtless to his s urprise, was afterwards trodden by

oth er persons, until, gradu ally , the custom was estab
—
lished, eu idea no m ore n ov el and strange th an others
which th e Hind us every day pu t in practice .

It o ught to be rem em bered with gratitude, by the

Hi ndus of B enares and N orthern I ndia generally , tha t
the British Governm ent of I ndia inst ead of p u rsuing
,

th e destructive and p rohibitive poli cy of th e Moh am

m edan rul ers , has tak en th e Panch kosi ro ad under its
own ch arge and in a spirit of benefic ence d eserving of
, ,

th e high est p raise, d efrays the exp enses of its an nual

repairs It would be a happy circu mstance if Benares
.

itself received the sam e proportion of attention as this

ro ad around it Thread ed with narrow streets , above
.

which rise the m any storied edifice s for which the city
-
,

is fam ous, it is withou t dou bt, a probl em of con

,

siderable difficulty how to p reserv e the h ealth of its

,

teem in g pop ula tion Bu t, when we reflect on the fo ul

.

wells and tanks in som e parts of the city, whose water

is of dea dly influ ence, and the v apour fro m which
fills the air with fever frau ght and cholera breeding
- -

m ias m a ; when we co nsid er th e loathso m e an d disg ust

ing state of th e pop ular te m ples, owing to the rapid
decom position of th e c fierings, from the intense h eat
of th e sun ; wh en we call to m in d th e filthy co ndition

of n early all th e by st reets due to st agnant cesspools,

-
,

accu m ula ted refu se and dea d bodi es of anim als ;

,

and wh en, in addi tion, we re m e m ber how utterly re

182 EE N AR E S, PAST AND PR E S ENT .

ardless of th ese m atters, and incom peten t to correct

g
them, is the police force scattered over the city , the
difficu lty beco m es alm ost ov erwh elm ing The im port .

ance , however of cleansing the city cannot be over

,

estim ated A nd it is because it is at once so i m m ensely

.

im portant as w ell as diffic ult, that the undertaking

sho uld not be left in the hands of one m an tho ugh ,

h e sho uld be the abl est and m ost en ergetic in all

In dia T he Magistrate of Benares, and his assistants,
.

hav e a m u ltitude of duties to perform besides watc hing ,

over the interests of the city ; and th erefore, they are ,

totally unabl e, and, I beli eve m ust feel them selves so

, ,

to originate and carry out all these sch em es of u tility

which are req u ired What is needed in Benares is th e
.

establish ment of a m unicipal corporation sim ilar to that ,

which exists in various other cities of I nd ia Such a .

body would acco m plish great results in p rom oting in ,

v ari ous ways, th e social w elfare of the people I am .

sati sfied that there is no city in the cou ntr y where

su ch a corporation is m ore u rgently requ ired and where ,

its establish m en t would be m o re beneficial I n other .

respects, too, besides those m entioned, I regard th e

present tim e as pecu liarly favou rable for carrying out
this proj ect T he staff of Gov ernm ent ofli c ials in
.

B enares just now, is w ell adapted for aiding in the

,

pro m otion of the obj ects of a m unicipality M en of ia .

dustry and enterprise, as so m e of th em are, wo u ld find

am pl e scope for th eir tal ents E u ropeans of ability ,
.

u nco nnected with th e Gov ern m ent and also na tives

, , ,

of infl uence fitted to render u seful assistance, m ight

,

readily be fou nd With m en like the Maharaj a of Visi

.
Bm NA S m gnm or C onfluen c e of the Bam a d m — t u n v
'

T p B—
em le er na G M t R fi ( 3t-
F ort : its use in moi —R em ain.
B dd
cl M
u hist onastery — ank of Bhaim —Ldg or illar of S iva
T P
A n c ient Pillar —A c count of Distur anc e in enares hen th e aint
. b B w p

BARNA Sangam so call ed from the confl u ence of the

,

river Barns with the G anges is a highly venerated ,

spot To bathe in the uniting waters is regarded as a

.

very m eritorious ac t, sufficient to wash away th e tra ns

g ressions of a life ti m e This San

-
gam is one of
. th e

five celebrated pl aces of pilgri m age on the banh of

th e Ganges at B enares and is, consequ ently visited by
, ,

the crowds of pilgrim s whi ch at certain seasons , pour ,

into th e city It also occupies an i m portant place, as

.

inti mated in the preceding ch apter, in the pilgrim age

of th e Panchkosi road T h e pilgrim s h aving issued from
.
,

the city at th e Asi S angam , return to it by th e Barns

Sangam ; th e form er b eing its south ern and th e la tter ,

its north eastern bou ndary H ere th ey halt , to perform

-
, .

the cerem onies prescribed for so sacred a place A bove .

th e steep bank are four te m pl es which the G ovem m m t ,

h as forbidd en to be used D uring the rebellion they .

,

were in the hands of a m an of a seditious and tur

b ulent spirit and were consequently, seized by the
, ,
 E EN AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT . 185

authorities and closed S ubsequ ently however, they

.
,

were per mitted to be reope ned for religious p u rposes ;

bu t they hav e been again cl osed , though fro m what
cause I am in ignorance Th ese tem pl es were all
.

erected by the D iwan of the Maharaj a S cindia, about

one h u ndred y ears a o The l argest of th em is d edi
g .

'

os ted to A dkeéav or Vishnu a statu e of which d eity, ,

dressed in gay robes , with a crown on its head stands

-

in th e interior of the shri ne In th e sam e ch am ber is .

ano th er i m age tha t of th e S un T he porch of th e te m ple

.
,

rests on ten pillars, ai d is situated on its eastern si de .

B elow the porch various idols are deposited, two of

which are worthy of notice O ne is call ed S angam es .

war or th e deity presidi ng over the confl u ence of the

,

two rivers which is si m ply S iva under anoth er n am e

,
.

The other is the four faced B rahm a fewer or th e god

- -

Brahm a It is rem arkabl e that this deity , who, al

.
—
tho ugh the first m ember of the Hindu T riad is rarely ,

worshipped in any part of India on accou nt of his ,

incest with his own daughter Saraswati as sta ted in ,

Hindu writi ngs, an d beli eved by th e people shou ld — ,

have fo und a h abitation here P erhaps the reason of .

thi s circ umstance m ay be, that inasm uch as both ,

Vish nu and Siva were already represented in these

fanes, an im age of Brah m a also was added , in order
to co mpl ete the T ri ad This u nion of the th ree m em
.

bers, in any one spot, is a m os t unusual occ urrence ;

for, instead of ch erishing love towards one anoth er,
th ey are su pposed to be and are ge nerally represented
,

as being exceedi ngly j ealous of each oth er s glory ; and

’
,
186 m rm m rxm r .

ta nplcg a small p h tform hu bm erec ted cn the

deifieg v ho rec eive th e h om ge dne to the gc th in

the tem ples ah ove. H ere m ay be seen S m gsm eém

O n the sum m it of the Barna S angt m Ghi t a few

was then simated m u ch nearer this s ot

p than i t w
no

The population in the nei ghbourhood is ex ceed

ingly scanty ; and the loc ality iteelf is now so far re~

m oved fiom the

'
c ity , that it ea n be regarded as cnly

a somewhat distant suburb of Benares .

T o the west of the pl

Barna Ghat is
-
a teen c f e le a

vated land, nearly a m ile long an d four h u ndred d

y ar s

broad, overlooking both the city and th e Gunges T he .

face ; river Barns co nstitu tes a wet ditch to the

the
north and north east faces ; while an abrupt depression
-

of the ground to the n orth west — sa id to be an old bed

-

of the sam e stream , — c om pletes the na tural strength of

the Barna S angam , b u t was not recognized by its Briti sh

188 s au na s, Pm AND r assam .

with incredible speed ; and a citadel was soon co mpl eted ,

capabl e of m aking a stout resistance to a num erou s

enem y The fortress was gradually strength ened so tha t
.
,

it m ay be regarded as ha ving been, u ntil abandoned,

one of the strongest and m ost extensive in India .

T h e h eights ov erlook th e en tire city which lies com ,

p letely at the m ercy of th e force in occupation of th em .

Several objects of in terest to the antiqua ry are en

closed within th e falls of th e new fort A sp acious . .

tom b, built by Lal Kh an, a Mohamm edan servant of a

form er Raj a of Ben ares , is standing here P assing .

throu gh the weste rn gate of th e fort y ou pr es ently ,

co m e to the bu ilding which is situated a short dis

,

tance off the road on the right hand side It occ upies
,
.

the centre of an extensive q u adrangle , which is orna

m ea ted with four towers one at each corner
,
The .

tom b itself consists of a m assive tow er rising high ,

abov e the rest , and is crown ed with a do m e fro m the ,

m iddl e of which a spire em erges, pointin g to the

heavens A l arge portion of its o uter s urface is s till
.

bright with the colo urs chiefly bl ue, with which it

,

was o rigin ally em bellish ed T h e colo uring pl aster when

.
,

m i nu tely exam in ed , h as a gl assy appearance, not u n

like porcelain ; and, althou gh it has been for y ea rs
expos ed to a burni ng su n and to the periodic rains,
yet it is q uestio nable wheth er the colours have lost ,

fro m this cau se, any of th eir freshness T he decay of .

th e u nderlyi ng m asonry has in so m e pl aces been a

, ,

source of inj ury to th e external plaster, by causing it

to cru mbl e away ; but, where it has been preserved ,
the colours are strong and vivid Within the building
.
 axm as s, F AST AND r assm . 189

are three to m bs, and on the pl atform outside are four

m ore .

A few st eps fro m the outer w all of the fort is a

long b u ilding sustained by a q uadru pl e row of sto ne
,

col u m ns O n exam ination it is evide nt that the build

.
,

ing al thou gh now a conti nu ou s whol e, m ay form erly

,

h ave consisted of two d etached parts O ne proof of .

this is that th e pillars of on e portion are all u ni

,

form whil e those of the oth er are very diflerent in

,

ch aracter and th at th e roof of the first division is

,

lower th an th e roof of the second All the pill ars .

are carv ed ; and so m e of th em nam ely , those in th e ,

lofti er roo m, whi ch are of a v ariety of patterns are

'

m ost el abo rat ely sc ulpt ured A s sp eci m ens of native

.

art, they occ u py a high positio n : i ndeed I k now of ,

nothi ng superior to th em am ong ge nui ne native pro

duc tions They exhibit a refinem ent of tast e and y et
.
,

a corr ect ness and beau ty of ex ec u tion that are rarely ,

to be m et with in I ndia except in anci ent sc ulpt u re

, .

T he favo u rite loto s pl ant wi th its flower its seed pod,

-
, ,
-

its stalk , and lo ng fl owi ng l eav es , which h ave an ex

q u isite effect in rep resenti ng th e trac ery k nown as the

scroll pat tern and th e B rah mani d uck in v ario us atti

-
,

tu des are so m e of the prom in ent obj ects carved upon

,

th e pill ars .

It is becau se this style of architectu re h as not been

p rod uced in Indi a in l ater day s th at we m ust assign ,

this fine colonnade to an ancient epoch N or are we in .

do ubt as to the period to which it should be referred .

I ts sim il arity to the l at er B u ddhist architecture of the

openi ng ce nt uri es of the C hristian era is amply sufli
190 s au nas, rm u m ras sw .

cient to solve the questio n of its date In my belief .

,

there existed , on this spot a B u ddhist m onastery of

, ,

which the colonnad e form ed a portion of one side of

its enclosure A further description of this b u ilding is
.

given in the twentieth chapter .

A t R aj Gh at a pontoon bridge crosses the Ganges '

in the dry season, but not during the rains ; and alon g
it an im m ense am ount of traflic of all kin ds passes
to and fro m the railway station on the o th er side T o .

th e so u th of R aj G hé t but at so m e distan ce off, is

,

Praladh Ghat stretching ou t a littl e i nto the stream

,
.

I t is pictu resqu ely situ ated and co mmands a fine V iew

,

of Be nares and its suburbs .

To the north of the road leading from the R aj Gh at

Fort to the cantonm ents, at a dista nce of from three
quarters of a mile to a m il e fro m the form er place, is
th e Kapilm oc h an Tank It is als o call ed Bhairo h é
.

T al ao, or the tank of Bha iro This is a strong and walk

.

built stru c ture th e stairs and fou ndations bei ng of solid

,

stone O n the high ground to the north of th e tank

.

sta nds a pillar, fro m seven to eight feet in h eight and ,

th ree in thick ness situated in th e m idst of a sligh tly

,

el evated stone chabdtra or pl atform This is th e M ;

.

or pillar of Siva It is representa tiv e of an anc im

.

pillar which form erly stood on this spot, and WM

,

thrown down by th e Moham m edans, in a stru ggl e be

tween th em and the Hi nd us so m e six ty y ears ago
, .

T h e o rig inal Lci t was fam o us am ong the Hi nd u pop a la

tion bo th for its antiq ui ty and for its sanc ti ty There
,
.

is som e ground for supposing that the presen t pilla r

is a frag m ent of the anci ent one ; and that it, v ery
19 2 BEN A BE S , m ar AND PRESENT .

of th e Hol i took pl ace at the sam e ti m e The pro .

cessions of both cl asses of religio nists were trav ersing

th e streets togeth er ; and it was consequ ently al m ost , ,

im possibl e for the viol ent p assions of eith er section

not to di splay th em selves wh en the processio ns passed,

one anoth er A nd so it turned out ; for, on occasion

.

of two l arge processio ns co m ing near each oth er the ,

one refused to give pl ace to the other i m aginin g ,

th at the honou r of the religio n which it advocat ed

would be sacrificed by so doin g A s neith er party .

wo uld yi eld , th e alterca tion proceed ed to blows, each

struggling to force a passage th ro u gh the ranks of the
oth er T he fight ended in the defeat of th e Moh am
.

m edans who stung wi th resent m ent at th e i n su lt

, ,

which had b een cast u pon th eir faith , determi ned to

tak e a r evenge so t errible and d eep that it sho u ld ,

h ave the effect of exasperati ng to frenzy the enti re

Hindu pop u l atio n of the sacred city Th ey reti red to .

the co u rt d -
of Au ru ngzeb s m o sq ue in which stood’
,

the highly v enerat ed La t of S iva and co m bin ing to

’

, ,

geth er threw it to the grou nd

,
.

”
“
T he Hindus h ad a traditio n writes the R ev Wil , .

liam B uyers in his Recoll ectio ns of North ern In dia

‘
, ,
’

“
th at th e pill ar was grad ually si nki ng ; it h avi ng ac ,

cording to report , been once twice its p resent heigh t ;

, ,

and it was also proph esi ed , th at wh en its top should ,

beco me l evel with the gro und all nations should be ,

of one caste T h e th rowi ng down , th erefore of this

.
,

pillar was regard ed as m ost o m inous and dangerous to

H ind ui sm T he whol e Hind u pop ul ation h eaded by
.
,
 as s u res, rasr AND rs ssssr . 19 3

sal mans and attacked them with every so rt of weapon

,

wi thin th eir rea ch O ne m o sq ue was pulled down ;

.

and they d et erm ined to destroy ev ery other in the city

bu t the civil authoriti es with all the m ilitary force ,

that could be collected in terposed and, by p utting , ,

gua rds to defend the m osqu es, su cceeded in saving

them .

“
It was diflic ult, indeed to tr ust to the native ,

soldiers : bu t th ey did thei r d uty w ell ; for thou gh ,

m any of th em we re Brah m ans , th ey k ept guard m an

fully on the m osques, in fidelity to th eir m ilitary o ath ;
tho u gh do ubtl ess it wo uld h ave bee n m ore agreeable
, ,

to their own feelings to h ave joined in p ulli ng th em

down Y et they kept off the Brahm ans, as w ell as
.

oth ers at the point of the bayo net

, Two B rah m an .

soldiers , keeping guard where the pill ar was lying

prostrate were overheard thus conversi ng on the sub
,

A h said one we h av e seen wh at we nev er

j
‘ ‘’
ect : , ,

—
tho u ght to see S iva s La ; h as its h ead l evel with the
’

gro und We shall all be of one caste shortly Wh at

. .

will be ou r religion th en ? ’ ‘
I su ppose the Ch ristian ,
’

answ ered the oth er ;

‘
for after all th at has passed, I
,

am su re we sh all nev er beco m e M uss ul mans

’
.

Al tho u gh the sto rm was all ay ed thro ugh the i nter

ference of the au thorities , yet the religious feelings of
th e Hindus , which had been so viol ently m u sed w ere ,

“
by no m eans pacified I n the early part of the
.

” “
q uarrel , says Mr B uyers, the M ussal mans, in order
.

to be revenged on th e Hi ndus for the defeat they h ad

sust ained , h ad ta k en a cow, and killed it on one of
the holiest gh ats , and m ingled its blood with the sacred
13
194 s au n a s ,
rm u rn r am sr .

looked on by the Brah m ans as h aving destroyed the

, ,

sacred ness of the holy pl ace, if not of the whole city ,

so that salvation in future m ight not be attainable b y

pilgrimage to B enares They were therefore, all in .

,

the greatest affli ction ; and all the Brah mans in th e

ci ty , many thousa nds in nu m ber, went down in deep ,

ashes on their heads, and sa t down on the principal

gh ets, wi th fold ed hands , and h eads hanging down, to

all appearance inconsola blc , and refusing to enter a
T wo or three days absti
’
house or to taste food .

nance however tired th em ; and a hint was given to

, ,

the m agistrates and other public m en that a visit of ,

condolence and so m e expression of sy m pathy woul d

com fort them , and give them som e excuse for re
turning to their u s ual course of life A ccordingly th e .
,

British functio naries went to the principa l gh at, and

expressed th eir sorrow for the distress in which th ey
saw th em , b ut reaso ned with the m on theabsurdity

of p unishi ng them selves for an ac t in which th ey ha d

no sha re, and which th ey h ad done all th ey could to

prevent or avenge This prevail ed ; and, after m uch

.

bitter weepin g it was resolved tha t Gangci was Gangs

,
‘ ’
e

slzll
’

and that a s u ccessi on of costly oflerings from

’
,

the l aity of Bena res — th e usua l Brah m anical rem edy

,

for all evils — m ight wipe ou t th e stai n which th ei r

,

religion had received an d tha t th e advice of the j udges

,

was the best and m ost reasonable Mr Bird ( the chief . .

English o fficial in Benares) who was one of th e am bas ,

sadors on this occasion said th at

,
‘
tb e sce ne was very
19 6 sa u na s, rm AND rassss r
'
.

utilized for the erection of the present Barns bridge,

connecting the civil with the m ilitary lines It has .

seemed to m y mi nd a som ewhat inconsiderate policy ,

on the part of th e local au thorities that, while c ol
,

lec ting a revenu e from the ferry and th e da m th ey ,

h ave never proj ected a new bridge bu t have l eft th e

,

entire north ern bound ary of the city , for the space of
between three and four m iles , without any proper an d
ad equ ate m eans of co m m unication with th e co un try

beyond the Barns F u rth er u p the river th ere is th e

.

'

I ron Bridge, and also th at already all uded to ; b u t

these are too far off to be of any real benefit to the

inhabitants of the city on the one side of the Barn s,

and of th e n u m erous vill ages on th e other si de , thro u gh

ou t th e whole of th e tract to which I am refer ring ,

except by th eir m aki ng a considerabl e detour ; and

this, on account of the great distance to be traversed,
is , I fear, in the case of m any of the m , im practicable .
 CHAPTER

—T he O ld F ort — Rj
a a C heit S ingh H i to y of hi
: s r s

m otion and of th e Po dr c ee ings of W arren H astings x

in C onne i on
w
th ere ith .

Swi m C hat is interesting on acco un t of its connexion

with th e insurrection at B enares in the tim e of Warren
Hastings, the downfall of R aj a C heit S ingh , the form er
Raj a of Benares, and the destruction of his family, which
followed th at ev ent When C heit S ingh rebelled against
.

the British Gov ern m ent, h e was residing in a strong fort

built upon the banks of the Ganges abov e the S ivéla ,

C h at Warren Hastin gs was at th e tim e living in the

.
, ,

garden house of M adhodas, situated in the A usanganj

Maha lla nearly three m iles off on the western side of
, ,

the city . T h e history of this fam ous insurrection is

briefly as follows .

Raj a C heit S ingh , although a great nobl e, exercising

con siderable power and au thority thro ughou t his exten
—
sive domains , in virtue of which he might, perhaps, be
regarded as pom ing a jurisdiction sim ilar to that of
m any E uropean princes , — yet was not in truth , a reign ,

ing m onarch , or even a great tributary ch ief He had .

no authority beyond what he derived from the East

19 8 m u ms, rm n o rs s ss xr .

India Company ; and his v ast esta tes did not pay tribute ,

b ut a fixed annual ren t to the British Government ,

.

Warren Hastin gs says th at his fath er Balwant Singh

“
, , ,

derived the degree of independence which he pom ssed

durin g the latter part of h is life from th e protection
and interv en tio n of our Govern m en t His son Chait .
,

Singh , obta ined from our infl uence, exerted by m yself ,

the first legal titl e th at hi s fam ily ever possessed of

property in the l and of which he till th en was only , ,

the Au mil , and of which he becam e the acknowl edged

Z em inda r by a S annad granted to h im by th e N abob
Shaj ah u d Dowl ah ( king of O u d e whose do m inions in
- -
, ,

those days , exte nded as far as Benares), at m y instance ,

in the m onth of Septem ber 1773 O n the su cce ssion of,

.

the N abob A ssof u d D owlah , th e rights of sovereignty

- -

which were held by him over the Z emindary were trans

ferred, by treaty to the Com pany Tho se rights were
,
.

indisputably his, and becam e by his ali enation of th em , ,

as in di sputably the Co m pany s ; and ev ery obligati on

’

and obedienc e which is due fro m a Zem i nd ar to th e

superior magistrate by the constitu tion of Hind ustan ,

,

becam e as m u ch the right of th e Co m pany from C heit

Singh as it h ad been due to his form er sovereign, with
th e additio nal ti es of gra titude for the s u perior advan
tages which he was allowed to possess with h is new
'
rel ation The u nexam pl ed l enity of our Govern m en t in
.

relinquishing to him the free and u nco ntrolled rul e of

h is Z em indary subj ect to a li mited annual fine and the
, ,

royalti es of the Mint, adm inistration of j u stice and

police ought to hav e operated as an additional cl ai m
,

on his fidelity , bu t evidently served to stim ul ate his

200 m u s s
,
rxsr
'
AND r assssr .

conduct and to give m e assurances con firm ed by oath

, , ,

of his fut ure s ub m ission to the orders of m y governm en t,

and co m pli ance with m dvic e I cc epted his excu ses
y a a .
,

and pro m is ed h im an oblivion of all that had passed

exceptiona bl e in his conduct, and m y future protectio n ,

and ev ery good o ffice in m pow er so lo ng as h e adhered

y ,

to hi s professio ns req uiri ng o nly as the pledge of thei r

,

sincerity , that he would i m m ediately notify his ready and

unreserv ed consen t to th e d em and which would be mad e
i
u po n h m — —
this being the period for it of the subsidy
for the cu rrent y ear and th at he wo uld use no delay in
,
” “
discharging it .T he Lela vowed the full est obedien ce
on th e part of his m ast er ; th e d em and was accordi ngly

m ade ; and the Raj a answered it with a liberal and u n

”
reserv ed declaration of his acqu iesc enc e N otwi th .

standing these protestations of obedience , the Raj a failed

to act u p to them T h e whole p ay m ent of th e money
.

was du e in Ju ly ; bu t it was not u ntil the m onth of

“

October nor u ntil the sa m e constrai nt was practised, to

,

co m pel his obedi ence as had been u sed in the preceding

,

y ear, by an order for the ad van ce of two battalions of

sepoys for th at pu rpose , th at th e bal ance of th e subsidy ,

which was two l ack s and a half of r upees was dis ,

ch arged I n th e m eantim e, the Resident received an

.

o rder from the Board to rem it th e m oney, as he received

it, by bills to the P aym aster of Lieutenant Colonel
,
-

C am ac s detach m ent ; but th ese fro m the l at eness of

’
,

th e rec eipts , w ere not se nt until th e d etachm e nt had

suflered th e extr em ity of distress fro m the w an t of
'

m oney and v ery g reat desertions ; all which cal am ities

,

I ch arge to Raj a C heit Singh s acco u nt ; as it is ce rta in

'
 Bananas, PM we rassss r. 201

that my reliance on his faith , and his breach of it were ,

the p rincip al causes that n o other provisions h ad been

m ad e for the d etach m ent, and that it suffered m u ch
”
want in consequence .

S uch was the first seriou s charge brou ght agai nst the
Raj a T he second was, in pri ncipl e, the sam e I again
. .

q uote the words of Warren Hastings O n th e s econd

of the m onth of Novem be r 1780, a resol u tion passed
,

th e Board, that a l etter should be writt en to th e Nabob

Vizi er advising h im to requ ire fro m the N abob E y z
,

O olla Kh an the nu m b er of troops stip ul ated by treaty ,

expressed as it was th en u nde rstood , to be 5 000 horse ;
,

and tha t the lik e d em an d sho uld b e m a d e on Raj a Gh eit

S ingh for all the caval ry in his pay which he could spare
for ou r service .At that tim e we stood in need of ev ery
aid th at co uld be d evised , to r ep el th e m u ltipli ed d ang ers

wh ich surro u nded us T he R aj a was s upposed to m ain

.

tai n a very l arge and extensive standing force ; and the

streng th of his cavalry alone was esti m ated at two thou
sa nd I had form erly exp eri enced their u tility , in the
.

war with the San easses, in which they were successfully

em ploy ed , and libera lly reward ed T he d em and was
.

form ally m ade, both in a l etter fro m m yself and in , ,

person by the Resident Mr F owke, in the easy and

, ,
.

i ndefi nite t erm s m entioned above His m anners were .

evasive, pl eading ( as I recoll ect for I am not in pos

,

session of th em ) scantiness of the establishm ent its

, ,

em ploy m ent in enforci ng the collections , and the d anger

of th ese failing if the d etach m ent were withdrawn A t

,
.

length a m ore perem ptory order was sent to him ,

,

I nsu rrec tion in Benares pp

, . 3, 4, 6 .
202 sea m s ,
rm m r s ssss r .

and repeated by the presen t R esident, Mr Markham . .

T h e num ber required was and after wards reduced

to th e d emand of and l astly to

,
b u t with ,

“
no m ore success He offered 2 50 but furnished n o ne
.
,
.

It was not to be i m agined that such acts of c ontu

m acy di srespect, and i m plicit rebellion shou ld be left
, ,

unnoti ced T h e honour and reputation of the I ndian

.

Governm ent d em and ed that th e Raj a shou ld b e call ed

on to explain his extraordinary con du ct Warren .

Hastings regard ed these insta nces of disobedience as

“
evidences of a deliberate and system atic co ndu ct ai m ,

ing at the tota l subversion of the au thority of the

Co m pany , and the erecti on of his own ind epend en cy
” “ ” “
on its rui ns Th is he adds, had been long and
.
,

generally i m puted to him It was reported th at h e

.

had inherited a v ast m ass of wealth fro m his father ,

B alwant Singh whi ch h e had secured in th e two strong
,

fortresses of Bidj ey gur an d Lu tteefpoor, and m ade yearly

additions to it ; th at he k ept u p a l arge m ilita ry esta b

lishm ent, both of cavalry , of disciplined and irregu l ar

infantry and of art ill ery ; th at he h ad th e above and
,

m any other fortress es , of stro ng constru ction and in good

repair, and constantly w ell stored and garriso ned that -

his au m ils and t enants w ere enco u raged and h abit uated
to treat E nglish p assengers with inh ospita lity and wi th
en m ity ; that he m ai ntai ned a corresponden ce with th e
Mahrattas and other P owers who either w ere or m ight
, ,

event ually b eco m e th e en em ies of our state and if the ,

,

disaffected Z e m indars of Fyzabad and Beh ar w ere not

incl uded in the report, which I do not recoll ect, we have
Insu rrection in Benares , pp . 6, 7 .
204 Bananas, rxsr AND rs ssss r .

n ature, I could not but consider as a strong indicatio n

of that spirit of i nd ependency which th e Raj a has for
som e years past assum ed , and of which indeed, I had ,

early observed other m an ifest sy m pto m s, both before

”
and fro m the inst ant of m rriv l
y a a .

On the receipt of this comm unicatio n, the Gover nor

Ge neral ordered the Resident Mr M arkha m , to pro
,
.

ceed on the following m orning to the fort at S ivala

, ,

Ghat, and th ere arrest th e Raj a In obedience to his

.

i nstructions th e Resident, accom panied by his u sual

,

guard, visited the Raj a, who sub m itted , without oppo

siti on to th e arrest
, .Shortly after , two co m panies of
grenadier sepoys arrived u nder the co m mand of three
,

li eu ten ants , when M r Markh am returned to the G o

.

vernor General to report th e s u cc ess of his enterprise

,
.

In the course of th e day , three letters were sent by

th e Raj a to Warr en Hasti ngs two of which w ere ex
,

pressive of m u ch anxiety and terror S eein g th e.

app rehension and alarm which had seized hold of his

m i nd th e Gov ernor General wrote a note to C h eit

,

Sin gh , wishing h im to k eep cal m and not to allow ,

him self to be und uly distressed or to i m agi ne that

,

evil wo u ld befa ll h im T he Raj a s third l etter

’
an
y .

was in answer to this and was expressive of his grati

,

tude for the gentle tone of th e Governor General s ’

co mm unication .

T he fo rt in which Gh eit S ingh was co nfined m us t,

originally h ave been a v ery strong pl ace capable of
, ,

m aki ng a stro ng resista nce in case of an attack

,
It .

stands u pon the banks of the Ganges , and, as seen

fro m the river, has an appearance of grea t soli di ty .
 ssN A s ss, PA sr
'
AND r ssss N r
'
. 205

Its high walls and b uttresses are built with such com
pa c tn ess an d str ength,
th a t ev en,
n ow n ot a tra c
,
e of
d ecay is noticeabl e in th em ; and th ey possess, m ore
ov er, all th e freshness of new b uilt str uctures I n th e
-
.

direction of the city the fort is al most co ntiguous to

a m u ltitud e of houses , the i nterval b ei ng but slight .

T h e i nterior of th e fort is spacio us an d is s ufficient

,

to accom m od ate a large body of m en T h e two com .

a n ies of s epoys who h ad ch arg e of th e Raj a were

p
quartered within the walls, a circ u m stance which,
seei ng that th ey were in possession of the fort ,

would have m attered littl e, h ad they h ad s uffici ent am

m unition with which to defend th em selves S trange .

to say th ese troop s h ad b een dispatch ed th ro u gh a

,

hostil e city on a m ost perilo us errand, withou t am

,

m u nition . It is im possibl e to comprehend the cause

of su ch astou ndi ng and cu lpabl e negl ect Th ere is .

’
reason for bel ievi ng that the Raj a s followers w ere
acq uai nt ed with this circ um st ance, and, co nsequ ently ,

hastily form ed thei r pl ans for su rprising the garrison

and resc ui ng th e Raj a I n th e afternoo n, i ntellige nce
.

reach ed th e Governor General, that l arge bodi es of

arm ed m en w ere c ro ssi n g th e riv er fro m Ram nagar ,

anoth er fort belo ngi ng to Gh eit Singh si tu ated on ,

the op posite side of the riv er, but lower down T he .

apart m ents which the Raj a was at th is ti m e occ upy

ing Opened on a small sq u are in which th e troops

,

wer e stationed Ano ther d et ach m ent of sepoys was

.

“
dispatch ed with am m unition, to reinforce and sup
port the first party When the l atter arriv ed at the
.

Raj a s hous e, they fou nd it surround ed , and all th e

’
20 6 m u ms, rAsr AN D p assaNr .

v ues blockaded by a m u ltitud e of armed m en who

a en ,

opposed th eir passage T he m i nds of this tum u ltuous

.

assem bly beco ming soon i nfl am ed som e of th em began,

to fire upon th e sepoys wi thin the square ; an d im ,

m edi at ely , as if this had b een the concerted signa l ,

mad e an in sta nt aneous and fi erce attack on the sepoy s ,

who wantin g th ei r acc ustom ed m eans of defen ce were

, ,

capable of m aki ng but a feebl e resistance, and fell an

easy sacrifice to the superior nu m bers of th eir assail
ant s, who cut al m ost ev ery m an of th e un fo rt unate
party to pieces T he o fficers, it is suppos ed , were the
.

first victim s to their fu ry but not u ntil th ey had , ,

by astonishing efforts of bravery and u ndis ma yed ,

am id st the im m in ent da ngers which surro und ed them ,

involv ed a m uch su perior nu m ber of th eir enem ies in

their fate In the m idst of this confusion, the Raja
.

found m eans to esca pe through a wick et wh ich opened

to the river ; and, th e banks b eing exceedi ngly swap
in that place h e let hi m self down by tu rbans tied
, ,

togeth er i nto a boa t which was waiti ng for h im , m d

, ,

conv ey ed him to the opposite shore Those who had .

effected his escape foll owed him ac ross the riv er in the ,

sam e tu m ultuou s m anner in which th ey h ad assem bled ,

leavin g th e party of our sepoys wh ich h ad arrived, in

possession of the house O n the first intelligen ce of
.

this co mmotio n I had directed Major Popha m to repa ir

,

im m ediately to hi s ca m p which was abo u t two m il es

,

from the Resident s and at the sam e dis tance fro m

’
,

th e Raj a s hous e, and to m arch instantly wi th the

’
,

rem ainder of his detach m ent, to the support of th e

party T he order was exec ut ed wi th all possible
.
208 ssN As s s, rA sr AND r ssssN r
'
.

m ent, and
have consequently been saved fro m the ruin
, ,

which has i nvolved th e oth er bran ches of th e fam ily .

T he si tuation of Warren Hasti ngs, at the ti m e of th e

flight of C heit S ingh , was perilo us to th e last d egree .

H e had, as b efore rem ark ed , m ade M adh odés garden

’

his h ead q uarters This was a quad rangl e su rro unded

-
.

by high wall s and containing several separate b u ild

,

i ngs which are still standing, but in a di lapidated

,

state T h e garden is in th e sub urbs of th e ci ty on

.
,

its w estern side, and is enco m passed by hou ses on all

sides It was nev er intended for defensive purposes ;
.

and th e walls which su rro u nd it co u ld n ev er h av e been

abl e to resist a d et erm i ned att ack m ade by a n u m ero u s

“
foe Warren H asti ngs says :
. If C heit Si ngh s people, ’

after th ey h ad effected his resc ue h ad proceed ed to m y

,

quarters , at M ahadew D ass s garden instead of crowd

’
,

ing after hi m in a t u m ult u ous m an ner, as they did , in

his passage over th e river, it is m ost probabl e th at m y
blood, and that of abo ut thirty English gentl em en of
m y party wo uld h ave been added to the recen t carnage ;
,

for th ey were above two thou sand in nu m b er, fu rious

and d arin g fro m the easy su ccess of th eir last att em pt ;

n or co u ld I asse m ble m ore th an fifty r egul ar an d arm ed

”
sepoys for m y whol e defence It is a wonder that
.

the i nh abitants of the city did not rise and in v est the
garden ; for th ey m ight easily h ave don e so, an d h av e
slain every m an in it T he Governor General rem ained
.

in thi s gard en for sev eral d ays ; bu t his position i nstea d ,

of i m proving becam e m ore critical T he Raj a h ad,

,
.

fi rst of all, entered his fort at Ram nagar bu t su bse , ,

qu ently, q uitted it, and proceeded to ano ther fort , at

 ssN A s ss, rA sr AND rs s sm . 209

Lat ifp ur, lea ving a strong force behind h im U nfor .

tunately , the troops sent fro m Ch u nar against th e for

tress of R am nagsr became prematurely e ngaged with
the e nem y, and after a loss of one h u ndred and sev en
,

killed and seventy two wounded , were obliged to beat a

-

retreat .

This was a m ost disastrous circu m stan ce at su ch a

tim e for it d am aged greatly th e already waning pres tige
,

of the British arm s in th ese parts T he en em y w ere

.

rendered enth u siastic and daring by it and began to

, ,

assu m e th e offensiv e I ntelligence reached Warren

.

Hastings of a plan they had form ed to cross the riv er

on the night of the 2 0th of Au gu st and to attack
,

h im at his qu art ers , in M adhodzi S s gard en H e thus

’
.

d escribes the difficulties in which he was pla ced

”
S uccessive notices, he says, were brought to m e ,

by various channels, of preparations m aking at R am

ns gar for an assault on m y qu arters, which stood in

the m idst of th e suburbs of Be nares , and consi sted of

m any d etached buildi ngs withi n one large e nclosure,
surro und ed by houses and trees which intercepted every
,

other prospect The whole force which I had l eft

.

amounted to abo u t fou r hundred and fifty m en T he .

reports of an intended assault, which was fix ed for

tha t night, grew stro nger, as the day advanced ; the

boats on the other side of the river were seen to be

“

in m otion ; and, besides the m oral certainty of the

real existen ce of su ch a design , the obvious advantages
which it presen ted to the enem y who had nothing left
,

to fear, and nothi ng else to do precluded all h sitation

,
e

bu t on the choice of expedients for defeating it There .

14
2 10 ssN A s ss, rA sr A N D Ps xss N r .

were but two, which were to wait the danger and try
,

th e chanc e of repelli ng it or to retreat to a pl ace of

,

greater security, or of equ al advantage for th e en

co unter T h e co nfined state of the place of which
.
,

an descriptio n will be insu ffici ent to co nvey an ade

y
quate idea, rendered the first plan i m practicabl e We .

had not a force s u fficient to gu ard all the defences of

that pl ac e, nor a store for th e provisio ns of a day ,

even of th at sm all n u m ber . T he o nly argu m ents for

it were the disgrace of a flight and the consideration
,

of our wounded sepoys whom it m ight l eave at the

,

d iscretion of a m erciless enem y T he for mer consider

.

ation yield ed to th e su p erior m ight of n ecessity ; th e

latter to the i m possibility of protec ti ng the wounded

,

m en in eith er case as th ey were qu artered at a distance

,

of near a m il e fro m M ahadew D ass s garden nor would

’

it h av e b een possibl e, in th eir condition, and in th e

m u ltiplicity of p ressin g exigenci es which the resolution
to remain would h ave created to rem ove th em Y et
,
.

these considerations h eld m e su spend ed during the whole

co urse of th e day I n the evening it becam e necessary
.

to com e to a fi nal determination, as the delay of a

few ho urs m ight now p recl ude every option ”
After .

co nsulting with several o ffice rs of the arm y who were

there with him , the Gov ernor General concl u ded that
the safest and wi sest policy would be for him self an d
th e entire E uropea n co m m unity in Ben ares to retire
“ ”
fro m the city to the fort of Ch unar My resolution,
.

he sa ys, “
was taken and decl ared and ord ers given
,

to form our little corps , th at we m ight hav e ti m e to

gain the open cou ntry before the enem y, having notice
2 12 seru m PAST AND rassR N r
'
.

”
had never departed from it. Raj a C heit S ingh, havin g

“
been guilty of th e deliberate m u rder of our soldi ers ,

and even defenceless passengers

”
who had the mis ~

fortune to fall into his hands, was declared to have

forfeited his right to the estates he form erly possessed .

These est ates, with the title of Raj a, were presented

to his nephew, Bab u Mahipnarain grandson of Raj a
,

Balwant S ingh This Raj a s daughter was wife of Babu

.
’

descended .
 C H A PT E R XVII .

Mohammedan M elt s or R eligious F esti vals held period ically

in Benare s.

FESTIVALS, or melaw, as they are co mmonly called are

’

very n um erous in all parts of India, and present a pecu

liar phase of the social life of th e people such as is rarely ,

found in civilized countri es They are m ore or less con

.

nected with religion ; and th eir origin can be in every ,

case tra ced to certain religious cere monies perform ed,

,

or said to h ave been perform ed, in so m e sacred locality ,

as on th e banks of a river or near a holy well or tank ,

,

once fam ous for the exploits of their deified heroes or

gods At the same tim e, m any of the m have a sec ula r
.

and,
in addition to their religious charac ter , and are
held as m uch for am usem ent and trad e as for grav er
purposes They are, in fact, fairs ; and, in som e in
.

stances, they are of prodigious extent .

The word meld si gnifies a concourse or asse mblage

of persons , and is derived from the Sanskrit root or“,
meaning to m eet to congregate A mold is of two
‘ ’ ‘ ’
.
,

ki nds : that at which religion and am use m ent are com

bined, and that which is sim ply and solely devoted to
religion T o the form er the people go gaily dressed ;
.

but they are present at the latter in th eir ordinary

2 14 sea m s, m sfr AND r asssm .

costu m e T h e first ki nd of m id m ay be divided into

.

two cl asses, nam ely, th at which is of a m oral tenden cy ,

and is frequ ent ed by perso ns of respectability and tha t ,

which is notoriou sly i mm oral , and visited by only th e

loose and licentious T h e meld of the second ord er
. ,

altho u gh professedly purely reli gio u s m ust on accou nt , ,

of the opportu ni ti es for vice which it occasion ally fur

nish es be regard ed as i m m oral so far as its n ec es
, ,

sary connexio n with vice is concerned F or instan ce .

,

at th e P anch Gang a M el a in th e m onth of Ké rtik m en

-
,
,

and wo m en b ath e p ro m iscu ously in the Ganges T he .

Moham m edans also hav e th eir melés bu t to a lim ited ,

extent as com pared with th e Hindu pop ulatio n .

I shall now give a list of th e Hin d u an d Moham

m edan welds h eld in B enares, with a few circu m stances
of interest connected with each of the m The grea t .

M ohu rram F estival of th e Moh am m eda ns not bei ng ,

peculi ar to B enares or even to I ndia , I sh all om it al

1 T he
. Navaratri M el a, held at Du rga Ku nd during
th e first nin e day s of the m onth of Chait Hindus .
,

both m al e and fem al e, visit the tem pl e of D urga from

about 3 o clock in th e m orni ng O n th e 7th and 8 th
’
.

days, th e crowd of vota ri es increases to upwards of ten

thousand At this festival thousands of sheep and goats
.

are ofiered in sacrifice T he worshippers visit not o nly

'

this shrin e, but also the tem ples of A nnpfirna, Senkata,

and B ageswari .

2 T he G au gau r M ela, h eld at R aj mandira Gh at, on

.
-

th e 3rd day of Chait This festival is cel ebrated by

.

Mé rwadi s and D eswélis ( people fro m the territory of

2 16 BE N A R E B, PAST u m ra m .

Ma rtyrs , and S u ltan Gém chief of knights of religion

'

.
,

I n the neighbourhood of Delhi he is als o known by ,

th e appellation of P ir Ali m, Sa int A li m P ilgrimages .

are m ade to h is tom b every y ear . I n Benares, thou

sands of person s of th e lower classes of native society ,

Hindus and Moham medans of both sexes resort to the ,

Dargah of G azi Miyan, the latter word being added to

the n am e of G ézi , as an epithet of respect There .

m ultitudes of singers called daféltr, are seat d under

,
e

a sin gular effect u pon the fem ale listeners ,

as so me of

viol ent m anner ,to appear to be under the in

so as »

fluence of a su pernatu ral pow er Whatever words are .

utt ered whi le they are in this sta te, are received as
an o racula r m essage This festival is one of the m ost
.

im m oral held in B enares Indeed the flagra nt lic en

.
,

tiousness practised at Ba kariya Kund, close by is a ,

scandal to the city, and dem ands the interference of

the m agistrate T he festival term inates with the flyi ng
.

of kites In the m orning the people asse mble, for this

.
,

purpose in the vic inity of the B argarh ; and, in the

,
'

evenin g, at Marhiy a Gh at on the banks of the Barns

-
.
,

6 T he Gangs S apta mi M el a, h eld on the banks of

.
-

th e Ganges on th e 7th day of Jeth

,
. This day is .

regarded, by Hindus, as the birthday of the goddess

of the Ganges, who is said to have sprung out of
the thigh of Jahnu Rishi Formerly, the idol repre ~.

senting the god dess was simply worshipped ; bu t, of

late years, a m id has been held, accom panied with
 BE N A BE S , Pm AND PRESENT . 2 17

th e mic]; or dancin g A t night thousands of perso ns

.

assem bl e to ta ke part in the festivities .

7 T he D asahra M el a held on the b anks of the

.
,

Ganges, on the 10th day of Jeth , light fortnight ; on

whic h day the birth of the river Gangs or Ganges is be .

lieved to ha ve oc c ured Hindus , both male and female

.
,

bath e in the river and give al m s to the Brahmans A

, .

c urio us custom prevails am ongst the young girls of th e

m iddl e classes, who, on this day flo at th eir g urzy cia or
’

dolls on th e river and for the next four m o nths,

, ,

train, not only fro m amusing themselves wi th the m bu t ,

also fro m th e use of all play things .

8 T h e N irj ala Bhadasi M ela held on the b anks of

.
,

the Ganges, on th e 11th day of Jeth Tradition afli rm s .

th at Bhim one of the five Pandav brothers, whose

,

wonderful story is told in th e M ahdbhdm ta resolved ,

to fast on this day , bu t after m id day fainted fro m

,
-
,

hunger and thirst ; wh ereupon his frie nds threw him

into the water, to bring him to his senses E ver since .

this event th e Hindus have observed the day by bath

ing in the Ganges m the eveni ng After abl ution their .
,

bodies are besm cared with chanda n or powdered sandal

wood . H en ce the day is call ed Ghanaia n E kadasi
,
.

Formerly, at this festival , residents of diflerent wards

'

of the city used to swi m across the Ganges, and engage

in sha m fights ; bu t the cu sto m has bee n discontinued .

9 T h e Asnan Jé tré Mel a, held at A si G hé t at the

.
,

tem ple of Jagann ath , on the 15th day of Jeth The .

im age of Jagannath is bathed on this day , and towards

evening is exhi bited to his votaries, on the terrace of the

temple This meld is less frequented than in former tim es

. .
2 18 ass Aass, D As r
'
AND rassasr.

10 The Bath J ami M el t h eld in th e garden of

.
-
,

Paudit B eni R am , on the 2ud, 3t d and 4th da ys of ,

Asarh T he idol of Jagannath is bro ught ou t of th e

.

temple at A s Gh , an pl ced pon a

i é t d a u ra ft or car —n ,

peculiar vehicl e with a l rg

a e nu ,
m —
ber of wheels, for
three successive days in i m itati on of the grand festival
,

that takes place at the tem pl e of Jagannath in O rissa , .

Throngs of peopl e of all classes attend this meld an d

on th e third day as m any as thirty thou san d pe rsons
are su pposed to be present .

11 T he Batasparikh sh é M el a, h eld at Cha nkh a Gh at,

.

on the 15th day of Asarh O n this day Hindus .

worship th eir Guru s or spiritual teachers ; h en ce it is

called G uru purnim a -
I n earli er days astrologers
.

were acc usto m ed to m eet at the ghat on th e evening

of this day , for the purpose of ascertaining the direc
tion of the wind and of proph esyi ng in accord an ce
, ,

therewith respecting the natu re of the approaching

,

h arv est rai ny seaso n and so fo rth This folly h ow

, ,
.
,

ever, has been abandoned thanks to Christiani ty and ,

education .

12 T h e S anku dh ara M el a h eld at the S anku dh ara

.
,

Tank , which is also call ed the D wéraka tirth or pl ace -

of pilgri m age A ccording to the K tiéi klza nda it is

.
-
,

esw em ed a sacred ac t to bathe in this tan k on this

day. Form erly th e n ative aristocac y used to assemble

,

here in the garden of C ham pat R ai Am in in order

, ,

to witn ess the mick or danc ing ; bu t this custo m seem s

to have been disco ntin ued Indeed th e meld itself is .
,

now in a state of decline .

13 T h e Briddhkél M el a, held in the Briddhkal Ma~

.
2 20 RE N A R E S , PAST AND PassE N T .

D ancing girls, fro m the city , appear in their gay dresses

and brilliant j ewels ; and, consequen tly , the place is,
for the m ost part the resort of persons of voluptuous
,

habits Indeed, persons of respectable character will

.

take care not to be found th ere .

16 The
. N g Pancham i Mel a held at N ég Kass or
a -
,

Serpent s Well on the fifth day of Sawan This well is

’
,
.

spoken of in Hin du writings, as Karkotak N ag Tirth or

,

P lace of P ilgrim age Hin dus of all ranks, and of both

.

sexes, attend the meld , and bath e in the well , returning

quickly to their hom es ; and only persons of loose
character prolong their stay As snakes increase in .

this m
seaso t and as is regarded as th e serpent

god, th e p eopl e worship him as a security again st snake

bites It is co m m on to p urchase idols representing
.

this deity and to carry them home for worship In

,
.

the evening of the day , cowherds or peopl e of th e ,

A hrr caste assemble together in various pl aces for

'

, ,

wrestling and other sports .

17 The Kajri M ela h eld at S anku dh ara and also

.
, ,

at Isw ar gangi, on th e 3rd day of Bh édorr This festi

’

-
.

val is said to h av e origin ated with a Raj a of Kantit,

in th e distri ct of Miraapore who est ablished it for the ,

benefit of wom en that th ey m ight hav e a meld especially

,

their own There is a song called Kajri which is com

.
,

m ouly sung during the m onths of S awan and Bha

don A t this meld wom en fast and ba the in gro u ps in
.
, ,

places of rep u ted sanc tity Gangs of Gunahris fem al e.

,

singers of a v ery low and abandoned character, visit

S anku dhara and I s war gangi, singing Kaj ri songs to
-

the bathers M en of th e same vicious tastes also

.
 D E N A R xs, PAST AND PRESENT . 22 1

resort to the sam e places, and listen to the songs, and

a
p y the Gu nahr is m oney P eople of reput ation do
.

not go to this mela ’

18 T h e D hela Chauth M el a, h eld at Bars Genes, on

.

the 4th day of Bh adon T h e Hi nd u s fast on this day

.
,

in honou r of th e god Ganeé, and visit his tem pl e in

crowds T he origin of the meld is as follows It is
. .

a curren t beli ef am ong th e natives , that whoever on

, ,

the ev ening of this day looks up at th e m oon will, ,

assuredly be ch arged with a false acc u sation in th e

course of th e year ; and the only way to be delivered

from this prospective ignom iny is for the person who
has, unfortunately look ed at the m oon, to be abused
,

and in so m e way disho noured on this day It was at .

,

one tim e the custom for peopl e in thi s predica m ent

,

to invite anybody th ey could procu re to throw dhelci or

stones at their houses Vagabonds of the city used
.

to take advan tage of this c ustom , by am using th em selves

with throwing l arge stones at peepl e s houses ; bu t this ’

has been partially , thou gh not entirely , stopp ed by

th e police .

19 The Loli rik C hhath M el a, h eld at the Lolé rik

.

Well , near A si Sangam on the 6 th day of Bhadon

,
.

Hindus of both sexes bathe in the well on this day ,

in honour of the S un T he G unahris visit this pl ace
.
,

as at the Kaj ri meld ; and h ence thi s festival is rather

, ,

a concourse of dissolute persons .

20 T he Béwan dwadasi M el a, held at C hitrkot and

.
-

Barns S angam , on the 12 th day of BhSdoir Hindus ,

'

male and fem ale, resort to the confluence of the Barns

and the Ganges in the m orning ; and in the e vening,
222 E EN A RE S , PAST AND PRESENT .

those of the m ale sex go to C hitrkot, to witness th e

dramatic perform ance of the B awan A vatar or D wa rf
Incarn ation of Vishnu .

2 1 The An ant C h au das M el a h eld at Ram na gar on

.
, ,

the 14th day of Bh adon This is a private fast day . .

O n this day the great festival of th e R i m Lil a begins

at R am nagar .

2 2 T h e S uray a Mel a, h eld a t Laksh m i K und or Tank

.
,

from th e 8th of Bh adon S udi to the 8th day of the

wani ng m oo n of Ku ar and kept u p therefore for six
, , ,

teen days Hindus, espec ially fem al es bathe in Laksh m i

.
,

Kund and vi sit the tem ple of Lakshmi , goddess of

,

w ealth On th e l ast day of the meld thousands thron g

.

the temple fro m m orning to night .

2 3 T he B ri m Lil a M ela h eld at C hitrkot and in

.
, ,

m any oth er pl aces , fro m the 8 th day of the wani ng

m oon of K nar to the 15th day of K u ar S u di This .

festival consists of a p ublic dramatic exhibition of the

exploits of R am C hitrkot is the m ost ancient place in
.

the city in which it is h eld ; but variou s w ealthy natives,

and especi ally the M ah araj a of Ben ares gratify the m
, , ,

selves, and, at the sam e ti m e indulge the populace by , ,

giving si m ilar entertain m ents at their own expense A t .

one and, p erh aps m o re of th ese pl aces , the R dmdy aq

, ,
m ,

which gives a long and detailed account of Ram s ’

achi eve m ents , is pu bl icly rea d fro m the begi nnin g to

the end Fig ures of R am , his friends , and adversari es

.
,

dressed u p fantastically, take part in th e exhibiti on ,

and are m ade to fight togeth er , un til the enem ies of

R i m are m u t il ated an d disho no ured and, at l ength , ,

utterly destroyed The festival of the R am Li la is,

.
224 BENARES, PAS T AND PRESENT .

brass, copper, and other m eta ls . Moreover , the sh ops

shopke epers m ake an exhibition of earthen images It .

is c usto mary on th is day for the richer cl asses in the

, ,

city to pu rchase m etal vessels in the T hath eri Basar .

2 6 The Anark C haudas M el a, held at M ir Gh at, and

.
-

in the Bhadaini Ward in the m onth of Kartik on the

, ,

14th day of the d ecline of th e m oo n O n this ni ght .

,

the Monkey god , Hanu man, is beli eved to have been

-

born About three o clock on the following m ornin g

.
’
,

Hindus rub scented oil and other perfu m es on their

bodi es , and bathe in warm water, with certain religious
cere monies, which th ey imagine to be a preservative
fro m disease d uring the com ing y ear At sunrise .
,

n ewly clad in their winter clothing, th ey proceed to

the shrines of Hanu man , at the two pl aces above re
ferred to .

2 7 T he D iwal i Melé , h eld thro u ghou t th e city, on

.

the 15th day of the waning m oon in K artik This is .

a day of great and gen eral rejoici ng with the Hind us ,

in which the Moh am m ed ans also to som e exten t pa rti

, , ,

cipete The whol e ci ty is illum inated ; and ev en the

.

poorest ma n lights his little chirdg or ti ny lam p, and

pl aces it before his door The w ells and tem ples, and
.
,

idols , and, indeed, every spot of any interest at all to

the n atives , is decorated with one or m ore of these
lam ps . S weetmeats and parched grain are distribu ted
amongst friends, and are given to the poor T he festival .

is in honour of Lakshm i the godd ess of wealth D uring

,
.

the night of the D iwfl i it is the custom with all the

,

people , high and low and of every caste, to gamble ;

,
 D E NAR E S , PAST AND PRESENT . 225

and persons who will not gam ble at any other

m any
ti m e will do so at this season Th e c ustom has a m ost
'

dem oralizing and vicious influence on the m inds of the

people generally .

28 T he Y am adwitiy s( vulgarly Jam di tiy a) Mel a, held

.
,

at Jam Ghat , on the 2u d da

y of K Artik ,
light fortnight .

This festival has reference to the m utual attachment of

Y ams an d his sister Yam i and accordingly brothers
, , ,

on this day , rec eive fro m th eir sisters the filo]: or re

ligious sym bol affixed to th e forehead, and Joi n in their
en tertainm en ts hoping th ereby to escape the m iseri es of
,

hell Th ey first b athe i n the Ganges at Jam Gh at and

.
,

then dine at the houses of th eir sisters , giv ing them

presents in retu rn To bath e in the river Ju mna on
.

this day is, also , beh aved to h ave th e sam e effect of

delivering fro m future punishm ent .

2 9 T he K artik Pfirnim é Mel a, held at th e P anch

.

Gangs Gh at, on th e last day of Kartik D uring the

. .

whol e of this m on th it is regarded as specially m eri

torious to bath e at this ghat ev ery m orning at su nrise .

On the last day m ultitudes bath e here ; and, in the

ev ening the gh at is ill um inated
,
Form erly pugilis
.

tic combats used to take pl ace ; bu t they have now

30 T he. B arns Piy éla M el a, held at Chankha Ghat

and S ivapu r, on th e l et Tuesday or Satu rda y of A ghan .

P eopl e of the lower castes resort to Chankh a Gh at ,

hi ghly intoxicating drug m uch eaten by the Brahmans ,

— iu honour of Kalk a and S ah é the form er being a

j ,
B rah man wo man , and the l atter a chm éy ia or wo man of ,

16
226 D EN ARE S
,
PAST AND PRESENT .

the sweeper caste Th ey th en proceed to the vill age of

.

S ivapur and spe nd th e day in revelry , returning ho m e

,

on th e followi ng m orning .

31 T h e Panc hkosi Mel a, h eld at S ivapu r on the 7th

.

and 8th of the d ecli ni ng m oo n in A gh an T h e pilgrim .

age along the Panchkosi road , or sacred boundary of

B enares occu pies five days O n the fou rth day , when
,
.

th e processio n reaches S ivapu r peopl e fro m th e city go

,

ou t to m eet th e pilgri m s at this pl ace , and unite with

them in m erry m aking -

.

32 T he Loté bhanta Mel t , h eld at Piéach m oc han

.
-
,

on the 14th day of A ghan Many pers ons from th e

.

city and from the neighbou ring villages, of both se x es ,

bath e togeth er in the Piéachmoc han Tank, in th e

m o rning Afterwards th ey rem ain there for so m e
.

hours , make bread or cakes, which they cook and eat

with roast ed Bhanta or th e egg pl ant which abo u n ds -
,

at thi s season By way of ridicu l e th e meld was origi

.
,

na lly called R old bhantci, in all u sion to th e bread ( rsti

-
)
and bhan té which are eat en there ; b u t th e nam e h as

l atterly been ch anged to Lots bkaalé , in allusion I sup

-
,

pose, to the loté or dri nking v essel u sed on th e occasion .

P erso ns of resp ectability visit the Tank on the 14th of

the light fortnight of the m onth Pins, and agai n on th e
14th of the w aning m oon of the sam e m onth for th e ,

perform ance of religiou s cerem oni es .

33 T he N agarpradaksh ané Mel a h eld at C haukh a

. ,

Gh at and B arhiy a Tank , on th e 15th day of Aghan .

This consists of a pilgrimage ro u nd the city, perform ed

in two d ays on the first of which the pilgrim s sta y a t
,

Chankh a Ghat Form erly a set of licentious vagabonds

.
2 28 E E N AR E S , PAST AND PE E S E N T .

the suppression of licentious pic tures and, to som e ex ,

tent, the general gi vi ng of abuse S ti ll, I think that .

public m orality loudly demands active and even stri n

gent m easures on the part of the Governm ent ; and I
a m satisfied that th ey would meet with the approval
of all right-m inded na tives On the Purnimir, or last
.

day of the m onth , the people burn the H oliké , or piles

of wood , in th eir respective wards, the expense being

one place bu t in ev ery ward th ere is m u ch festivity

,

an d m erry m aki ng -
Many wear colo ured clothes and
.
,

discharge red water on passers by - .

38 The D haraddi M elt held at D aéééamedh and

.
,

O hausathi on th e first day of th e waning m oon in

,

Chait On this day the people cast u pon each oth er

.

the ashes of the H oliké pile burnt on the previous day ,

.

and then wash th em selves an d ch ange th eir colou red

,

clothes C rowds of peopl e with obscene shows com e

.
, ,

in the evening from opposite directions to the D asass

, ,

medh Gh at, where m u ltit udes of natives of all ranks ,

som e on the banks and others in boats on the river
, ,

asse m ble to witn ess the im m oral specta cl e O n re .

turning fro m the ghat, the people visit th e shrine of

C hausathi Devi or goddess .

39 The B u rwa Mangal M el a, h eld on the river

.
-

Ganges , the Tu esday after the Holi Festival For .

m erly it was custo m ary for Hindus to visit th e te m ple

of D urga on the first Tu esday following the Holi ; but

Raj a C heit S ingh added to this meld what is m iled

th e B u rw a Mangal . On this occasion , a very con
.

siderable portion of the inhabitants of the city spend

 EE N AR ES , PAST AND PRESEN T . 2 29

the night on the river in large boats so m e of which

, ,

are beautifully d ecorated wh ere dancing and singing

,

g o on for hours The. sc en e is exceedingly picturesq u e ;

and its eflec t is m u ch h eighten ed by the brilliant lights
'

on the large boats The festival co ntinues till the

.

evening of Wedn esday and was origin ally called Bu d

,

dhuwaMangal ( B udh , W ednesday) , but is now corrupted

into B ur wa Mangal .

40 The D angal Mel zi , held at th e tem pl e of Jagan

.

nath and at Ram n agar, on the Thursday following the

Bnrwa Mangal This too, is a singing and dancing
.
,

festival S inging parties proceed to the tem ple, se

.

com panied by crowds of listeners ; and boats laden ,

with people atten ded by singing and dancing girl s

, ,

row abo u t the river proceeding as far as Ramnagar

,
.
 CHAPTER XV III .

T n] : Bu ddhi t Ruins
s Antiquity
at S arnAth —Their of th e —S um mary
N arrative of F a H im and H i ou en T hsa ng respecting the buildi ngs
s ,

—
form erly existing at S i rné th and in its neighbourhood Points of
agreem ent in the N arratives — M odern E xplorers of the R u in s —Ex
tent and N ature of the Rem ains — —
T h e G reat T ower D escription of
it by M aj or General C unningha m and A ccou nt of hi E xcav tions
-
,
s a .

— A ge of B ddhist T ap es or T owe s — Rem a ins of a B uddhist Mon

u r

eate y r Mr Th om a
-
. Acc ount of them — D isc overy of l rge num
’
s s . a

of an A Tw
n cient o er —Maj or General C unningham s
D escription of
-
’

it —T he C ha ukandi T ower — T he I ipattana H all or A bod e of Bu d

' '

. s
—
.
,

dhist D ev tees
o —
Rem ains of Vihi ra or T em ple m onastery S m ll -
. a

B d ng
u il i on
, ta ining S ixt y S c ulptures
c T he S e l C ait a —
h y s T be . a

Bu ddhist F orm ula —S fiky a M u ni the h istorical B dd ha —H is visit u

to Ben res —S pread of Bu dd h i m from Benares — D ec line of B d

,

a s u

dhism i n I n di D estruc tion of Budd hist S tructu re at S i rnflth by

a .
-
s ,

fir e — F all of Buddhism

in the public m ind both on account of th eir antiquity ,

and of their connexion with the Buddhist religion T he .

l atest of them date perh aps, fro m abou t the sixth or ,

seventh century of the present era while the earli est

m ay belo ng to a period several hundred y ears prior
to that Indeed it is a historical fact, which adm its
.
,

of no question , tha t there were b ui ldings in existence

on this spot in the first sges of Bu ddhism ; and ,

although we can h ardly suppose tha t rem ains of an

y
2 32 E E NAR E S , PAST AN D PRESE NT .

B efore describing the Buddhist ruins at S am ath, I

will give a short su mmary of the buildings existi ng
at th e two periods referred to, according to the repre

scutations of those distinguished travellers F a Hian .

“
says that to the north west of the town ( Benares)
, ,
-
,

at the distance of ten If less than two m iles

( ) y ou co m e ,

to th e tem ple situated in the D een park of th e I m

”
m o rtal .He also m akes m ention of a ch apel which , ,

perh aps was a small shrine ; and of fo u r towers, erected

,

on spots celebrated in the life of Buddha, one being

th at where he delivered his first diwourse on the new

religion of B uddhism he was then founding He states .
,

in addition, tha t there w ere two m ay kia km , or m on

asteries inhabited by eccl esi astics
‘
,
.

H iou en T hsang first of all, fu rnish es a bri ef acc ount

,

of the kingdom of Varanasi, or Bonares , as it exis ted

in his day which was h e says four thou sand lf or
, , , ,

abo u t six hun dred an d sixt

y se v en m iles ,
in circu
-
m

attac h ed ; and a hundred Hindu tem ples with ten thou ,

»

sand heretics priests, devotees and others connected

, ,

with them T he greater portion of th e popu lation ad

.

hered to the Hin du doctri nes I n th e capital wm e .

'

twen ty Hind u te m ples ; so that the rest m ust h ave been

scattered over the p rovince : bu t what proportion of
th e Buddhist m on asteries were th ere likewise he does ,

not m entio n Tow ers , with m any stori es , and magni

.

ficent chapels beautifully carved and richly painted

, ,

he saw in the city ; and also a brazen statue of the , ,

S ee Appendix A .
 m u ss, PAST AND PRESENT . 233

Hindu deity Mahaéwara, nearly a hundred feet high .

To the north east of B enares , and to the west of th e

-

Ganges, bu t at wha t distance he neglects to say

-
,

was a S tupa, or sacred tower, built by A Soka, abou t

a hundred feet in height nd opposit to it sto n e
; a ,
e ,
a
”
col um n, of blue colour, bright as a m irror .

About ten H ( or on e third less than two m iles) to

-

the nor th east of the Ganges , was the m onastery of

-

the D eer Pa rk ( now ca ll ed S em ath divided into eight

) ,

parts, and entirely surrounded by a wall , within which

were bal u strades and two storied pal aces, of spl endid
-

constructio n ,
an d a Vilztir a
,
or te m pl e m on ast e ry -
two ,

hun dred feet in height, surm oun ted by a h u ge A rr m o -

lo ( or m ango ) in em bossed gold

, T he fo un dations and
.

Stairs were of stone S urrounding the m onum ent were

.

a hundred rows of niches m a de o f brick e a ch c on

, ,

taining a stat u e of Buddha, in em bossed gold I n the .

m id st of th e Vikcira was a statu e of Buddh a, in bro nze .

T o the south west of this Vilai ra was a S top s , of stone,

-

raised by Asoka ; and, in fron t of it, a col u m n sev enty ,

feet in height, erected on the spot wh ere B u ddh a de

livered his first discourse Near by were seven other
.

S tup or, and, also , a nu m ber of anci ent sto ne seats fifty ,

paces long, and sev en feet high, placed th ere to com

m em orate the site wh ere the four last B u ddhas are said
to have tak en exercise A statue of Buddha, in the
.

attitu de of w alki ng was likewise to be seen

, .

With in the walls of the m onastery were a m ulti tude

of sa cred m onu m ents including sev eral hundred Vthctras
'

d S amar To the west of the walls was a sacred tank

.
,

in which Buddha form erly bathed ; a lit tle to the west of

2 34 E S NAR E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

that was anoth er, in which he washed his m onk s water ’

pot ; and a short distance to the north was a third, in

, ,

which h e wash ed his garm ents On one side of this .

l ast tank was a large squ are stone, which exhibite d ,

it was believed, the m arks of th e threads of the

K achéy a or brown vestm ent worn by B uddha
, ,
N ot .

far from th e tanks was a S tup a ; and n ear to that, ,

anoth er d furth er fl still b no gre t dis nce

'

; an ,
o ,
u t at a ta ,

was one m ore situ ated in the midst of a large forest

,
.

N early half a m il e to th e so u th west of the m en -

aster w l rg n d lofty S t bo t three h undwd

y as a a e a u a
p , a u

feet in height resplen dent with the m os t rare an d

,

precious obj ects and surm o un ted by an arrow By

,
.

its side was anoth er S tup a but of small size

,
Abou t .

half a m il e to th e east of the D eer Park was a S tup a ;

and
,
close by ,
a dry ta nk ,
r especting which H iou en

Thaeng giv es a singul ar l egend To th e west of the

.

tank was the S tup or of the Three Quadr upeds ‘

.

T h e narrativ es of F e Hian and H iou en Theang stri k

ingly agree in two respects They both state that,
.
,

alike wh ere Buddha d eli v ered his first discou rse , and

where the five herm its cam e forward and paid him
reverence, a S laps or sacred tower has been erected .

I t is v ery probabl e that they saw the sam e towers .

Indeed , in regard to the first , if any reliance can be

plac ed on the assertion of H iouen T h sang that th e ,

tower which existed in his day was b u il t by A Soka ,

th e co njecture amou nts to an established fact This .

tower com m em orated a m ost i m portant circu m stance in

the history of B u ddhi sm and was spoken of as on e
,

S ee Appendix B .
2 36 m u m, PAST AND PRE SENT .

Museum of the Asiatic S ociety in C alcntta . ML E .

T hom as M Ju dge m
o l and Dr
. F . H s ll,
l
a so, following in the track of these g red explorers,

num ber of the Sé rné th relics have been depocited in

the Governm ent Coll ege of Benares and are form d ,

both in the Mu seu m in th e C ollege grounds

and .

T he ruins at S i m ath c onsist of two towers — separ

t d by
a e a distance of abou t half a m ile or th eresbou ts,
and o f the walls and fiundatiem of buildings which,
’

for many years, rem ained cov ered over with earth but ,

have been lately exhum ed Moreover there is a vas t

.
,

the plsin, som e of whic h are groove d and c arved, while

all are hard and well seasoned H ere and there, too,
-
.

a sta tue, m ore or less mutilated is to be seen N ew , .

a stream which flows to the north of th e plaim is a

large stone figure, th e base of which is im bedded in
the soil This m ay have been a representa tion of
.

Buddha ; bu t it is now worshipped by the Hi ndus,

who profess to derive great benefit fro m their hom age
to it T h e flgure is so m utilated, that it is diflicnlt
.

to say wh at it was originally .

T he accou nt giv en of the great tower by Major Gen eral -

Cunningham , in hi s A rchwological Report, prin ted in

the Journal of the Asiatic S ociety of Bengal ( vol .

is so elaborate and et rstiv e, and, with al, so

interesting that, althou gh lengthy , I give the ex trac t
,

al m ost entire He says : The Buddhist S lap s called

.

D bamek is a solid round tow er ninety three feet in ,

-

diam eter at base, and one hu ndred and ten feet in

238 BE N A R E B, rm n ran om
u r s .

figures of Buddha, th e Teacher, are usu ally represen ted

as seated under an u m brella .

“
T he lower part of the m onum en t has eight proj ect
ing faces each tw en ty one feet six inches in wi dth wi th
,
-
,

intervals of fifteen feet betw een them In each of the .

fa ces, at a h eight of tw en ty four feet above the ground,

-

there is a se m i circu l ar headed niche five and a half feet

-
,

in width, and the sam e in h eight In each of the nich es .

th ere is a pedestal , one foot in height , and slightly hol

lowed on the top , to receive the base of a statu e ; b u t
th e statu es them selves h av e long di sappeared , and I
did not fin d the fra gm ent of one in m y excav ation at ,

th e base of th e m o num ent There can be littl e do u bt,

.

howev er that all th e eight statues represented B u ddha,

,

th e P reacher in th e usua l form , with his han ds raised

,

before his breast, and the thumb and forefinger of the

right h and pl aced on th e littl e fin ger of the l eft h and ,

for th e purpose of enforcing his argu m ent J u dging by .

th e dim ensi ons of th e niches, the statues m ust hav e been

of life size
-
.

“
Fro m the level of th e base of the niches the eight ,

projecting faces lessen in width to five feet at the top ;

but the di m inu tion is not uniform , as it begins gradu ally
°

at first, and incre ases as it approaches th e top T h e ou t .

line of the slope m ay have been, possibly, intended for a

curve ; but it looks m u ch m ore lik e three sides of a large
polygon . Around the nich es seven of the fac es are
,

m ore or l ess richly decorated with a profusion of flower

ing foliage T h e carving on som e of the faces has been
.

co m pl eted ; but, on oth ers, it is littl e m ore than half

finished , whil e the south face is altogether plain On .
 sea m s, PAST AND n eem . 2 30

the unfinished faces , portions of the unexec uted orna

m entation m ay be see n traced in outlin e by the chisel ,

which proves that , in ancient times th e Hind us followed

, ,

the sam e practice as at present, of adding the carving

after the w all was built .

O n the w estern face the sam e ornam entation of flow

,

ing foliage is co ntin u ed below the niche ; and, in the

m idst of it there is a s mall pl ain tablet, which can only
,

have been intended for a v ery short inscription such , ,

perhaps , as the nam e of the bu ildi ng A triple band .

of ornam ent, nearly ni ne feet in depth below the niches ,

encircl es all th e rest of th e building both faces and re

,

cesses T he m iddl e band, which is the broadest, is

.

form ed entirely of v ario us geo m etrical figures the ,

lines being d eeply c u t and the interven ing spaces being

,

filled with v arious orn am ents O n some of the faces ,

.

where th e spaces between the d eeply cu t lines of the -

ruling figures are l eft pl ain, I i nfer that the work is

unfinish ed . T he upper hand of ornam entation, which
is the narrowest, is generally a scroll of the lot us plant,
, ,

with leaves and bu ds only ; while the lower band which ,

is also a lotus scroll , co ntains the fu ll blown flowers as

-
,

w ell as the buds T h e lotu s flower is represented full

.

to the front, on all the sides except th e sou th south west -

,

where it is shown in a side view with the C hakwa or

Brahm ani goose seated u po n it This indeed is the
.
, ,

only side on which any anim al representations are given ;

which is th e m ore rem ark abl e as it is one of the rec esses ,
,

and not one of the proj ecti ng faces I n the m iddl e of

.

the ornam e nt there is a h u man figure seated on a lotus

flo wer, and holding two branches of the lotus in his
240 m u s s, rasr AND PRESENT .

hands . On each side of him th ere are three lotu s

flowers, of which the fou r nearer ones

Pl atoon , “ a, 0 . arm s . Bog .

Cu m s on m a Bunnm sr T own , S M Arn .

—N o I
. .

its flowi ng lines of graceful stalk ,

bu ds, and full blown flowers, and delicate leaves, is very

rich and very beautiful Belo w the ornamental borders .

there are three plain projecting bands .

T h e breadth of one projecting face and of one re

case is thirty six feet six inches
-
which m u lti plied by
, ,
2 42 m u s s, rm AND rassns r .

O n th e 18th January, 1835, m y scaffolding was

co mpl eted , and I stood on the top of the great to we r .

O n cu tting th e long grass , I found two iron spikes, ea c h

eight inch es long, and shaped like the h ead of a lanc e .

O n the following day I rem oved th e ru in ed brick pin

h eel s, and began sink ing a shaft or well abo u t five fee t ,

in diam eter A t three feet fro m the top, I foun d a

.

ro ugh stone, twe nty four in ches by fifteen inches by

-

seven inch es ; and, on th e 25th January at a depth of ,

ten and a half feet, I fo und an inscribed slab tw enty ,

eight inches and three quarters long, thi rteen inc h es

-

broad and four i nch es and three quarters thick, whi ch

,
-

is now in the M u seu m of the Bengal Asiatic Society .

T h e inscription consists of the usual B u ddhist form ula

or professio n of faith beginning with the words
, Ye ,
”
D lmrmmd Item p rabhavd etc of w hich translations
,
.
,

h ave b een given by Mill , Hodgson, Wilson and Bur ,

nouf . T he following is Hodgso n s translatio n, which

’

“
has received the approval of Burnouf Of all things
proceeding fro m cause, th eir causes hath th e T a tluigata
( Buddh )
a explained The Gre
.
( )
at S ram ana B u ddha ha th

likewise explained the cau ses of the cessation of exist

”
once . T he letters of this inscriptio n which are all ,

beau tifully c ut, appear to m e to be of a som ewhat earlier

data th an th e Tibeta n alphabet which is known to hav e
,

been obtained fro m I ndia in the m iddl e of the seventh

centu ry I would therefore assign th e inscription and
.
, , , ,

conseque n tly , the co m pletion of the m onu m en t to th e

,

sixth century .

“
O n th e 2 2u d January I began to exca vate a ho ri
zontal gallery on the level of th e top of the sto ne work
;
-
 BsN A ns s, PA sr AND PRESENT . 243

and, on the 14th of F ebruary at a distance of forty four -

,

feet, the gallery join ed the shaft which had been sunk ,

fro m above As I now fou nd that the upper co u rse of

.

sto ne was only a facin g I sank th e gallery itself down ,

to the level of th e stone work , and co ntinued it right -

through to the opposite side I thus discovered th at .

,

th e m ass of the inn er stone work was on ly thirty three - -

feet in h eight while the o uter sto ne work was forty

,
-

three feet In th e mi ddl e, however th ere was a pill ar

.
,

of ston e wo rk rising six feet higher th an the inner

-
,

m ass. This was, perhaps used as a point from which ,

to describe the circle with accu racy S mall galleries .

w ere also m ad e to reach th e t0 ps of the east and w est

faces ; bu t nothing was discovered by th ese works .

T h e l abo ur of sinki ng the shaft through the solid

stone work was very great, as the stones, which were
-

large ( fro m two to three feet in length eightee n inches ,

broad and twelve i nches thick ) were all secured to

, ,

ea ch other by iron cram ps Each stone had, u sually .

,

eight cram ps four above and as many below, all of

, ,

which had to be ou t ou t before it co uld be m oved .

I therefore sen t to Chu nar for regular quarry m en,

, ,
-

to q uarry out the stones ; and the work occ upied them
for several m onths A t l en gth at a depth of one hundred
.
,

and ten feet fro m th e top of the m o nu m ent , the ston e

gave place to b rick work m ad e of very l arge bricks

-
,
.

Throu gh this th e sh aft was continued for a further

depth of twenty eight feet , when I reached the pl ain soil
-

benea th the foundation Lastly a gallery was run right

.
,

thro ugh the brick work of the fo undation, i m medi ately

-

”
below the sto ne work but without yield ing any result
-
,
.
244 D sN A nss, r A sr AND p anama .

an ti quity of the B u ddhist tower m ay be judged of from

its form, is worthy of great attention ; for, if his obser
vations be just — and it m ust be co nfessed
,
few men
, ,

have had the sam e extensive experi ence in explorin g

—
I ndia, it would be an ascertained
fact, that the large tower at S é rnath cou ld not date from
earli er bu t fro m later Buddhist ti m es
,
The oldest kin d
,
.

of tower, su ch as those existing at Sé nchi and S atdharé ,

”
was he says, a si m pl e h em isph ere T he epoch of th ese
,
“
.

two was h e conj ectures, the m iddl e of th e sixth centu ry

,
“
T he n ext, in point of antiqui ty are the topes ,

( tow ers
) aro und Bh ilsa which co ntain the relics of
,

Asoka s m issionaries and of the v enerable M ogalipu tra

’
, ,

who conducted th e proceedings of the Third S ynod .

In these which were b uilt in the end of the t h ird

,

century a o , the dom e is raised a few feet above th e

. .

basem ent , by a cylindrical plinth T he third cl ass of .

tapes are those represe nted in the Sanchi bass reli efs -
,

whi ch date between 19 and 37, A D In these , th e . .

hem isphere is placed upon a pli nth of equ al h eight ,

so th at the centre of the dom e is the c entre of th e
whol e buildi ng S ix representa tions of this kin d
.

of tops occ ur am ong th e S anch f bass reli efs The -

.

topes in Afghanistan are, m ostly , of this shape In .

th e la test topes of which S arn ath, n ear B enares,

,
-

is a m agnifi t —
specim en, th e plinth is equal , in
height, to the diam eter of the h emisphere From .

these rem arks it is evident th at th e age of al m ost

every tope m ay be obta i ned , approxi m ately from its ,

shape ; th e m ost ancien t being a si m pl e h em isphere ,

2 46 c au s e s, PA sr AND Pas ssN r
'
.

tope which d ates from a far earli er period Th e ou t

,
.

line profil e, therefore , of that portion of th e acc um u

lutions which served to fill in the high er, but unequa l
, ,

line of the broken walls now exposed, form ed , by sub

sequent deposits, a m ere continuation , to the westward ,

of tha t face of the original bank ; taking however , a ,

m ore gradual slope th an th e sides of th e clean ea rth

”
m ound appear to h av e done He also states, that at
.
,

the so u th e ast corner of th e cl earings the m odern ,

half wall erected u pon th e re mains of the m ore ancien t

,

edifice was evid ently b u ilt into an already existing

,

bank consistin g at the point of contact of a débris of

, , ,
”
broken bricks, etc I n front of the cham ber , to the
.

east , he says, we see traces of a verandah ; and at

“
,

the north east corner we agai n obs erve th e ancient walls

-
,

perfor ming the part of fou ndations for th eir m odern

su ccessors There would see m to h av e been an outlet
.

from the m ain square at this poi nt thou gh as far as , ,

the excavations have yet been extended in this direction ,

it is difli c u lt to say wh ere this passage led to inasm u ch ,

as,
on the east , we en counter a m ere reta ining wall ,

supporting a corner of the hi gh bank ; and on th e ,

n orth we m eet with a singu lar elbow sh aped su perfic ia l

,
-

continuation of the outer wall of the m ain buildi ng .

What this strange angular affair m ay indicate, or h ow

far it m ay ext en d into the bank , m ust, for the present ,
”
be allowed to pass .

These ch am bers constitute portions of a co m pl ete square

of the m onastery , the ou tline of which M r Thomas ,
.

“
sta tes has been
,
preserv ed, as far as the foundations
go to the outside of the doorway block ; and the line
,
 BENARES, PA sT AND PRESENT . 2 47

is fu rther continued through the thick ang ul ar w all ,

at which point the d eep foundations cease P assing .

by three ordinary cha m bers on the northern face we ,

co m e to one of the i mage houses The entrance is from

-
.

the inner sq uare T he brick and th e sto ne pl atform

.

m ay both be s u pposed to h av e form ed ped estals of erect

statues of B uddh a T he retreated wall in the corner
.
,

between these platform s, co m bined with the otherwise ,

apparently isolated position of the second pl atform

,

cham ber adjoining towards the north , would have led

to th e idea that the w all had been pi erced for the
purpose of co m m unication between one chamb er and
the oth er ; but , as far as the standing w alls admit of
a d ecisi o n on the point th ere certa inly was no doo r
.
,

way at this spot wh atever m ea ns of oral or ocu l ar

,

com m unication m ay h ave existed in the scree n at a

hi gher l evel S uch portion of the w es tern face of the
.

m onastery as has y et been exposed seem s to h ave c on

sisted of cells These bear less traces of fire th an
.

those on th e opposite side of the square ; bu t, on th e

.

other hand a m uch smaller proportion of their walls t e

,

m ains standi ng see m i ng as if this side of the building,

,

situ ated as it was o n t h e m ore expos ed slope of the

, ,

,
—
ban k was l ess early inh u m ed Indeed, as far as can
.

be seen the so u th w est corner h as been al m ost entirely

,
-

swept away ; its s u rvivi ng portions h aving been cov ered

in at a m uch l ater period by the grad ual O peration of
, ,

th e m anu factu re of po ttery , etc whose kil ns , for the

.
,

supply of su ccessive generations, have bee n p ushed on

in this directi o n to m eet the prev aili ng wi nd A t this
,
.

corner we again find traces of the verandah of the cou rt ;

2 48 EE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

and the centre cham ber , on the so uthern aspect, bring s

us to the shrine All that now rem ains is the squ am
.

wh ich form ed the S znhésaa, or throne for the sea ted

'

figure of Budd ha T he wall to the rear of the sta tue

.

h as been completely destroyed ; but the original openi ng

in front of the S inhdsan is seen to hav e bee n e nla rg ed
b eyond the breadth of the other doorways probably ,

to afford a free view of the object of worship witho u t ,

ordinary
It has bee n already re marked that th e excavations ,

have brou ght to light a large num ber of statu es and

bass reliefs : they am ou nt in fa ct, to so m e hu ndreds
-
, ,

m any of which are representa tio ns of B u ddha These .

figures were, for th e m ost part, discovered in two pla ces ,

one of which now tha t the m ou nd co ntaining th em has

,

been rem oved is al most on a l evel with the su rface

,

of the groun d and exhi bits several circular bases of

,

brick on which , probably stone pillars form erly stood

, , .

Am ongst them, occ upying a central position is one ,

m u ch l arger and m ore el evated than the rest which it , ,

is su pposed constit uted the fou ndation of the S in/ideas

,
°

er thro ne of a gigantic sta t u e of Buddh a The other .

-

pl ace is an exca v ated cham b er, in which a large num ber

of i m ages and other ancient rem ai ns were discovered .

A s it is next to th e grea t tower, perhaps the m ost re

'

m arkable and curious structu re h ere, I sha ll p roceed

T he cham ber is circular in form , and is d epressed

Bengal Asiatic Journal , for 186 4, p . 4 73 .
250 E E N AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

of whose walls have been discovered, form ing part of

th e fo u ndations of th e m ore m odern s tructu re the ruins ,

of which, still visible , have j u st now been described .

Major Gen eral Cu nningham s account of his excavations

- ’

here, an d of the vi ews he entertains of th e nature of the

original buildings situ ated on this Spot I m ust trans ,

cribs, for th e completeness of the narrative It is .

str ng however tha t h e has not re rk d the

a e , ,
m a e c h a~

rac teristic s in the

'

constructio n and an tiquity of the

existing wall of the cham ber referred to H e writes as .

follows
“
This is the ruin of th e large b rick amp s ( or to wer ),
which was excavated by B abu Jagat S ingh th e B owen ,

of Baj a C heit Singh of B enares for the purpose of oh ,

ta ining bricks for the erection of Jagatganj I n January .

,

1794, his workm en found , at a depth of tw enty seven -

feet two vessels of stone and m arble one inside th e

, ,

oth er T he inner v essel according to Jonath an D u n

.
,
’
can s account ( Asiatic Research es , vol v p . .
,
.

tain ed a few h u m an bones so m e dec ayed pearls, gold

,

leav es , and other j ewels of no value I n the Sam e ‘

.

’
pl ace under grou nd , and on the Sam e occasion wi th
-
‘

th e discov ery of the urns th ere was fo un d a statu e of

,

B u ddha, bearing an i nscription dated in S am va t 1083 ,

or A D 102 6 An im perfect transl ation of this in

. . .

scription was giv en by Wilford , accom pani ed by som e

rem arks in which h e applies th e statem ents of th e re
,

cord to the great tower of D ham ek instead of tothe ,

b uilding in which it was ac tually discovered .

“
A t m y su ggestion M ajor Kittoe m ade a search for
,

this sta tue am ongst the pl undered stones of Jagatganj

 R EN A R E S , PAST AND PRESEN T . 25 1

where it was found , broken and m uti lated T he ia .

scription however, was still legible ; and the remains

,

of the figure are sufficient to Show th at th e statue was

a representation of B u ddha the preacher and not of ,

B u ddha the ascetic Major Kittoe sent m e a transcript

.

of the insc ription in m od ern N agari which I strongly ,

suspect to have been B rahmam zed by his Benares P an

'

dats I n its m odern N agari form , as transl ated for m e

'

.
,

it records th at M alu P rila Raj a of Goods ( or B engal )

'
‘
, ,
' ‘

havin g worshipped:th e lotus like feet of S ri D harma rdaa

-

(
‘
h eap of l ight
,
’
B u ddh a ) caused
,
to be erected in Ké éi
hundreds of fauna and s traghaqzyd S ri S tbzra F 610
' '
’
.

and his yo u n ger brother S ri Vacanta P ale h avi ng re ,

stored religion, raised this tower with an inner cham ber

and eight l arge niches I stro ngly suspect that the
’
.

word N ew, which is a nam e of S iva, has been obtained

by Brahma nica l m odificatio n of the original Wilford .

read B lzzip cila instead of Isana bu t I am un able to

offer any co njecture as to the true reading, as I know
not wh ere th e o riginal is now d eposited Major Kit .

toe s fac si m il e of th e inscription is perh aps am ongst

’ -
, ,

those deposited by him in the Asiatic Soci ety s M useu m ’

.

“
My reaso ns for fixing on th e large round hole five ,

h undred and twenty feet to the w est of the great tower ,

as th e site of th e stup a exca vated by Jagat S in gh , are

th e followi ng — I n 18 35, wh en I was enga ged in open

ing th e grea t tower itself I m ade repeated enqu iri es
,

regardi ng th e scenes of Jagat S ingh s discovery E very

’
.

one h ad h eard of the fi nding of a stone box which ,

conta i ned bones and j ewels and gold ; bu t every one

, ,

professed ignorance of the locality At length, an old .

252 RE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

ing village of S inghpu r, cam e forwar d and infor med m e

that, when he was a boy, he had been em ployed in the
ex cavations made by Jagat S ingh and that he knew all ,

about th e discov ery of th e j ewels e tc A ccordi n g to .

,

his accou nt, the discovery consisted of two boxes, the

outer one being a large round box of co mm o n ston e ,

and the inner one a cyl indrical box of green m arble ,

abou t fiftee n inch es in h eight a n d fi ve or S ix inc hes

'

in diam eter T h e contents of the inner box w ere forty

.

to forty S ix pearl s, fourteen rubies, eight silver and nin e

-

arm bone T he m arble box was taken to the Bars Shhi b

-
.

u t the sto ne box was l eft u ndis

( Jon athan D u n can
); b
ta rbed in its origina l positio n A S the last statem ent
.

’
evidently afforded a ready m eans of testing the man s
verac ity , I enqu ired if h e could poin t out the spot
where the box was left To this qu estion h e replied
.
,

withou t any hesitation, in th e affirm ativ e and I at once

°

engaged him to dig u

p th e box W e proceeded to.

gether to the site of the present circular hole whi ch ,

was th en a low uneven m ound in the cen tre of a hol

low, and, after m arking ou t a sm all space about four
feet in diam eter, h e began to work B efore sunset .

he had reached th e sto ne box, at a depth of twelve

feet, and at less th an two feet from the m iddle of the
well which he had sunk T he box was a large c ir
.

c ular block of co m m on Chu nar sandstone, pierced with

a rough cylindrical cha mber in the cen tre, and covered

with a fla t sla b as a lid . I presented this box, along

wi th about Sixty statues, to the Bengal Asiatic Society ;
25 4 RE N A R E S , PAST AND PRES E N T .

m ade som e excavations roun d the outer wall, to asc er

ta in its thickness ; but I l eft the brick work undistu rbed .

Abou t eighteen years afterwards th e excavation of ,

this stupa was continued by Major Kittoe and Mr Thom a s .

,

u n til th e whol e of th e inn er m ass h ad been rem ov ed ,

and th e foundations of th e outer ca sing exposed The .

inner diam eter is given , by Mr Thomas as forty nine .

,
-

feet six inches ; the Slight excess over m y m easurem en t

being due to the thickness of a base m oulding of th e
original stup a I have again carefully examined th e
.

remains of this m on um ent ; and I am q uite satisfied

that, in its original state, it was an ancient hem i
spherical stop s forty ni ne feet in dia m eter at ba se and
,
-
,

about thirty five or forty feet in height, in cl ud ing the

-

u s ual pinnacle A fter wa rds

. whe n as I s u ppose the
, , ,

u pper portion had beco m e ruinous, it w as repaired by

the addition of a casing wall, Sixtee n feet and a half

in thickness T he di am eter of the renew ed edifice
.

thus becam e eighty two feet while the height inc lu

-
, ,

sive of a pinnacl e could not have been l ess than fifty

,

feet O n a review of all the facts connected with thi s

.

ru in I incli ne to the opinio n, th at the inner hem isphere

,

was an anci en t relic stup a ( or tower) and that this , ,

having b ecom e ruinous, it was repaired, and an oute r

casing added by the brothers S thira P ala and Vasanta '

m
Pals , in A D . . 102 6 .

Th ere can be no doubt that great spoliation h as been

per petrated on this ru in E xcavations h ave been carried
.

on to such an exten t , th at all the central portio n of

the b ricks originally at th e base of the ancien t tower ,

,

C unninghm A m hmologic
‘ ’
s epor t pp . 104 7 .
 m u ss, PAST AND PRESENT . 255

has been en tirely rem oved ; so that, now only th e bare ,

retai ning walls remain and the cavity looks like a ,

cham ber, as I have designated it Thus it com es to .

pass, in this instance that the repeated exploration ,

of an anci en t and m ost singular stru cture m eans al m ost

its utter destru ctio n The wall or casing, as Major
.
,

General C unningha m describes it is m ost certa inly of , , ,

two eras T he u pper portion m ay be of a co m para

.

tively m odern date and may have been added by S thira

,

Péla and his broth er, in th e el ev enth century A D ; . .

but the lower portion is m uch old er .

F rom th e n arrative of H iouen Theang, it is evident ,

that, form erly, th ere w ere m any towers at S arnath ,

of which two only are now visible O ne of th ese , the .

Dham ak tower, has been described The oth er is two .

thousand five hundred feet to the south of it, and was

once ca lled Chaukandi, bu t is now called Lori ki k u dan - -
,

or Lori s Leap , in consequence of a Hind u of th e nam e

’
'

of Lori having l eaped fro m its sum mit, and kill ed him
self Th ere is a m ou nd of solid brickwork seventy four
.
,
-

feet in h eight, on th e top of which is an octa gonal

building twenty three feet eight inches high, erected to
,
-

co m m em orate the ascen t of the m ound by the Em peror

Hum ayun son of the great Baber, who succeed ed to the
,

throne on the death of his fa ther A D 1531 E xtensive ,

. . .

exca vations have been made into the m ound , but no

relic cham ber ha s bee n discovered in it ; and it is sup
-

posed th erefore th at u nlike the tower erected above

, , ,

th e cha m ber j ust d escribed it was not a relic tower at ,

-

all .N ow as H iouen T hsang places a m agnificent S tup a

, ,

about three h u ndred feet high , at the distance of half

 N ow , it sh ould be remem bered, that Sarn ath was
famou s, am o ngst the B uddhists ,
n ot so m u ch for its

Buddha as for its being the spot where S ékya first

,
“
tu rned the wheel of Law The original buildin g

lapse of tim e bu t it is only natural to suppose tha t,

'

as the fam e of the I s ipattana hall or abode of saints , ,

was v ery great througho ut the entire B uddhist world ,

the ut most care was taken to preserve the original

structure as long as it stood and on its decay of tha t
, ,

erecte d in its roo m It appears to m e, therefore, highl y

.

probable th at a building represen ting the original iéi

, ,

patta na ha ll , which Buddha visited on first deliverin g

the Law, was in existence both when E a Hian and
H iouen T hsang visited Sarnath .

Other ex cavations cond ucted by Major General Oun -

ningham are of consid erable interest Observing a .

piece of terraced floor whic h h e had ordered to be

,

cleared for the purpose of pitching his ten t u pon it ,

he found that it term inated on wha t appeared to be

the edge of a sm all ta nk thirteen feet nine in ches
,
“ ”
square . Conti nu in g the work, he says I found ,

th e bases of pillars, in pai rs surroundin g the square

, .

A mongst the r ubbish inside the square, I found an

2 58 BENARES , PAST AND PRESENT .

burnt I n a few pl aces I found what appeared to be

.
‘

pieces of te rraced roofing ; and, in one pl ace , a large

heap of charcoal O n the so u th side the central room
.

was lost by previous excavations ; bu t on the north si de I

fo und a room entirely open towards the v erandah as if it ,

was a hall or place of gen eral m eeti ng for the residen t

,

m onks .Inside this room there was the base or pedesta l

of what I beli ev e to h av e been a s m all votive S trip s ,

the top of which prob ably r each ed to th e roof and took ,

th e place of a pill ar A sm all drain led u nder grou nd

.

from the north west corner of th e central square to the

-

ou tside of the building on the north for the purpose , ,

as I concl u d e of carryi n g off the rain wa ter -

.
,

T he buildin g which I have j ust described would

app ear to h av e b een a Vih ara or Ch p l Mo astery
‘ ’
,
a e n ,

th at is, a m onastery with a chapel or templ e form ing ,

an in tegral p art of th e b u ildin g From th e thickness

.

of the outer wall , I infer that this edifice was not l ess
tha n three or fo ur stories in h eight and th at it m ay ,

h ave acco m m odated abou t fifty m onks T he entrance .

was, pro bably on th e so u th sid e ; and I think th at th ere

,

m ust have been a sta t ue of B uddh a in the northern

v erandah T he bass reli ef which I fou nd in the central
.
-

squ are alm ost certainly form ed one of the m iddl e archi
trav es of the court .

“
Continu in g m y excavations on th e high ground to
th e w estward , I cam e u po n th e re m ains of a b uildin g
of a to tally different description The walls of th e
.

edific e w ere thr ee feet thick throu ghout ; and I fo u nd

th e pl aster still adh ering to th e inn er w alls of wha t I

will call the v erandahs , with borders of painted flowers ,
 RE N A R E s, PAST AN D PRESE NT . 25 9

qu ite fresh and vivid The m ass of the building con

.

sisted of a square of thirty four feet with a sm all porch

-
,

on each of th e four sides The buildi ng was divided

.

into three parts from west to east ; and the central part
,

was again su bdivided into three sm all roo m s I think .

it probable tha t these three roo ms were the Shrines of

the B u ddhist Triad D harmms B u ddha, and Sangha ;
, ,

and that the walls of the two lo ng roo m s or v erandahs

,

to the north and south, were covered with stat ues and
bass reliefs
-
. The entrance verandah of one of the
mhcira ca ves at Kanh eri , in Salsette , is adorned in a
'

sim ilar m anner ; and, even in the prese nt day , the inner
walls of the tem ples, both in Ladak and in Burmah ,

are covered with figures of Buddh a This also we .

, ,

know fro m H iou en T hsang s acco unt , was the style ’

of the walls of the great mluira in th e D eer Park at

’

this very pl ace ; and a sim ilar sty le of ornam entation

prevailed both at B uddha Gay s and at N alanda O ut .

—
side th e wal ls also , I found a great num ber abo u t fifty
,

—
or sixty of deeply carv ed large stones, which had once
-

form ed part of a m agnificent fri eze, with a bold pro

j ec ti ng co rnice T h.e fa ce of the fri eze w as orna m en ted
with small figures of B uddha seated at inte rvals in , , ,

peculiar Shaped niches which I ha ve traced from the

-
,

rock hewn c aves of D h amnar, in M élwa to the pic

-
,

turesqu e but fantastic Ky oungs of Burm ah A few .

of th ese stones m ay now be seen in the gro unds of the

Sanskrit Coll ege at Benares A S I found no traces of .

bu rnt wood I am inclined to bal iem that the roof of

,

th e building was pyram idal and tha t the general ap ,

p e ar a nce of the edifi ce m ust ha ve bee n strikingly Sim ilar

260 E E N AE E S , PAST A ND P R ESENT .

to that of the great tem ple of Bram banan, depicted

the second vol u m e of M es s Java ’
.
’

I h ave before observed that for th e m ost part, the

, ,

statu es discovered in these rui ns were found in two

places . O ne of them was the cham ber above which ,

stood the relic tower, an account of which has been

-

already given The other was a sm all building, ten

.

feet sq uare, which contain ed about Sixty sta tues and

b ass reli efs
-
Of this curious discovery Major General
.
,
-

Cunningham in his report says

,
I was inform ed by
,

Sangkar Béj bhar of S inghpur, the sam e m an who h ad

,

pointed ou t to m e the position of the relic box in Jagat

S ingh s stup a, that, whilst h e was engaged in digging
’

m aterials for Jagatganj the workm en had co me u pon

,

a very large nu m ber of statu es

,
all co ll ecte d togeth er
in a small buildi ng The walls were pulled down and
.
,

th e bricks w ere carri ed aw ay ; bu t the statu es were

l eft untou ched in their original position I at once
,
.

comm enced an exca vation on the spot pointed ou t by

San gkar, which was only a few feet to th e north of th e
tem ple j u st described At a d epth of two feet below
.

th e surface, I found abou t six ty sta tu es and bass reli efs

' -
,

in an upright position, all pack ed closely together wi th

in a sm all space of l ess than ten feet squ are T he .

walls of the building in which they had been thus

deposited had been rem oved as stated by Sangkar ; bu t ,

th e rem ains of th e found ation Showed a s m all place of

only el ev en feet Square o u tside I m ade a Selection of .

the m ore perfect figures , which , togeth er with the bass

reliefs I prese nted to the A si atic Society A sketch of
,
.

the pri ncipal bass relief which represe nts the four great
-
,
262 m m m m

six feet in la gth hy fi ee fcet in ln ighg and th e sa m e

and hefloved ou nrm ing sm all

m t a

and the sam e in height . M h rge d one M also,

disappeared, v hich is the mm to he regm tted, as l

think it hi ghly p uhnbk M it m th e celebn ted
M e dm ibed b y mm n -ng on v hich li uddha
hnd spreod ou t his w m dry n m '
vu hing it in

finw of the wed nddht s

’
M as
‘
disfinctly as

th eir homage befi ts th e m daily ; M whwem

heretics or wicked men crowded m und the m ne in

neighbou ring tank let loose npon th cm a storm of wind

”
and rain .

at S érnEth is the c wtgq a m all vemel m de of baked

clay , fiat below, and ending in a blunt point above .

celebrated religiou s form ula of the B uddhists, the

words c omprise the Buddhist oonfes ion of fi ith, whieh,

it wem g every Buddhist is wen aware ofi and is
“
able to repeat N othing can be m ore com plete, or
.

” “
m ore fun dam ental remarks Mr H odgsou , than thi s
, .

doctrine . It asserts that Buddha hath revealed th e

 REN A R E S, PAST AND PRESENT . 263

causes of ( ani mate) m undan e existe nce as well as the ,

causes of its com plete cessation ; i m plying by the latter , ,

is th e
grand object of all Buddha vows .

Several hundreds of these chain / as h ave bee n dis

“
covered Mr Thomas sta tes, that the en tire nu m ber
. .

of these dim in u tive pray er te m ples see m to ha ve bee n

-

placed as votive o fferings in one and the sam e position,

to the right front of the chief figure of Buddha .

Wheth er, however, this was th e appropriate Spot so ,

far rem ov ed fro m the sta tue, for the deposit of th e

pilgrim s offering or wh eth er when o nce dedicated at
’
, ,

the shrine itself, th e officiat ing pri est considered this

site of sufficient proxi m ity for absent worshippers leav ’

ings , m ay be a question but th e little varyin g

,

form ity of th e character and ex ecution of the l egends

contained withi n the chatty as would see m to indicate
that th ey were m anufactured on the prem ises or, at ,

all ev ents, th at the ruling hi erarchy h ad a ben eficial

i nterest in th e trade and possibly , went so far as to

, ,

m ak e th e Site abov e indica ted a location for sale and

delivery at an oppor tu ne pitch of d evotional excite
,

m ent on the part of th e confiding vota ry Besid es the .

three v arieties of incl u sive cha ity as, there were found
speci m ens of a m ore pri mitive form of th e sam e m anu
,

facture in which th e enti re m ou ld of clay see m ed to

,

h av e been prepared at one and th e sam e operation, and

after the external o u tli ne had been received T he .

i m pression was m ade by forcing the engraved seal

i nto the soft cl ay from the ba se of th e chatty/ a In
,
.

this case the inscription re m ained co m paratively

26 4 RE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

protected ; but the m anipulative process was m ore

Sim ple and, possibly m ore assuring to the mass, who
, ,

were then enabled to see the writing th at was to aid

their act of A plan was adopted , too, by
m eans of flat cl ay cakes on which choity aa were rep re
,

sen Md, otfering as m any as twenty of these sacred ob

ec ts at one and sam e ti m e

the
j .

It has already been observed that the city of Benares

associated with the early hi story of B u ddhism , and

form erly one of the c hi ef seats of that religion ,

and that it was in B enares th at the religion first de

veloped itself, and whence th e stream s proceeded whic h ,

by d egrees, flowed over India Ceylon, Burm ah China, , ,

and Tibet So m e of its distinguishing doctri nes and

.

principles had indeed , been ch erished in India long

,

before B u ddhism , as a historical religion, sprang into ex

istence but, as a d efinite and disti nctiv e creed holdin g ,

itself aloof from Hinduis m , and claim ing an indi vidu

ality of its own th e reli gio n m ust date from the life
,

tim e of him who gave it historica l reality This is no .

oth er than Buddha him self, or S éky a Muni, who som e ,

say was born in the sixth c entury before Christ, and

,

died s o 477 This wonderful personage was the son

. .

of the Raj a of Kapila a small territory probably in

, ,

the neighbourhood of Goru ckpore, upwards of a bu n

dred m iles to the north of Benares Until his twenty .

ninth year, S aky a p aid no special atten tion to religion ,

but passed his ti m e in the p ursu it of pleasure A t this .

age ,
however his habits changed ; and beco m ing an
, ,

ascetic, h e practised th e au stere rites which were then

Bengal Asiatic Journal ,

for 1854 , pp . 4 74, 476 .
266 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

In his reign, B uddhist m issionari es were sent to distant

places in India, and to cou ntri es ou t of India, for the

them was hi s celebrated son Mahendra, who, together

,

with his Sister S angami tra had th e ho nour of preaching

, ,

the B u ddhist doctrin es to the inhabitants of Ceylon and ,

of being chief instrum ents in their conversion Wi th .

th e era of A Soka co m m en ced th e pal m y days of Bud

,

p aram ou nt religion, and continued to remain so for

several hundred years The history of this period is, to
.

a great exte nt in volved in obscurity ; bu t the evidm oe

,

that exists , whil e fragm entary and confu sed, is deci

dedly in fa vo u r of th e general preval ence of the Bud

dhist and of th e d epression and w eak ness of th e Brah
,

m anical , faith
. Much, though not all, of this eviden ce
is gathered fro m coins and inscriptions E ven in th e
.

fifth century of our era when th e Chinese pilgrim

, ,

F a Hi an, travelled thro ugh N o rthern India the n ational ,

religion was B uddhism “

. A t the tim e of F a Hi an s
’

visit B uddhism was the prevailing religion of the Pun

,

j ab and of N orth ern I ndia fro m M athura to th e m outh

,

of the Ganges Between the P unj ab and Math ura

.
,

rah —
that is, in B m avarta Proper, th e law of B u ddha
was not h eld in hono ur Bu t this was th e origina l seat
.

and stronghold of th e B rah m ans and th eir religion ; and

its exception, by F a Hi an is one am ongst the m any

,

proofs of the pilgri m s ac c uracy

’
E verywhere else,
.

B u ddhis m was honoured and flourishing ; th e ki ngs

w ere firm ly attach ed to the law, and Showed th eir rever
ence for th e ascetics by t aki ng off th eir ti aras before
 E E N AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT . 2 67

them . But at Shachi and at Shewei in Oudh , the

hereti cal Brah m ans had attem m ed to destroy a sacred

nettle and so m e holy tapes T h e very attem pt Shows

.

the increasing power of th e Brahm a s, and their con

”
fident hope of ulti m ate su ccess I n the sev enth c en
.

tury, wh en H iou en T hsang visited In di a B u ddhism was ,

losing its influence , and was being supplanted by its

powerful rival .

Although Buddhi sm was in this age declining very

sensibly yet it still retained considerabl e vigo ur T h e
, .

existe nce of so many sacred m onum ents at S arn é th is

strong evidence of this ; especially as their nu m ber see m s

to have been greatly increased since the visit of the
previous traveller F a Hian
,
It is always a work of
.

ti me for ideas whi ch have been inwoven into the

national life of a people to undergo co mplete expulsion,
and for oth er ideas to be in trod u ced in th eir roo m .

Religious ideas are, of all id eas the m ost tenacious and

,

powerfu l an d when once a set of dogmas no m atter

, ,

how false and erroneous h as taken possession of a nation

, ,

those dogm as will never relax their hold of the popul ar

m in d, un til afte r a long conflict with ideas which are
m ore cogent than th em selves and altho u gh , through ,

exh austion ,
th ey are co m pelled to give place to th em ,

they will , as th ey retire, nevertheless, fight every i nch of

the way and contin ue the contest even when reduced to
,

absol u te weakn ess Thus it took sev eral centuries for

.
,

B u ddhism to expire in I ndi a It is possibl e that the

.

erection of so many sacred edifices at S é m ath and in

its neighbourhood between the periods of F a Hian and
,

Bh ilsa T apes p , . 156 .

2 68 nm m PR m E N T
'

PA S T AN D .

l ength, th e m om ent of dissolution rived

ar . I ts adver

all ,
°

y c rnshed u for ever . I ts ex tinc tion occ urre d in

“
Gm eral C u nningham , the last votaries of Bu ddha

of imago
a by the deparfing m onka are form d
c onc ealed

bu ri ed near S am é th ; and heaps of ashes still lie scattese d

am idst th e ruina to show that the m onasteries were des

troy ed by fire .
”
A nd, in a note, he adds z
“
I wrota
this passage from m y own knowledgo, as l made m any
exca vations around Sam ath in 1835 36 . Major Kittoe
has Since ( 18 5 1) m ost fully c onfirm ed m y O pinion by

hood H e writes to m e : A ll has been sacked and

.
‘

—
burned priests tem ples idols all together ; for in som e
, , , ,

and stone are found in huge

m asses : and this has
fi re
'
Mr Thomas gives
. us furth er in formation .

filled in with a strange m edley of unc ooked food,

day life, nodes of brass, produced appa ren tly by the , ,

m elting down of the cooking vessels in com m o n u se

- .

Above these, again , were the remnants of the charred

timbers of the roofi with iron nails still re ma ini ng
Bhilsa Topes pp , . 16 6 , 16 7 .
27 0 RE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

were seen brok en or whol e, the pottery vessels of every

,

day require m ent ; and the iron n ails which conn ec ted
the cross ratters still fixed in the larger beams that ha d
,

escaped co m plete combustion Am ong other bits of

.

iron work, there remain ed a well fashioned ring bolt,

- - -

that m ight pass m uster at the present day Of m atters .

of dom estic utility I m ust not o mit to m entio n a clay

,

chiragh or lam p ,
of the pointed wick holder descripti on-
,

which tho ugh it has retained its positi on in that form

,

in other parts of India, is now superseded in local use , ,

”
by the ordinary small circ u lar sau cers of baked clay .

Thus perish ed Buddhism in India where it had ,

reigned , as the dom inant religious power for, at lea st, ,

seven h undred years , and had exerted an influen ce of

gradually di minishing strength during several hundred
years more .

Bengal Asiatic Journal for 185 4 p 476

, .
 CHAP TER XI X .

AN C I E NT R uins at Bakariy h R ur
a l — Rem ains W all
of old .

C arved S ton es and A

nc ien t P
illar s — R
em ains of m ll B dd h ist
s a u

T em ple R — em ains of larger em le — rac es of

T p T Bu ddhist M onaste y r .

A STRI C T investigation instituted in places wh ere Bu d

dhism was once fam ous and powerful would, in m ost
cases bring to light certain relics which it has left
,

behind N ew discoveries of B uddhist re m ains are

.

continually being mad e in various parts of North ern

India, every instance of which is a fresh illustration
of our conviction th at B u ddh ism has left: num ero u s
,

footprin ts of itself in all places wh ere it em inently

flourished Seeing that it existed in B enares during
.

m any centuri es and was th e dom in ant faith professed

,

—
there , casting into th e Shade the elder creed , and as
serti ng pro u dl y its triu mph over it, —it is highly interest
ing to inquire wh at B u ddhist re mains are yet traceable
in the city, whereby its historical position, as one of
the chief sea ts of B u ddhism , m ay be t ested S trange to .

say , until very recently few or no re m ains in th e c ity

, ,

prepe r had been discov ered ; bu t the reaso n of thi s was

, ,

I believ e, that they had n ever been carefu lly sought

after .The extensive m ine at S arnéth, described in the
2 72 RE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

previous chapter are, at least , three m iles distant fro m

,

th e prese nt city .

N ow whil e the hope of finding any buildings of the

,

early B u ddhist period in B enares m ight be p ro no unced

too sanguine, y et, on the other hand , h e would betray a

singular ignorance of th e m assiveness and d urability of
B u ddhist architecture who should v enture to assert that
,

it was otherwise than exceedingly likely that portions of

bu ildings of the l ater B u ddhist period were still exi sting ,

waiting to be discovered E ven as l ate as the seventh

.

cen tury A D , when Hi ndui sm had regained m u ch of its

,
. .

old presti ge and influen ce there were as we have al , ,

rea dy seen in the city and kingdo m of Bena res ac cord

, ,

ing to th e testim ony of H iouen T hsang upwards of thirty ,

—
Buddhist m on as teri es to m ost or all of which tem ples
,

,
—
were probably attached and, with them about three
, ,

thou san d priests and disciples were associated It can .

not be, for an instant su pposed that th es e m o nasteries

, ,

which were unquestionably, built of strong m aterial ,

,

h ave all been Swept away with the lapse of ages and ,
“ ”
h ave left not a wreck behind Several of these were .
,

doubtless situated at S am ath and in its i mm ediate

,

neighbo urhood Indeed the existence of the S ém ath

.
,

ru ins, which are, m ostly, of the l ater B uddhist period ,

is a strong argu ment for beli eving that portions, m ore
or less consid erabl e, of so m e perha ps of m ost of the , ,

rem aining edifices, are still discoverabl e We m ust not .

im agi ne that in any instan ce, th ey are existing in their

, ,

original integrity ; but on the contrary that wh ere , , ,

they exist at all they have been appropriated by Hind u s

,

and Mohamm edans, and, princip ally by the latter for ,

,
274 m u ms , m ar AND ra ssmrr .

These ruins are situated at the north west corner of -

the city in the Alipore Mahalla and are vis ible fro m
, ,

the R aj G hé t road , l eading from th e c antonm en ts to

th e Ganges T h e path conducting to the tank or K und
.
, ,

lea v es the m ain road a short distan ce to the west of

th e 420th m il e stone T h e tank co m m only known as
-
.

Bakariy é Ku nd is abou t three hundred yards dista nt

fro m this road ; and upo n th e sum mit of its banks th e
ruins are in the m ain, to be found I n th e hot season
,
.

very littl e water rem ains in the Kund ; but durin g ,

the rai ns it co ntains a consid erable body of water

,
It .

is abo u t five h undred and fifty feet in len gth, and two
hundred and seventy five in breadth -
.

O n app roaching th e ta nk y ou pass along the foot of a

,

high m o und , on its northern side, on the top of whi ch

lie several blocks of stone P roceeding to the western.

bank y ou perceive a m assive breastwork form ed by

, ,

large stones bearing u po n th em v ario us m aso n marks

,
-
,

so m e of which are si milar to those insc ribed on the

—
stones at S arn ath , and sustai ning a solid pl atform or
terrace which runs by the side of th e Kuud to a great
,

distance Thi s t errace is twenty feet above the tank,

.

and su pports two o thers of s m all er di mensions, one

abov e th e oth er each of which is gird ed by a b reast
,

Work of h uge sto nes The lower terrace is one h undred

.

and thirty feet bro ad, two h un dred and sev enty feet lon g

on its w estern face and three hundred and thi rty on

,

its eastern face, overlooking the tank It was origi nally .

, ,

held u p by the w all of heavy stones j ust referred to ;

b ut this w all is, in m any places , m u ch brok en down ,

especially towards the Kund, th e great blocks lying in

 BENARES, m ar AND PRESE NT . 2 75

disorder at its ancient base Never th el ess extensive

.
,

portio ns are still sta nding O n the north ern face abou t
.
,

seventy feet are visibl e ; whil e the western wall which ,

extends two h un dred and sixty sev en feet, is al mos t

-

continu ou s thro ugho ut T he h eight of the terrace is

.

uniform ; bu t th e h eight of th e wall v aries grea tly ,

owi ng pa rtly to its being in a ru inous state, and partly

to th e circum stance of its form ing in one place , the ,

flank of an old edifice , where it attains a h eight of at

l east thirty feet , m easured fro m the ground on the
western side which is on a higher level th an the tank
,
.

Two s mall windows or doorways open throu gh thi s part

of the wall ; and over each a singl e stone projects ,

form ing its eaves T he bare appearance which the wall

.

would here have presented to the ey e is provided against

by a broad m ou lding half way down, a foot in width ,
-

and by a nobl e cornice , parall el with it above .

,

A scendi ng the terrace , you co m e to th e building itself,

which is occupied by M usalm ans one portion being par
,

titioned off and used as a zenana T he beam s and sl abs

.

constituting th e roof are, in so m e cases nine feet in ,

len gth ; and the roof is supported by three rows of im

m ensely thick stone col um ns the capitals of which are
,

in the form of a cross . T he cornice d ecorating the walls

is not of m odern narrowness but is tw elve i nch es deep ,
,

and is ornam ented wi th carvings of v arious el egant de

vices. As the bu ildi ng is divid ed into two distinct

sections and, m oreover, as th e sp aces between the pillars
,

are, in sev eral i nstances , filled up with a m ud wall it is ,

im possible to gai n a correct idea of its original charac ter .

T he o uter wall on the wester n side, is strengthened by

,
278 D E N A E E s, PA sr
'
AND PRESENT .

figures The sto ne is in a rev ersed position A porti on

. .

of one sim ilar to it , foun d at the foot of a tree , was

afterwards rem oved and form s one of a gro u p of

,

sculptured stones tak en fro m B ak ar iy a Kund, and ph o ~

tographed Both these sto nes were , probably , ca pi ta ls

.

To the sou th of the tank is a gh at, or broad fli ght

of steps the sto nes of which are scattered about in
,

great disorder ; so that looking at it from a dista nce

, ,

it has the appearance of an utter ruin And such it .

really is Bu t it is, n ev erth el ess a co m paratively m od er n

.
,

structure for th sto n es of which it is co m posed j dg

; e ,
u

ing fro m th e el aborate and finish ed carvin gs on m an y

of th em h av e been contribu tions fro m fall en edifices in
,

the neighbo u rhood .

A t the south west corner of the tank is a water course

- -
,

depressed considerably below th e grou nd on either sid e .

It is not i mprobabl e that for merly, thi s was the m ain

,

sourc e of w ater su pply to th e tank -

To the south of .

this water co u rse, overhan ging th e Kund is a huge

-
,

breastwork of stone on th e top of which is a sp acio u s

,

courtyard with a Moham m edan D argéh, or pl ace of

,

prayer By reason of th e carv ed stones u sed in th e

.

foundations the u nderlying m ortar and the evid en t

, ,

frequen t repairs , it is di fficu lt to say wh eth er any portion

of this breastwork or of th e b uttress j u tting out at its
,

base, is really ancient, although so m e portions seem to

be so T he buttr ess is continu ous with the stone ghat,
.

and m er ges into it .

To the east of th e D argah is a sm all m osque thirty ,

seven feet long by nineteen feet and a h alf broad, open

 E EN A R E S
,
PAST AND PRESENT . 2 79

to the east , and supported by thre e rows of pillars , five

in each row T he pillars in the second row have deep
.

scroll carvin gs on their sid es with ornam en ted corners , ,

consisting of lotos se ed pods one on anoth er Each

-
,
.

pil lar is seven feet nin e inches high incl udi ng th e ,

capital ; and the latter is two feet six inches in l ength ,

and two feet fo u r inches in width T h e capitals of the .

ou ter pillars are som ewh at larger th an those of th e

inner and are in th e form of a cross the extrem ities
, ,

being rounded ofl while th e u pper surface of each

'

limb exhibits a con vex c u rv e the line of which rises ,

higher in proportion as it recedes from the extrem ity

,
.

T he architrav e is abo u t a foot in thi ckness ; and on it

rests th e flat stone roof Seven niches are placed, at .

interval s ro und the three walls of th e room T he entire

,
.

buildin g is of stone T h e western w all , on its ou ter

.

side, is strengthened by a buttress at th e base of which ,

runs a beautifully carv ed band, el even inches broad ,

whi ch projects a cou ple of inches from th e wall ; and

below it is a cornice ten inches in wid th and sev en in
,

d epth bearing on its front a broad band of el egant

,

carving While the bu ildi ng itself can ha rdly be re

.

garded as original , th ere can be no doubt of the anti

q y
ui t of th e pilla rs —which belo nged prob
,
ably to so m e
, ,

—
B uddhist cloister and of the m odern character of the
,

A few
steps ofl is an enclosure in the form of an
‘

irregular parallelogram ; a wall being on either side and ,

two small buildings at its extrem ities Th at situated .

on th e n orth ern extre m ity is, in so m e respects , like

the mosque j ust described Its carvings; h owev er, are .

2 80 RE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESEN T .

not all si m ilar ; and its ornam ented band is of a ver y

ancient typ e . There is a s mall building used as a R a m , ,

or m ausoleum attached to its north w est angle an d sn e

,
-
,

tained by ancient pillars and m od ern walls The bu i ld .

ing is surm ounted by a low cu pola, of prim itiv e c on

stru ctio n . It is not unl ikely, that origin all y th ere were
, ,

cloisters on this ba nk of th e Kund and that th e th ree ,

sm a ll b u ildings just described were, all, at one ti m e

,

connected togeth er .

T h e edifice at th e so u thern extrem ity of the enc losu re

well exem plifies the old Hindu and Buddhist m eth od
of making a roof, by the i mposition of stone beams on e ,

u po n anoth er cross wise and corner wise un til th ey m eet

,
- -
,

in the m iddl e The roof of this building exhibits a ma ss

.

of su ch beam s piled u pon each other exactly like the

, ,

roof of a hou se which children build wi th th eir litt le

wooden bricks A second object of interest h ere is a
.

c u t sto ne screen which serv es the p u rpose of a window:

,

N early a hu ndred and fifty feet to th e east of the las t

m entioned b uildi ngs is another which has, eviden tly , ,

been erected from old m aterials, and is of doubtful an e

ti qu ity. It h as four pillars two ou ter and two inner,

,

excl u si ve of oth ers i m bedded in the walls, and has five

recesses on its three sides The carvings have been , to
.

som e extent, obliterated by the whitewash with whic h

th e m osqu e is besm eared .

S till furth er eastwards at a distance of seventy

,

five feet is a t errac e, walled ro un d by a ston e bm

,

work , forty eight feet long by thirty si x feet broad, on

- -

which stand four profusely carved colum ns , supporting

2 82 S E N AR E S , PA sr AND PRESEN T .

This Ohm ty a seem s to have been the eastern extremity

'

of th e rang e of ancient buildin gs under notice Leaving .

it the boundary line took a so u therly direction, and pro

, ,

bably included sev eral buildings of the sam e character

,

as those on th e north ern side ; b ut only very faint

traces of their foundations are, at m ost, visibl e T he .

boundary line however on its southern side takes in

, , ,

a re markabl e structure, consisti ng of a m assi ve atone

breastwork , one hundred and thirt y feet long ninety ,

feet wide, and five feet four inch es high, susta inin g a
terrace now used as a Moh am medan burial ground T he -
.

breastwork is , in so m e pl aces in decay ; y et to a great, ,

exte nt it is in good condition Its stones, especia lly

,
.

wh ere exposed in th e foundations, have mason m arks -

u po n th em ; and so m e as m an y as three sym bols in a

row . I t is sur mounted by a cornice, six inches deep .

Ascending the t errace no b uildings besides Moham

,

m edan to m bs are visibl e ; bu t it is prob abl e th a t an

extensive B u ddhist edifice stood on this spacious area

O n the western side exac tly in the c entre, is a pro

,

ec ting b u ttress , origi nally the S inh asan or thron e of

j
B uddh a, round which the m oulding also runs O n this .

spot m a h v e stood a gigantic figure of B u ddha visible

y a ,

to every one entering the court ; for su ch we hold it

to have b een originally Indeed , th e large te rra ces
.

which have been described m ay all have been cloistered , ,

Jam a m osq ues at Jaunpore, form erly B uddhist m on a s

terice, confirm s this vi ew .
2 84 E EN A R E S
,
PAST AND PR M NT .

corners The columns in the te m ple proper stan d t wo

.

or four together ; and the abacus or square stone upon

them , between th e capital and architrave, is thirteen

inches deep, and rs beautifu lly carved The architra ve .

h as a rich double band sculptured upon it which p asses ,

all round th e tem pl e includi ng the porticos A b o ve .

,

this is a flat sto ne, and above th e stone , a row of

,

niches which are, probably, of Moham medan origin

,
.

Viewing the temple from the ou tsid e, s practised ey e

soon distinguishes between the anci ent portion and that
added by the Moham m ed ans Above the portico all
.
,

below th e oc tagonal breastwork is evidently, of B ud ,

dhist workmanship, and the remainder, of Mohamm e

dan ; bu t the Moham m edans there i s rea so n to suppose
, ,

availed th em selves of old m aterials A t the termin ati on

.

of the breastwork at each corner rests a sm all kalaa, abou t

two thirds of the circular disk of which is exposed th e
-
,

rem ai nd er being inserted in th e wall Although so .

m any ages ha v e el apsed si nce this te m pl e was erected ,

and altho u gh it has been exposed alternately to the

r uthl ess ness of Hindu and of Moham m ed an fanaticism ,

et with such singul ar ski ll ha v e its proportions been

y
designed and its block s of stone been joined together
, ,

— though witho u t cem ent of an kind — that, at th e

y ,

present m om ent in spite of its aspect of hoary antiquity

, ,

it see m s al m ost if not quite, as durabl e as on the day

,

on which it was finished ; and it is unquestion able that ,

if it be not barbarously damaged by vandalish hands ,

it w ill co ntinu e to stand for centuri es to co m e T h e .

sim plicity , com bined with the great stre ngth, of its parts ,

and the sy mm etrica l arrangem ent of the whole, give to

 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT . 2 85

the building notwithstan di ng the general scantin ess of

,

its ornam entation an appearance which th e m ost fas

,

tidious m ust pronoun ce to be of no mean order of beauty .

A small cloister was, originally connected with the sou th

,

west corner of th e te mpl e, as is shown by the continua

tion of th e anci ent basem ent m oulding a m o u lding
,

which s urro unds indeed , all B u ddhist buildings in this

, ,

qu arter of India Here was, probably, th e vestry or t e

.

tiri ng roo m of the ofliciating priests So m e of its walls

.

are sti ll visibl e .

It is grea tly to be regretted that a large portion of

th e site of th ese m ine is in a disgustingly fil thy state ;
so that none but the m ost ardent in vestigator woul d
care to vi sit a pl ace so foul and abo m inable .

I n prono uncing u po n th e originality of any of the

buildings which have been described in this chapter,
grea t cauti on shou ld be shown especially as they are, all,
,

in the hands of Moham m edans who h ave u tiliz ed them

,

for v arious purposes ; an d th ese are a rac e of peopl e, in

I ndia who have ev er exhibited a wonderfu l ap titude for
,

breaking down old Hi ndu edifices, and employing their

m ateri als in the er ection of th eir own religio us str ue
tures At the sam e tim e, while do ubtless , very ex
.
,

tensive transform ations have bee n m ade in the course

of ages it is not too m uch to su ppose th at, in som e few
,

instances portions of old b u ildings have escaped the

,

general destru ction and still stand as at first e rected

, .

At any rate as there is a vast am ount of sculptured

,

stones visibl e in all directions on this extensive site ,

whatev er opinions m ay be form ed respecting the existing

b uildings in which th ey are m ore or less found, there
286 D EN A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

can be none regardi ng the antiqu ity of m uch of th e

m aterial of which th ey are co m posed We m ay fai r ly .

suppose th at one or m ore of th e m onasteries referred

to by H iou en T hsang togeth er with the temples at
,

—
teched to th em as in the case of the m onasteries at
,

—
Sarnath were situated h ere on the banks of th e Kund .
,

Many of th e blocks of stone h ave one or m ore l etters

or sym bols inscrib ed upo n th em of whi ch I m ade a ,

coll ection of seventy Th ey are, chi efly of th e G u pta

.
,

period which is therefore in all likelihood the date of

, , , ,

m ost of th e b uildings to which th ey p ri m arily b elonged .

Wh en looking u po n these rem ain s we cannot fail to ,

recall th e tim e wh en th e anci ent edific es form erly here

, ,

were frequented by crowds of pri ests , m o nks, and dis

c iples of the B u ddhist faith Th en probably the tan k
.
, ,

was flank ed , on three sides , by a lofty terrace of

stone, whil e a spac io u s gh at or flight of stairs, was ,

on its so u th ern side Aro und the edges of this terrac e,

.

both so uthwards and w estwards, ran cloisters ; and to the

east th ere m u st h av e b een m assiv e templ es c ap abl e of ,

—
su pporting su ch ca ps or kala8 e8 , one of them n ine feet
—
in diam eter, as have been referred to in this description .

It is a m atter of m u ch interest to th e arch aeologi st to ,

save from total oblivion th ese scattered traces of the

past wh en th e B u ddhists who w ere long since expelled
, ,

th e co u ntry were still fam o us if not powerful and, per

, , ,

haps, were already engaged in th at persistent struggle

with the B rah mans which ev entually term i nated in th eir
own u tter ex tinctio n in I ndia .

I n ill u stration of th ese i nv estigatio ns, there were

originally su bm itted to the Bengal Asi atic Society two
F URT H E R A
cc ount of A n c ient R em ains in
and its v
ic in ity — M eaning of the e ith ets p ‘
anc ient and
‘
old
' ’
in
rela t ion to a u mB — A nc ient R
em ains, N o , in. L
R i j Ghat F ort .

An ci en t eR m a in s , N o . IL , ne ar R d j Gh at F o r t — n c ie nt A
R e m ai ns ,

N o II I , S m a ll
. . M q
os u e in the Buddori M
ahalla — n c ient A ou n or M d
i ge — n cient
Rd A Rem ai ns, N o IV , T iliyi a
. . and Maqdam S dhi b .

— nc ient em ains N a V , M t haira — nci ent em ains, N o V L,

A R . B A R .

B K
a t is
t b A
ha m ha — ncient R
em ains, N o V I L, . r bai A
Kangfira
M q
os u e —
H d T p in u em le o f K i rtt i R ie m an n — nc ient Aem ains, N o R .

M q
V I I L, C h au kh am bha os e u — Anc ient R
ema ins, N o I X , A uru ng . .

zb M q
e s
’
os u e, n ear Bi s h es
'
w a r T p
em le — A
n ci ent R
em a ins, N o X , . .

'
-
T p
A d Bish es war e
'

m le a n d n eig h b
o ur in g osM qu e — n c ient A em ains, R
S
N o X L,
. P td
o n e ill a r s t a n i n g in S o n e ka T AM — ote N .

F U LLY satisfied as we b elieve m ost persons are th at

, ,

Benares is a city of extreme antiquity, we have eu

deavoured to ascerta in to wh at portions this epith et will
apply And by th e term old is m eant, in this chapter,
.
’ ‘

not a few hundred y ea rs m e rely , altho u gh a city six or

seven h undred years old is generally regarded as an

an ci ent city But it is n ecessary to rem ember tha t
.

Be nares l ays clai m to an antiquity of several thousands

of yea rs ; and, u ndou btedly it is referred to in various ,

anci ent Hin d u and B u ddhist writings Co nsequ en tly , .

we are not satisfi ed with discov eri ng in it, edifices ,

erected h alf a dozen ce nturies ago any m ore than we ,

should feel satisfied wi th discoveri ng edifices of a

 m u ms, m ar AN D PRESE NT . 2 89

sim il ar date in Jerusal em or D am ascus, or Rom e T he

,
.

term s ancient
‘ ’
and old wil l th erefore, not be ap’
,

plied h ere to buildi ngs erected five hundred or even

eight h u ndred y ears a o but to those of an anterior
g ,

period .

Th at wonderful m ass of lofty houses, separated by

narrow l an es ,
and p ack ed together in su ch wild dis

—
order, app earin g in fact, like one i mm ense structure
,

—
of gigantic proportions, which extends along th e banks
of the Ganges for m ore than two m iles, having a cir
c u m feren ce of at least six and which is regarded by, ,

all visitors of B enar es wi th great curiosity , although

,

built for the m ost part of solid stone and presenting,

, , ,

largely th e aspect of hoary age has no right to the

, ,

epithet of ancient
‘ ’
So m e of th e buildi ngs of which
.

it is com posed have bee n standing fu lly five hundred

years ; y et th ere are v ery few indeed if any , that ,

h ave not be en erected since the co m m ence m ent of th e

Moham m edan p eriod in I ndia N everthel ess , speaking .

generally , this togeth er with a part of th e north ern

,

boundary of Benares is the oldest portion of the prese nt

,

city ; whil e the v ast expanse of b uildin gs lyi ng sou th

and west beyo nd it and occ upyi ng fo u r or five ti mes
,

its area is, chi efly, of recent d ate

,
.

T he qu estion which we have attem pted to inv estigate

is wh at is there in Benares m ore anci ent than say the
, , ,

epoch of M ahm u d of G azni , who i nvad ed I ndia in the

y ear of our Lord l O O l Are th ere any rem ains of the

’

p recedi ng Hi nd u J ain a, and B uddhist periods ? A nd

,

is th ere any rem nant whatever of the first Hindu period ,

—
before the rise of B uddhis m , perh aps in the sixth cen
19
290 BE N A BE S , rm arm rassxs r .

in the reign of Asoka 25 0

,

Wh en, after diligent search and careful scrutiny we ,

endeavoured to find proo fs of th e existen ce of E m m a

during these earli er p eriods, we soo n ascertained tha t

th ey were scanty, and, with a few ex ceptions uni m ,

posing T he d ébris of an cient Benares as was sta ted at

.
,

th e com m e ncem ent of this work, m ay be trawd in the

m ultitude of carv ed stones , portions of capitals sha h , ,

bases, fri ezes architra ves , and so forth in serted in to

, ,

m od ern buildings in th e northern and no rth w este rn -

quarters of the city These fra gm ents exhibit a grea t

.

div ersity of styl e, from th e severely si mple to th e ex

ceedingly ornate and are, in th em sel ves a suffici ent
, ,

proof of the form er existence of buildings of styl es of

archi tectu re corresponding to th ems elv es, yet differing
,

in m any im po rtant respects, from the styles of m od ern

Hindu and Moh am m edan structures, and coincidin g
with those of ancient tem ples and m onasteries of th e
Gu pta and pre Gu pta periods the ru ins of which
-
,

still exist in various parts of India Were these th e

.

only rem ains found in Benares they co uld not fail to

,

awak en m u ch c urio u s in terest in th e m i nd of the an ti

q u ar ian ; and he wo uld natur a

,
lly carry,
on a proces s

of ind u ction in regard to th em and would say to him

,

self : Here are the sto nes ; but where are th e bu ildings
What was their form What th eir age And , with
the help of th e rui ns of oth er pl aces he would be abl e to
,

answer m ost of th ese qu estions sa tisfacto rily and wou ld, ,

to a large extent describe the b ui ldings to which th e

,

stones at one tim e belonged, and also determ ine the

2 92 BE N A R BS , pm m Pam s.
'

grudgingly suflered their idol lovin g

’

hamm edan em perors -

subjects to erect, or m od ern im itations of the sam e .

I sh all now proceed to describe such ruins and re

m ains of anci en t edifices, whether Hindu or Buddhis t,
— those at B akariy a Kund spoken of in the prec edin g
,

—
chapter excepted as we have discovered in Bm ar es
,

and its i m m ediate suburbs .

AN CI ENT R EMAI N S , N o . I .

Th ese rem ains are in the interior of the fort at a s;

Gh at, in the outskirts of the city on its north ern
boundary . There is a small tongue of high l an d ,

abo u t fifty feet abov e the pl ain below, exten ding to

the ju ncti on of th e Gau ges and the Barns, wh ich in ,

th e m u ti ny , was strongly fortified and has been styl ed

, ,

ev er since , th e Ra
j Gh at Fort There is a
. b elief ,

am ongst th e natives that this spot was selected, ages

,

a o for a sim ilar object by the traditional Raj a Beh ar

g , , .

It is probable that, form erly, th e whole of this elevated

space was bu ilt ov er and th at the Baj a governing th e
,

city had his ch i ef resid ence there It is the natura l .

key not only of m odern B enares, bu t also of the

,

country for several m iles round ; and a well equipped -

force in possession of it would with di fficulty be ap

p ro ach ed an d disposs e ssed T h e Governm ent h as latel y
.

abandoned this grand strate gical positi o n, on the ground

of its all eged unh ealthiness .

A short distance to th e right of the m ain road l eading

i nto the fort, m ay be seen the an cient re m ain s whi ch
I will now describe , and wh ich , next to the Buddhist
 s ss m s, m sr AND passam '
. 29 3

te m ple at B akariy a K u nd are th e m ost com plete and

, ,

certainly are th e m ost bea u tiful of any yet discovered ,

in Benares They co nsist of two cloisters, in a con

.

tinuous lin e, each su sta in ed by a quad rupl e colon

nade but differing both in height and l ength T he
,
.

sm all er cloister is sixty six feet long, and the larger

-

eighty four ; and therefore th e entire facade is exac tly

-
, ,

one hundred and fifty feet in l ength whilst the ,

breadth of both is uniform and is twenty five feet ,

-
.

Th ere are eight colu m ns in each row, in th e one roo m ,

or thirty two in all ; and in th e other there are ten in

-
, ,

each row, or forty in all ; so that the nu mber of stone

pillars standing in th e entire building is seventy two -
.

Those in the small er cloister are barely nine feet high ,

and are all square and of a uniform pattern a sligh t ,

differen ce only being traceable in th e capitals , w hich

are of the old cru ciform shape There is not m uch .

ornam enta tion on these pill ars ; but the chess board and -

serrated patterns are abundantly carved upo n th e archi

traves . T he pill ars in the l arger cloister incl uding ,

the capita l and base are ten feet in height ; bu t th e

,

archi tra ves above the capitals are of th e sa me height as

those in the smaller cloister, nam ely , one foot These .

pill ars difier greatly , both in shape and ornamentatio n

'

from those just described So m e of the m are covered.

wi th profuse carving out deep in to the stone ; and,

,

in many i ns tance s, it is so sharp and well defined as to -

,

wear th e appearance of havi ng been recently exec uted .

T h e lotos plant form s a conspicuo us object in m any of

the desi gns, all which are striking whilst so m e are ,

cheats an d el egant The chalm a or B rahmani duck is

.
as trac es of them are still distin ctly discernible ; bu t

the Mohamm edans on ta king possession of the edi fice,

,

and appropriating it to their own uses .

regularly arranged with regard to the Si nh asan

or throne of Buddha ; and the finest pillars are in th e
centre of the cloister in the dire cti on of its d ep th ;
,

and above th em near the inner w all th e ston e c eili ng ,

, , ,

in two divisions of the roof, is sin gularly carved and , ,

strange to say is of the kind described by Fergusson

, , ,

as Jaina architecture O ne of them is covered wi t h

.

lotos blosso m s ca rved in relief

-
.

There is not the sm allest doubt that these 01o

and that princi pally by the Moham m edans, who trans

form ed them into a m osque, for which purpose they
were e m ploy ed even as late as the m u tiny in 1857 an d ,

were regarded with peculiar sanctity by this people O n .

it is plai n not only that th ere has been a good deal of

,

shifting of pla ces, but that new pill ars ca rved in recent
,

tim es h ave be en added to the old som e of the old

, ,

have been c ut u p for repairs, and their separated por

tions have been distribu ted amongst several pillars, an d
29 6 Bana nas, PAST AND rnxsss r
'
.

quare What oth er bu ildings w ere formerly here, be

“

s .

sides those now visible can, of course on ly be con

, ,

j ec tured .It is prob able tha t on three

,
sides ,
th,
ere w ere

cloisters ; and on th e fourth nam ely, that to th e ou t

, , ,

a row of tem ples the largest co nta i ning th e prin

,

eipel figure of B u ddha Tha t other buildings were once

.

here is certa in fro m the various sc ulptured stones found

n ear by . We observed seven p illars sixwen isola ted ,

capitals, and fo ur large carv ed stones used for archi

trav es so m e of which su pport a recently erected str ue
,

tu re atta ch ed to the sm all er cloister .

The ven erabl e ruins d escri bed above present a very

rem arkable appearance In th e y ear of the m utin y
.
,

barracks for European troops ha ving been erected in

th eir n eighbourhood th ey were converted into a spacious
,

cooking roo m or kitchen Fires were lighted insi de on

-
.
,

the stone floor from one extrem ity to the other ; and
, ,

consequ ently th e roof walls and colum ns were charred

, , ,

by the heat and blackened by the soot ; so th at the ia

terior of the edifice is now m ost dism al and fo rbiddin g .

Mr Horne went to the ex pense of cleaning th e bu ilding

.
,

and rem oving as an experi m ent th e encrusted soot from

, ,

so m e of the carvings Fortunately , the Moh amm edans

.
,

—
or the British Governm ent authorities we k now not ,

—
which , ia th eir care for th ese beautiful works of art ,

have em bedded th em in m ortar fro m base to capital so , ,

that m any of th em m ight be restored T he rem oval of .

the encrusta tions, howev er, will h ave to be accom plish ed

with the greatest care , or else the surface sto ne ren ,

der ed friable by the heat to which it ha s been su bjected ,

 D RN A R ss, PAST AND PR ssR N r . 29 7

d estroying the d elicate edge of the ca rvi ngs We tru st .

the Governm en t will not gru dge a few h undred rupees

for th e thorough cleaning of this interesting speci m en

of B uddhist architectu re The inner stone wall and the
.

m odern pa vem ent should also be re m ov ed , ,

.

Besides these rem ains , there were, until quite re

c entl
y h u
,
ndr eds of stones lyin g abo ut in th e fort ,

bearing traces of great antiquity In the m uti ny, .

m any of these w ere coll ected, and w ere u tilized for

the fou ndations of tem porary barracks which were then
erected These stones may once have belonged to the
.

m onas tery just d escribed , when it existed in its ia

tegrity ; but th ey m ay also have been po rtions of other
contem poraneo u s buildings si tuated in its vicinity .

D uring the m utiny Mr Tresh am by Governm en t

, .
,

order bl ew up so me ancient bu ildings standing near

,

the m onastery ; and th ere are still the found ations of one
rem aining which defied all atte m pts at its destruction
,
.

Mr Horne also re m e mbers a Buddhist te m ple which

.
,

was re moved to afford space for barracks .

ANCIENT R E MAI N S ,
N o 11 . .

mm as; am am .

A few h undred yards due north fro m the old gateway

l eading to the R aj Gh at Fort is a m ound , of circu m scribed
,

exten t, now used as a Moham m ed an b u ri al gro und ; and -

on its su mm it are the ru ins of, apparently an old Bu d ,

dhist tem pl e They consist si m ply of four pillars richly

.
,

carved with scroll work sustain ing an ancient roof At

-
,
.

the corners of the shafts is the ordinary ornam enta tion ,

rese mbl ing a ch ain of lotos seed pods The capitals are -
.
faces T he ceili ng is very beau tifully sculptu red, and
.

is composed of slabs over lapping one another with th e

-
,

centre stone crowning the whole according to th e prim i

,

tiv e m ode of I ndia n roof b u ilding This latter stone

-
.

exhi bits the expanded pe tals of a lotos blosso m wh ile -

eight ou t of the twelv e triangular spa ces form ed b t h e

y ,

intersection of the slabs, are freely carved wi th the

scroll pattern A few sculptured stones lie about the
-
.

m ound : am ongst them is an erect figure of B u ddha ,

with garl and and arml ets , m uch m utilated Th ere are .
,

also three ston e beam s or architraves bea ring th e ch ess

, , ,

board and spear head patterns I n the s mall ter rac e

- .
,

likewise on which the ru in stands, are inserted fo ur

,

carved stones ta ken, do ubtless, fro m som e anc ient bu i ld

,

ing formerly in th e neighbourhood The occurence of .

three or four plain cloister pillars, of the usu a l for m ,

adapted by the M u ss u l m ans as h ead sto nes for gra ves -

,

together with th e carved archi trav es already spok en of ,

would seem to indicate that a sm all cloister for m ona stic

pu rposes m ust, origi nally have stood u pon th is m ou nd
, ,

which was then terraced and that its stones ha ve by

, ,

degrees, b een rem oved , both for b uildi ng Moh am m eda n

graves and for repairs in the fort .

ANCIENT R EMA I N S , No . II I .

In the B u d acu Mahalla near th e R aj Gh at Fort, a short

,

distance sou th of the high road , there is a small m osque ,

-
in an enclosu re — m ade u p to a great exten t, of old
,
,

remains T h e b u ilding see ms to have been cu rtailed

.
300 EE N A R E S , PA sr
'
AND PRESENT .

fro m the city, it m ight hav e been a source of dan ger to

both ; bu t th e so u th western ex trem ity is not nearer the
-

Ganges than a third of a m il e or perhaps, more W e are

,
.

inclined to think, however, that this extrem ity was once

co nnected with that river but at a ti m e far m ore di stant
,

than the Moham m edan conquest of I ndia O n the .

whole, it appears not u nlikely that thi s long em ban k

men t was the old boundary of the city in this directi on,
in the early periods of its his tory and was, possi bl y, ,

em ploy ed for offensi v e purposes by the Mohamm ed an s,

on th e extension of the city to th e so u th and so u th west, -

and th e conseq u ent abandonm en t of thi s m eans of de

fence by the inh abita nts The em bankm en t may h ave

.

been carri ed on, originally , to the Ganges , in a straight

li ne wi th its pres ent direction ; or, m aking a short
circuit it m ay h ave entered it by T iliy a N ails on the
, ,

banks of which are the rem ains of a Buddhist ru in ,

which will hereafter be described In this case a .

.

port ion of it m ust h ave bee n thrown do wn and swept ,

away to m ke roo m for th growth of th city d

,
a e e ; a n

there is good gro und for su pposing that the city ex

tended, ia a narrow band on th e ba nks of the Ganges
, ,

abo u t as far as the M an M andil Observatory, ev en,

-

perhaps before the Christian era Should th is id ea be

, .

correct it would follow that the m o st anci ent site of the

,

city of Ben ares was com prised wi thin the lim its of this
wall , stretching across from the B erni to the Ganges,
ma rkin g off a tongu e of land as far as the confluence of
the two rivers and in cl u di ng th e high l and of th e a s
, ;
Gh at Fort which was, in all probability once cover ed
, ,

with houses T he city m ust then have been of sma ll

.
 BENARES , PA ST AND PRES ENT . 301

com pass as co m pared with its existing d im ensions u nl ess

, , ,

as we beli ev e and as is indisputably certa in it m ed ,

,

over to the right bank of the Barns .

That both sides of the river B erna were in form er ,

days better inh abited th an at present, is so m ewhat sub

,

stan tiated by an exam i nati on of the groun d on ei th er

side. Brick d ébris lies scattered about am o ng the fields

on th e right b ank of this strea m ; and old coi ns and

broken stone i ma ges are, occasionally, found by the

people or are tu rned up by the plough ; whil e, on the
,

other or B enares side, old rem ains occur in the fort ;

and lik ewise be low it on th e low l and already
, , ,

ferred to, blocks of stone, so m e of which are carv ed and

exhibit anci ent ma son m arks engraved u pon th em , are
-

still to be seen Moreov er, it is stated in th e Ceylon

.
,

An nals, that, form erly , the city surroundin g S arnath was

conti nu ous with or a part of, Ben ares ; which if true
, , ,

m ust h ave been at a p eriod of re m ote antiqu ity Indeed .

,

th ese records carry u s back to an epoch anterior to that

of the hi storical B uddha or Sakya M u ni and therefore

, , , ,

perhaps, prior to th e sixth c entury Thei r sta te

m ents m ust, of co urse b e receiv ed cautiously , and not
,

as unadult erated au th entic hi story A t the sam e tim e

.

it is certain that th ere was a tradition am ongst the Bud

dhists of I ndia co nveyed thence by their m i ssionari es to
,

Ceylon th at in remote ages, the city of Benares ex

, ,

tended to Sarnath .

In vi siti ng this ridge , or embankm ent , it wi ll be

observed th at the high road leading to R aj Ghé t c uts
right thro ugh it ; the earth of the cutting being used to
raise the road above the l evel of the cou ntry It is well .
302 BENARES , pm AND PRESENT .

to remark too tha t whe re the road passes below the

, , ,

fort to the gh é t, the soil has been cu t away, to m a ke

room for it ; so that, form erly, we m ay s uppose, that ,

instead of a steep and al m ost precipitous wall, whi ch

the elevated land to the east of th e road now exhibits ,
the m ound of the fort, in this direction dim ini shed ,

in a grad ual slope term inating, perhaps, not far fro m

,

T iliy a N els.

T he ridge is in one part form ed of three terraces the

, , ,

u pperm ost b ei ng perhaps , thi rty feet above the land ;

,

u pon whi ch elevated spot is th e tom b of Mi ra Bahib .

In the m utin y , a large portion of the m ound oppod te

the fort was c ut away, for strategical reasons ; althou gh
what is left is sufficient to prove of great service to
an en em y atta cking th e fort .

On the south side of the ridge in sight of Mira ,

S ah ib s to m b is an I m am b ara, a m odern ed ifice buil t

’
, ,

altog eth er of n ew m aterials ; and a few paces dis ta nt

from it are two small stru ctures one in front of the ,

oth er which, although of recent erection, are partly com

,

posed of old m aterials Each b uildi ng possesses fou r

.

an cient pilla rs of the B u ddhist typ e ; an d lyi ng abou t ,

in various pl aces , are fo u r pillars m ore five loam , ,

—
two architrav es, and seven bases, one of the last bei ng
extensiv ely carved All these are the spoils of so m e
.

anci ent te m pl e or mon astery .

ANCIENT nm um s, N o I V . .

We have chosen to co m bine these remains , and to

304 BENARES , Pm AM ) PM .

all th e pillars of th is ro w are inserted . T h ere can be

no dispute that the S inh asan was in th o c entre of the
buildi ng ; th at is to say that, as there are three pillm
,

to th e right of it, th ere w ere as m any to th e l eft in w eb ,

of the three rows, th e front row bei ng of do uble pi lla rs

throu ghou t Reconstructi ng the edifice as it origi na lly
.

stood , th ere were, th erefore one row of six dou ble pilla rs,
,

and two rows of six si ngl e pill ars or tw en ty fou r pilla rs -

,

in all Each capita l is ornam ented with the bell penda nt

.
-
,

to which the Bu ddh ists w ere so conspic uo u sly partial,

and which was afte r the m m u ch used by the Brahm a ns
, .
,

T he do ubl e col u m ns are surm o un ted by one h u ge capi ta l ,

five feet and a half in breadth ; and each capital possesses
a lo ng arm for th e eav es ston e -
Ov er th e two inner ro ws
.

are two dom es , one of which is abov e th e S inh a san a n d ,

is m ore ornam ented than the other There m ust ha v e .

been, origi nally a th ird dom e to the l eft of the centra l

, ,

dom e co rresponding to th at on th e right O utside th e

,
.

buildin g there is a fin e basem en t m ould ing which do u b t

-
,

l ess belonged to it, before it was seized and appropria ted

by th e Moham medans Esti m ating th e buildi ng as it
.

once stood it was qu ite fifty four feet in l ength and about
,
-
,

twenty four feet in breadth T he M uss ul mans m ay ha ve

-
.

altered th e pri m itive stru ct ure v ery consid erably in trans ,

~

form ing it i nto a m osq ue So m e of the l arge stones ha ve

.

fallen into the mild and u pon its banks ; and oth ers h ave ,

prob ably , been u sed in the repairs of the bridge an d

of its adjoini ng stone wall ; so th at we beli ev e, it wo ul d ,

not be a di ffic u lt t ask to find nearly all th e mis si n g

pillars and capitals .

T he Maqdam S éh ib is a square encl osu re , in th e

 BBN AR E S , s r m Passw . 305

G ulzar Mahalla near to T iliy a N am used by the

, ,

Mohamm ed ans as a ce metery O n its north ern and .

western sid es are cloistered pillars , with portions of

anci en t sto ne ea ves ov erh angin g their capita ls , presen t

in g, on th eir u pp er surface , i m ita tions of wood carving -

.

There are t wenty five pillars on the w estern side and

-
,

twenty eight or, if all could be seen, probably thirty

-
,

two on the northern side Several of th e pillars are

, .

carved whil e so m e of the capita ls are ornam ented and

, ,

so me are do ubl e There m ay be seen, also handso mely

.
,

carved sto ne brackets, for the support of the eaves above

spoken of T he eastern wall bo undi ng the enclosu re is,
.

evid ently co m posed to som e extent of c u t stones of an

, , ,

anci ent d ate T he entire co u rt is one h undred feet lo ng

.

from east to west, and sixty feet bro ad fro m north to

sou th .

ANCIENT R EMAI N S , N o . V .

M : Bhairo .

At j unction of the G hazeepore road with the R aj

the
Ghat road to the north of the latte r, and about a short
,

m ile fro m the fort is a large sq uare tank on th e l eft

, ,

bank of which , as on a terrace, stands the Ié t or pill ar , ,

of which som e m entio n has been m ad e in a previous

chapter It is only a few feet high ; and it is covered

.

with copper sh eeting We endeavo ured to prevail on .

the faqir residi ng here to perm it us to li ft u p the cop

per c ap by re,
m oving th e pla st er w hich con n ects it
with the flooring below, in order to gain a view of the
ston e pi ll ar which it now concea ls but o gr t is the
; s ea

repu ted sanctity of this object that our efforts were ,

so
30 6 BENARES, s r m PassE s r
'
.

entirely fruitl ess ; and, had we persisted in them , a dis

sto ne col umn, of which the concealed pillar is, dou btless ,

a sm all fra g m ent

, w as about forty feet hi gh ,
and,
it is

repo rted was cov ered with ancient carvin gs which were
, , ,

m ost p robably inscriptions

,
It was stated, before, that
.

this was thrown down by th e Moha mm edans , durin g a

terribl e conflict with the Hin du populati on, in the early
p art of the p resen t centu ry T h e natives say , that th e
.

pill ar was thrown i nto th e Ganges ; bu t, as that strea m

is h alf a m il e off, or m ore this m ust have been don e
,

pi ecem eal I n all likelihood, it was destroyed by fire

.
,

th e action of which on san dsto ne soo n causes it to

cru m bl e to pieces A s there is strong reason for be
.

liev ing th at this was one of Asoka s pillars it wou ld b e ’

,

exceed ingly interesting to inspect th e re maining frag

m ent which we m ay reason ably su ppose to belong to th e
,

original col u m n, and, in th at case, to possess a portion of

an insc riptio n su fficient to certi fy its co nnexio n with

Asoka or with th e G uptas, or with so m e other m onarch

,

by whom th e col um n was erected .

It is i m portant, in our present investi gation, to kn ow

that the pillar once stood in proxim ity to a tem ple ,

or in its co urtyard : th e te mpl e was destroyed by

A urungzeb ; and on its site a m osqu e was erected th e
, , ,

cou rtyard of which enclosed the pillar O n exam inin g .

th e terraces wh ere the hi t stands we see qu ite dis , ,

tin ctly , that the u pper portion has been thrown u p in

m od ernti m es , and th at th e ancient l ev el of th e gro u n d
was som e six or ei ght feet lower th an what it now is ,
and indeed, was flush with th e soil of the Moh amm eda n
‘

,
308 m u m, PM we n eem .

pillar h asight sides in its lowest division

e ,
and sixt en e
in its u pper ; and has also a band , ,

faces connec ted together, and, under

beaded garlands The pillar is crowned
.

sto ne, projecting two inches A cu rious .

thirty two grotesque fac es, with beaded

-

tassels issu ing from their m ou ths, runs ro

of the stone .

I t should be m enti oned , th at if our conjecture, tha t ,

the u pper terrace has been only recently thrown up , b e

correct , then, on the su pposition
pill ar on its summ it is part of the

length of the existing fragment is equal to the dep th

of the te rrac e abov e th e foundations of the neighbou r

ing cem etery in addition to im elevati on above th e

,

terrace and to the extent of insertion of its low er

,

extrem ity in th e prim itive, but now subj acent soil In .

this case , it would be not less than from fou rteen to

sixteen feet in l ength .

ANCIENT R EMAI N S, N o . VI .

Battis M M .

Abo u t third of a m ile to the east of th e B aker{y a

a -

Kund re m ains is a b eautiful little structure cal led , by ,

the natives, Ba ttis Kham bh a, or thirty two pillars ” -

.

It is a very picturesque obj ect as seen from th e BAj ,

Gh at road , from which it is som e four hundred yard s

distant It co nsists of a do m e, sustai ned by twenty fou r
.
-

square pilla rs standi ng in p airs , at intervals, all round

, .
 m u ms, PA sr
'
AND PRESENT . 309

Form erly , each corner had four pillars , thus incr easing
th e present nu m ber by eight ; and the n, of course the ,

entire nu m ber was thi rty two : but two fro m each
-

corner have been rem oved , l eavi ng the spaces occu

pied by th em e m pty A ll th e u pper part of the
.

building is Moh am m edan, whil e all the lower part is ,

indisputably, Buddhist, in its style of architecture O n .

the western side is a projection for the S inhésan of

B uddha, si m ilar to that which is seen in the te m pl e at
Bakariy a K und, and, i ndeed , so far as ou r knowledge
exten ds in all genu ine B u ddhist te m pl es T h e pill a
.rs
,

stand upon a platform raised above the ground T h e .

interior of the building is a Mohamm edan tom b .

It is re markabl e that there should be so m any an cient

remains lying al m ost in a straight line fro m Bakariya
Kund to the R aj G hat fort ; for m ost of the remains
hitherto referred to lie in this line I hav e no doubt
.

that form erly a large number of Buddhist bu ildings

stood between these two boun daries ; and that the
foundations of so m e of them m ight be discovered in ad ,

dition to the m ore pro m inent rema ins already brought

to notice if a keen sea rch were ins tituted
,
It see m s .

evident, therefo re that there w

,
as a road h ere during

the B uddhist perio d, not far distant from the line

of the pres ent one This road was at right angles to
.

another proceeding fro m Bakar iy a Kund in the direc

,

mad e al ong this road, for the foundations of ancient

buildings and Buddhist relics ; as there can be no
doubt that constant comm unication was kept up by the
m onks of Sérnéth with Bakeriy a Kund, in both which
310 E EN A E E s, PA sr AND PRESEN T .

places there w ere v ast m onastic edifices and nu mm eus '

t em ples
.

N ear this m in, and between it and B akariya Ku nd,

is a sm all bu ildin g stan din g by the ro ad side, in whic h
,

several pill ars of an anci ent type are inserted into

th e co nta ining w alls .Th ey w ere v ery proba bly , ,

b rought fro m Bakariya Kund T he b uilding has .

u np retendin g appearance and is k ept whi tew

,
ashed by

the Moham m edans, its propri etors .

ANCIENT R E MA I N S , N o . VII .

A rhd t K eny ans M orgue .

It is not our purpose thoro ughly to describe th is

h andso m e structure one of the finest m osques in th e
,

whol e city , and which is situated in the Mahalla be a r

ing its own n ame I ts magnificent and lofty do m e , as
.

w ell as vario u s parts of the m osqu e itself, u nqu esti on

ably exhibit a Moham m edan styl e of archi tectu re ; but

we have no h esita tion in sayi ng that by far the grea ter

po rtion of th e building and certainly five sixths of its
,
-

m at erials belong to an epoch far m ore distant tha n th e

,

Moham m edan invasion The nu m ero us square colu m ns,

.

with thei r cruciform capitals, and also th e screens b e »

tween so m e of th em in the upper story , are of B u d

dhist workm an ship ; bu t we are incli ned to think th a t
both Buddhists and Hind us ha v e m ade use of the sam e
m aterials in different eras an d tha t in fact, the m osq u e
, ,

is a m ixtu re of three styl es nam ely, B u ddhist, Hi nd u ,

,

and Moham m ed an . T he first edifice was, we beli eve a ,

m o nas tery, wi th m ost probably , one or m ore tem pl es

,

a ttached
; bu t it is ha rd to sa
y wheth er any portion of
312 EE N A aE s, PA sr AND PE E sE NT .

tion in S anskrit, with a translation in H ins h reu gh

th e kindness of Babu Si va Prasad, Joint Inspector of
S chools, whose intelligence ent erprise and extend “
, ,

knowl edge place him in the front rank of native gentle

m en in these provinces .

We would direct especi al attention to the small fi de

door or postern with its m assive wall to the right of th e
, ,

bu ilding which has a striking air of originali ty ; a nd

,

also to two nobl e capitals of gigantic di m ensions, lyi n g

,

in the court yard in front of the m osque, and now

-

con verted i nto sm all cisterns whi ch are the la rgest,

H INDU TEMPLE or xi E TT I BI S HE S ’
WAB .

N ear the tem pl e of — few

BriddhkéL one of the very
Hi nd u te m ples of the earlier Moh amm edan period still ,

standi ng in Benares, not appropriated by the Musu l

m ans —
,
and a few paces fro m the w ell known shrine of -

R a tneéwar is a m osq u e spoken of in the n eighbourhood ,

, , ,

as th e A lam giri Masjid , which was erecte d d u ring th e

reign of A urungzeb, or A lam gir and was designa ted

'

afte r th at E m pero r Upon it m ay be read the followin g

.

inscription, in A rabic

“
T he translation of which is : Turn yo ur face toward s
th e sacred m o sque ”
1077 H igira, or A D 1659 . .
. .

T he m osque is built, tradition states, from the m a

 E E N A aE s, PA sT AND PE E sE N T . 313

terials of the Hind u te m ple of Kirtti Bisheswar, and

has three rows of lofty sto ne pill ars eight in each row ; ,

but the pillars at the extre m iti es are not singl e but ,

three fold T he capitals are large and m assive and are

-
.
,

cruciform in sh ape In th e ce ntre of each shaft upon

.
,

all the four sides is the boss ornam enta tion, each boss
,

being fu lly a foot in dia m eter The pill ars have a

.

double base , a false and a true ; the one consisting of

th e lower end of th e shafi, the oth er, th e tru e base,
of a separate stone Both are covered with carvings
. .

S om e of the architrav es also bear upon them the boss

pattern ; bu t it is possibl e that these were , form erly ,
shafts of pill ars T he inner wall of the m osque is ,
.

likewise , of sto ne Viewed fro m behind m any of the

.
,

blocks displ ay various m aso n m arks inscribed u pon the m

-
.

Fro m an examination of the marks or sy mbols and ,

of the architecture represe nted by the rem ains now

bri efly described there is no reason for supposi ng that
,

the t em pl e which once stood here , and which was

levelled to the ground by Aurungzeb, was of grea t
antiquity . We should be inclined to fix the date of
the Hindu t em ple at so m e five or six centuri es ago .

It m ust h ave been a place of great sanctity ; as many

Hind us still visit th e spot on pilgri m age, and, instead
—
of an im age which , we suppose, the Moha mm edans
,

—
would not allow th em to pu t u p worship the spo u t ,

of a foun tain , rising u p in the ce ntre of a s m all tank

in the court yard of the m osque It is not im probabl e

-
.

that the tank is the site of the old te m ple ; b ut, if the
te m ple was a large one, as is likely it m ust have cc ,

c u ied not only a cons ider abl e portion of the present

p
314 B ENARE S, PAST AND PRESENT .

courtyard but also so m e extent of ground on e ither

,

side . A few pers ons perform th eir devotions in th e

tank daily ; but the grand festi val is at the S iva n i tri
meld for one day in March , wh en crowds thron g re ve
,

ren tl around th s cred spout nd pr s nt 2 — or per

y e a ,
a e e 1 , ,

haps , regarding it as a god, th ey would say Mm or her , ,

— with abundant oflerings ; all which, do wn to the la st

’

rupee are recei ved by th e Mulléh of the m osque who

, ,

thinks we suppose th at , if h e connives at the idola try

, , ,

— which in fact h e cannot u t down,—h e m a as well

, , p y
be handso m ely paid for it .

we w are that th ey do not co m e under th e dasi g

are a

nation of old or anci ent as applied to other re ma ins

‘ ’ ‘ ’
,

described in this chapter ; and y et as th ey are not with

,

out interest, we have give n the m a place in it .

ANCIENT R E MAIN S , N o vm. .

The long C haukhambhé street in the city of Bena res ,

in or near which m ost of the great bank ers hav e their

places of b usiness , takes its nam e fro m four low m assi ve
pillars, of m odern erection , towards its north eastern -

extremity, standing in th e lowerm ost story of a lofty

buil di ng, the weight of which they en tirely susta in .

There is a narrow co u rt running out of this s treet,

term inating in a sm all enclosure , on the further si de
of which is a m osque The entire enclosure has a very
.

re m ark able appearance, and, for the arch aeologist, is a

316 R EN A R E S , PA sT AND PRESENT .

ANCIENT R EMA INS , N o . IX .

A w ay : M osque, m BM T emp le .

The m osque b u ilt by the E m peror A uruny eb on the

foundations of wh at is co mm only though erron eou sly, ,

regard ed as th e old or original Bisheéwar tem ple is of ,

—
interest, not for its own sake for notwithstanding its
, ,

lofty appearance , it is a structure without any strikin g

—
beau ty in its own righ t but on account of th e ancien t
re mains with which it is associated and fro m the m a
terials of which it has largely been constructed T he .

courty ard consists of a terrace raised so m e five feet ,

above the l evel of the te m ple qu adran gle in the centre

-

of which it is situated, occupying a large por tion of the

th e
’
retaining wall of the tom es, one s attention is
arrested by peculiar openi ngs or niches , in the wall ; ,

and ,in th ese architraves, and ca pita ls and parts of

, ,

pill ars on which they rest are visibl e ; though, in som e

pl aces, the openings are fill ed with earth , alm ost up to
the level of the capitals Proceeding from west to east,
.

the ground gradually declin es ; until , after descending

four stem and arri ving opposite a large ston e bu ll or
, ,

N andi the opening in the terrace bec o m es clear and a

, ,

portion of a cloister, such as surrounded a Buddhist

m onastery , co m es into vi ew , and reveals the character of
the entire series The cloister is now divided into a
.

num ber of sm all cham bers, supported by gen u ine Bud

dhist pillars severely sim pl e in their type , and, withou t

,

doubt, of considerable antiqu ity Form erly, a succ es .

sion of su ch cloisters enco mpassed not less than three

 D E N A R E s, PAST AND PRESENT . 317

sides of the existing terrace , which m ust con sequ ently , ,

date from the sam e epoch I t would be desirabl e, if .

the consent of the Moham m edans co uld be obtained, to

rem ov e the externa l wall , by which these cloisters h ave
beco m e al m ost co m pl etely hidd en, in order to ascertai n
th eir extent and condition .

T his series of cloisters form ed we conj ec ture the , ,

lowerm ost story of a Vzhd ra or Tem ple Monastery

'

which onc e enclosed the en tire space occ upied by the

terrace and rose to the h eight of, probably two or
, ,

three storey s above it O n the so u th ern side stood

.

th e chi ef tem pl e, whi ch , on the s u ppression of Bud

dhism , passed into the h ands of the adh erents of
anoth er religio n, who transform ed it according to th eir

own tastes The m osq ue on this side is altogether

.

composed of the re mains of an ancient te mple , of large

di mensions and of very elaborate work m anship T h e .

high pill ars , m oreover , on its north ern face have been
transferred fro m the sam e spacio us b uildi ng These .

remains are ch iefly Hin du ; and it is unq uestionabl e

, ,

th at th e ed ifice, which was destroyed in order to m ak e

way for the m osq u e, was an old t empl e of BisheSWti r .

A n excell ent ground pla n of th is templ e prepared fro m

-
,

a m in u te exam ination of the extant rem ai ns was ,

draw n by Mr Jam es Prinsep and publish ed by him

.
, , ,
“ ”
in his Views of B en ares T he rem ains are, however,
.

not entirely Hin du So me portions, judgi ng fro m the

.

el aborate ornam en tatio n of certain details which it was

the c usto m of the Buddhist architects to l ea ve plain,
see m to be of Jai na origin, and to have been appro
riated by the builders of the Hindu te mpl e I f th is
p .
318 E E N AE E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

supposition be correct, th e m osqu e, with its terrace ,

exhibits a sin gul ar architectural ano maly ; and, further

n am ely, Buddhist , Jaina, Hindu, and Mohamm edan .

T he square terrace pillars with their cruciform capita ls,

,

are so si m pl e in str u ctu re , tha t, co m pared with th e

highly ca rv ed and decora ted pillars of m editeval an d
later B uddhist tim es , they alm ost belong to another
style , which m ight be called early B uddhist or Hindu ,

accordin gly as one or oth er of these co m m uniti es is su p

posed to h ave invented it It is not our obj ect to di scuss

.

the interesting and i m portant topic, who were the first

Indian sculptors and builders of perm anent edifices
y et it is one th at , by and by , —wh en m aterials have been

sufficiently accu m u lated which th ey have not been a t

,

—
presen t, m ust be thoroughly investigated A fter su c h .

i nvestigation the antiqu ity and, possibly, the origin of

,

these terrace pillars m ay be definitely ascertain ed

-
.

ANCIENT R EMAI N S , N o x
. .

A d Bish eéwar
-
is the nam e of a lofty te m ple situawd a
short distance fro m A urungzeb s m osque just referred to
’
,

and in sight of it ; and it is h eld, by so m e persons ,

to be th e m ost anci en t t em pl e of this deity Only a .

doubtfu l interpretation of its nam e m ay bear ou t this

supposition ; for th e te m pl e itself, from the pinnacle to
th e base , has nothing really anci ent about it O n th e .

eastern side of the enclosure, the ground takes a sud

den rise of eighteen feet, form ing a terra ce m anifestly
320 E E N AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

si vely , carved , and are crowned with ornam ented

capitals T he west ern wall is strengthened externally
.
, ,

by three rounded buttresses, which are of the Pathé n

dynasty like those fo un d at Jau npore, and were bu ilt
,

at th e sam e period Th ey did not exist in the Buddhist

.

period, and were added as m uch for ornam ent as for

strength All the m osqu es about old D elhi h ave th em
. .

'
There is no doubt in our m ind , that the A d Bisheé
,
-

war tem pl e stood on this site, and was destroyed by the

Moh am m edans who as usu al transferred im ston es to
, , ,

their own m osqu e T he neighbouring tem ple befi ng

.

this nam e th e Hindus b uilt, with the connivance of

their fri en ds th e Moh amm edans, of course for the
,

purpose of perpetuating the worship of their old idol, ~

Afd Bisheswar
-
Y et, whil e allowi ng that the edific e
.

which stood on the site of the present m osqu e wh en the

Moh am m edans took possession of it was the tem pl e of
A d Bisheéwar, we are, neverth eless equally certa in, tha t
'
-
,

t h e prim itive b u ildi ng was of a Buddhist character We .

were inclined , at one ti me to i m agi ne th at fro m its

, , ,

proxi m ity to th e B uddhist Viké m ( N o X ) just described . .

,

it m ust have been a part of that m onastery ; bu t two

reasons have led us to abandon thi s idea O ne is that a .
,

separate terrace of extensive di m ensions , was approp ri

,

ated to this structure wha tever it was, an d th at , bet ween

,

this terrace and th at of N o X , the grou nd is depressed,

. .

corresponding to the d epression of all the nei ghbourin g

soil ; and the second is, that the styles of architecture of
the ancie nt b uildings u pon or arou nd the two terraces,
,

difler exceedi ngly We are led to co njecture th erefore,

'

.
,

that the original structure was B uddhist, but l ater , in

 E E N A u s, PAST AND PRE SENT . 32 1

date, by several hun dred years than the vibd ra erected

on the terrace opposite It was probably, a quadrangl e,
.
,

en com passing the four sides of the terrace Nothing .

re mains of it, except the massive transvers e wall wi th ,

the bu ttre ss, and the lower portion of the retaining wall .

The am ount of stone m aterial expended on the present '

com para tively small building is exorbitantly great and ,

furn ishes a proof that an edifice of m uch larger dim en

sions form erly stood h ere .

AN CI ENT R EMAIN S , N o . XI .

S tone F illet —S on s M T 4140 .

Before closing this chapter we would direct attention,

to a stone pillar, standing in th e m idst of a tank be .

tween the city of Benares and the Budd hist re mains at

S arnéth . Th e tank is called Bone ks T éléo or the ,

Golden Tank and is situated on the opposite side of

,

the river Barns near the road whi ch branches c d fro m

'

th e high road l eadi ng to G hazeepore and n ot far from ,

the point of its junction with seve ral oth er roads The .

road is a portion of the Panchkosi or sacred boundary ,

of B enares P roceeding along it for so m ewhat l ess than

.

a m ile, you arrive at th e t ank, whi ch is to the right

of it and is approached by a s trong and well built gh at,

,
-

on which are several Buddh ist figures brought, m ost ,

probably from S am é th It is three hun dred y ards in

,
.

l ength, and one hundred and forty in breadth In the .

midst of it is a round pillar, eighteen feet high, and

upwards of nine in circu mference , co mposed of great
bloc ks of stone, cut in quadrants, and put together
withou t ce m ent or m ortar There is no inscription on
.

21
322 E E NAR E s
,
PAST AND PRESENT .

th e pillar, and there are no m aso n m arks ;

-
so tha t we

to its erection . Its base is always, we believe, sur

to its fou ndations, but found no face for an inscription .

I t is likely th at the p illar has so m ewhat sunk and tha t , ,

form erly , the tank was less choked with m ud than it is

'

now In appearan ce , therefore, the pillar was o nce higher

.

than at th e present ti me It was, probably surm ou nted,

.
,

form erly by a lion, or som e oth er figu re ; and, on close

,

exam ina tion, it is see n to bear m arks of great age .

It is necessary to state that the ancien t remains wh ich

hav e been thus described are, for the m m part, unim

less interesting on that account Seeing that Benares .

is a city of undoubted antiquity , and has ever been

fam ous throu ghou t the long per iod of Hindu history ,

it is, perhaps, strange that it does not possess re m ains

of buildings th at existed in past ages of a m ore striking ,

character A nd y et the very fact of the fragm en ta ry

.

nature of i ts ancient relics m ay be a strong c orrobor

ative proof of its great antiq u ity ; especially wh en it

is rem em bered that it has been th e hom e of a la rge

population and th e constant resort of pilgrim s from all
,

parts of the co untry , for thousands of y ears ; that it

has always tak en a p ro m in ent p art in the religious
and political stru ggl es which h av e visit ed the l and d
; an

that, consequently, it has been ex posed , beyond m ost

citi es to the w ear and tear of ti m e I have regard ed
, .

it as a m atter of i nterest, if not of i mportance, to

32 4 E E N AR E S , PAST AND PRESENT .

N ote .

Since th e above was written , I have visimd an d ex

am ined the lands ly ing on th e banks of th e Ga nges to

the north east of th e river Barns To m y utter aston is h.

m ent, though , I m ust con fess, not contrary to m y a nti

cipation I found brick and sto ne debris sca ttered over
,

th e fields for, as far as I could co njecture , five miles or

th ereabc u ts . In many places, the rubbish lies thick
u po n th e ground choking u the soil ; nd to a lar ge
, p a ,

exten t, the deposit can be trac ed continuously I h re .

and there s m all bits of sculptured stone are visible ;

in to ridges or small m ounds This is espec ially m ani

.

fest at the term ination of the deposit at a spot ca lled

Path araké S iwan, wh ere in ancient ti mes, doubtless
,

stood a large fort , of which the foundations m ay even

now be partially traced Although the fields beyon d
.

this point see m to be clear of rubbish, yet, further on,

at Musha bad, at th e distance of a m il e, it rcc om m enc es,
and beco m es as thick as in an other pl ace P e rh p
y a s .

this l atter was th e site of an outlying town .

But wh at are we to say of these re mai ns Th ey lie

i mm ediately on the great river s bank and nev er extend
’
,

from it m ore th an three quarters of a m ile It is , I .

think , very evident that all th e way fro m th e m ou th of

,

the Barns, this b ank h as b een , in the lapse of cen

turies, consi derably cut awa y I ndeed , I beli eve that
.

as m uch as a quarter of a m il e m a h ave fall en in to the

y
riv er I n all probability , therefore , the Space covered
.

by debris was m uch broader th an it is at present There .

 DE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT . 325

'

can be no questio n, however, that here a great a ty

once stood I have no hesitation in expressing m y be
.

li ef that, j udging frc m the great scantiness of ancien t

structural rem ains in the present city of B enares,
dating from even th e B u ddhist period, not to speak of
the pre Buddhist epoch , when, as we know fro m his
v

torical rwords Benares was in existence , — the origi

,

nal ci ty of the pre B nddhist and early B uddhist em

~
,

for th e m ost part m ust have occupied this site

,
.

Beyond the northern extrem ity of the re mains of the

earli er city is a series of m ounds also covered with
,

debris, t ending in a north w esterly direction , where

-

form erly forts or tow ns existed I think it not un

.

likely that, in a far distant age th e co nnexion of the

,

prim itive city of Benares with S eirné th was along the

course of these mounds S é rnzith is spoken of, in th e
.

Ceylon records as though it m ay ha ve been a city of

,

itself ; and there is no do ubt th at it is referred to, in

ancient docu m en ts as a part of Be nares
,
N ow ,
m od ern
.

Benares is nearly half a m il e to the so u th of the Barns ;

whereas Sarnath is out in th e coun try about three m iles
,

to the north of that stream If we su ppose however

.
, ,

th at Ben ares, rn its m ost re m ote period , was mainly on

the north side of the Barn , likewise ; and if such sup
‘

position is corroborated by extensive rem ains of ancient

buildings, in the shape of brick and sto ne debris ,

stretching over several mi les of country , as already

shown and term inatin g in m ounds lyin g in the di
,

rection of S é rné th ; the proof approaches to demonstra

tion, that, at that early epoch, a union, more or less 1n
timate , existed between S arn ath and B enares, as stated
326 E E N AR E S
,
PAST AND PRESENT .

by h istorical records I had no opportunity to exa m ine

.

thorou ghly th e country lying R tween these rem a ins

and Sarnath b u t I feel satisfi ed th at t so m e poi n t
; ,
a

in these re m ain s, a line of debris would be foun d c on

nec ti ng th e two spots with only a few breaks in its
,

solid bu ildings, and being the

sam e This point m u st not be search ed
.

southern extre m ity of the anci ent city ,

north ern extre m ity ; and, perhaps , th e lin e

m ay be th e line of th e m ounds just

bu t of this I am not abl e to spea k positively .

If these observations respecting the site of the earl y

city be correct, it m ust follow tha t the d erivation of th e
word Benares , as the city lying between th e Bern a and
the Asi , is utterly absurd, as applied to the m ost ancient
city . Th at it m ay be taken to explain the word, as
d enoting the city of m odern tim es even as far back as ,

the Gupta dynasty , and perhaps som ewh at further is

, , , ,

historically unobj ectionabl e But Bané r asi h as nothi ng

,
.
-

wh atever to do with th e m ost ancie nt ci ty of Benares,

and as appli ed to it, wou ld be a ludicrous m isnom er .
,

It seem s indeed probabl e th at the B uddhists were the

, ,

first peopl e to occu py , to any extent, the sou th m n side of '

the B arns and such a notion is re m arkably anbeten

.

ti sted by the existence of various B u ddhi st remains

there, as described in this ch apter ; bu t none of th em ,
so far as I kn ow date from earlier than the Gupta
,

period It is , however, extrem ely lik ely that a sm all

.

portion of the fragm en tary rema ins found in this quarter

belong to an epoch m uch anterior to thi s period having
S ooac s of t hc great wealth of Bon s e — I ts c hief arti lcs c
u s
-
omm orec c

Ist n a e —
tiv B nk rs I t P oor
a e— I nc reased d e i
s e fo Ed tion
s r— Th r uc a e

Governm ent o Q ueen C ollege — M onolith in t he C ollege G rounch

r
'
s .

London S oc iety s Mission —T he Baptist Society s M ission

’ '
. N ti v
a e

in the S uburbs — M on um ent to Mr C h erry — I nfluential N ative G en

.

tlernen of Bena re s.

BENARES is a city of great wealth y et not of great ,

trade Just as th ere are fashionabl e places of resort

.

in m ore civilized countri es to which m u ltitu des of per

,

so ns are drawn at certain seasons of the year, so in ,

I ndia, there are places that are ann u ally visited by

crowds of people, but with this difference , that they
are of nearly all ranks and conditions, and th eir obj ect

is, m ainly, of a religiou s character Of this type is .

B enares Myriads of Hindus com e on pilgrim age, every

.

y ear, to the sa cred city not a few of who m are m er

,

ch ants, landed proprietors, and princes Som e of these .

l atter classes are casual visitors ; oth ers however , possess ,

residences of th eir own in the city wh ere trusty ser ,

v ants and, perhaps, one or two m em bers of their

,

fam ilies, habitu ally dwell Raj as and m en of hi gh

.

social position in all parts of India, pride the mselves

,

on having a house in Holy Kéfi For these reason s, .

 BENARES, rm AN D Puesm . 82 9

chiefly, it has com e to pass that Benares is one of

the rich est cities in India .

Altho u gh religion rather than trade, forms the

,

princi pal occupa tion of the inhabitants of B enares,

still the m erchants constitute a num erous and im por

saltpetre, and indigo, whi ch are prod uced in the dis

tric t
. S ilks and shawls are m anufactured in th e city ;
and B enares is especially fa m ous for its gold e m broid ered

cloths called Kincob ( K tmkllwab) and for its beautifu l

filigree work i n gold A large quanti ty of M an chester
.

goods yearly finds a ready m arket h ere, and is sold for

consu mption in th e neighbourhood, or is sent to other
parts of the country The m o st i m portant place of
.

trade , however , for E nglish co tton m an ufac tures, in the

N orth western P rovinces of I ndia, is the city of Mirza
-

pore which at one ti me, was th e c hief em porium not

, , ,

only of th ese Provinces , but also of a large por tion of

Central I ndia O ne very striking sign of general pros
.

pe rit y, i n N orthern In di a
,
an d,
I i m agi ne ,
in the
country at large is seen in the taste , now al most
,

of fine texture , which although neither so durable nor

,

so cheap as native products are m u ch m ore el egant

, .

N o persons except the poorest are destit ute of one

or m ore rai ments m ade of E nglish cloth ; and, in th e

cities and towns no one co nsiders him self fit for re

,

spec table socie ty , if arrayed in cotton garments of native

manufac tu re.

The bankers of Benares constitute an extensive fra

terni ty .T he habits of borrowing , and of plunging reek
330 m u s s , PAST ar e sm ar ter .

l essly into debt, are lam entably preval ent in India A s .

m ultitudes are ready to borrow, it is a na tural cea s e

q u enc e tha t th ere sho u ld be m any rea dy to l en d ,

especi ally as th e rate of in terest is enorm ously high .

This pernicious custo m of society enrich es a few, b u t

i m poverish es m any and greatly interferes with the c om
,

fort and h appiness of the Hindu co m m unity generall y .

Whil e the nu mber of persons with very small incom es

in B en ares is undou btedly , extre m ely large y et, for a
, ,

city of its size I believe the num b er of abject poor

,

is rem arkably small T he su m needed for the s u pport

.

of a fam ily there , wo u ld , in E ngl and be rega rded

,

al m ost with incredulity As l abo ur for th e m ost part,

.
,

is sufficiently abu ndan t, th ere is no reason therefore , ,

why any fa m ily, the leading m em ber of which is in

h ealth , sho uld be in distress ; y et, should he fell
ill u nl ess other m em bers of the fam ily are abl e to
,

work, it will, probably, be brought into difficu lti es ,

though not, at fir st into m isery T he friendly ba nker

, .
‘

is th en appli ed to who , for a ti m e at least, is usu a lly

,

willing to lend the fam ily m oney, at high interest ,

expecti ng to be repaid wh en the sick person is restored

to health ; bu t, at the sam e tim e, an i ncubu s of d ebt

will rest upon th e household for m any long m onths and, ,

it may be, for years .

The desire for ed u cation, abov e all in the E n glish

i

language , is rapidly i ncreasing, from year to year ,

am ongst nearly all cl asses of n ativ es in B enares At .

one ti m e it was a hard m atter to i nduce pa ren ts to sen d

th ei r sons to the Governm ent and Mission schoo ls, to

receive a gratuitous ed ucation ; now th ey are eager to
332 BENARES , PM m e r ussrmr .

vinces of India, whose erudition

researches ha ve and

placed him in the front rank of living Sanskrit sc holars ;

and, also , D r Kern P rofessor of Sanskri t in the U n i
.
,

versity of Leyden, once shed a lustre on the College,

as Anglo Sans krit P rofessors
-
Seven hundred yo u th s .

receive instruction , the nu m ber havin g considerab ly

increased under the able m ana gem ent of its presen t
P rincipal There are two distinc t and separat e depart
.

m ents in the Coll ege, nam ely Sanskri t and English , .

The Sanskrit Coll ege was founded by the Governm en t

of I n di a, in the year 179 1, and is regarded as the

Oxford of India in respect of the c ultivation of

,

Hindu l earning The nu mber of students in th e

.

English departm ent has m ore than doubled of la te

years .

Within the surrounding grounds , and lying to the

north of th e Coll ege, is a m onolith , thi rty one and a -

half feet hi gh which was discovered near G hazeepore

, ,

and was pl aced th ere by order and a t th e expen se,

,

of Mr Tho mason , l ate Li eu tenant Governor of the

.
-

N orth Western P rovi nces

-
It bears an inscrip tion ,
.

som ewhat d efa ced , in th e G upta charac ter .

A short distance fro m Q uee n s College is the N orm al ’

School , established , by th e Govern me nt, for the tra in

ing of village schoolm asters It is under th e su perin .

tendence of D Tresh am , Esq , a gentle m an of great

. .

ability and perseverance as a teach er, who has been for

,

ma ny years, a fa ithful and v ery efficient servant of th e

Governm e nt E very year about one hundred and twen ty
.

young m en beco me qualified for appointm ents as teach ers .

—
In Benares there are three Missions belonging to
 m u s , PMs AND PRESENT . 333

the Church of England , and to the London and Bap

tist Missionary S oci eties —which are labo u ri ng , with
,

m ore or less effici ent m eans of E uropean and native

age ncy , in conveying the Gospel to the inhabitants of

the city and the surroun di ng vill ages The Mission in .

connexion with the Church of Engl and was establish ed

in th e year 1817 It com pri ses fou r ordain ed and two
.

lay m issio naries , thirte en nativ e Christian school t eachers, -

and six readers or catechis ts There are, besides, bun

.

galows for the residen t m issionaries , orphan institu

tions for boys and girls, a vill age inhabited by n ative
Christians a Gothic Ch u rch capable of holding between
,

three and fo ur h u ndred p ersons , two N ormal S chools,

one for th e training of na tiv e Christian young m en as

teachers and evangelists, the oth er for the training of

native C hristian young women as teachers of female
sehools,
— a large Coll ege and sev eral girls
,
schools ’
.

Th e N ormal S chools h ave a catholic basis, and ad m it

pupils fro m all P rot estant m issions in the neighbour
hood, who receive a good ed ucation fitti ng th em for ,

em ploy m ent in th eir sever al m issi ons T he Coll ege is

.

si tuated in the city , and is called Jay N arayan s Col ’

legs, fro m a nati ve ge ntl em an of rank ( Raj a Jay Nara

y a n G h os é l) who
,
founded it in 18 17 for
,
the educ
,
ation

of his poorer country men , and liberally endow ed it The .

Governm ent also gives a large sum , annually to its funds ,

.

In the y ear 186 6 th e college had four hundred and

,

seven ty five students ; an d the nu m ber of native Chris

-

tians in the m ission was four hundred and thirty seven - .

A new Church is now being erected in the m id st of the

Hindu population of th e city , near to D aéasam edh Ghat .
334 Bananas, m s): AND PM .

The Mission of th e London Missionary Society wa s

inaugurated in the year 182 1, and is situ ated like th e ,

Ch u rch of England Missio n in the sub urbs of the city

, ,

but between it and the m ilitary cantonm ents I t h as .

four m issionari es, one ordained na tiv e m inister se ver a l ,

catechi sts, and one h undred and six native Christians .

I n 18 66 the m i ssion sustained el ev en schools ; nin e for

,

th e education of boys and you ng m en and two for th e ,

education of girls nu m bering in all five h u ndred an d

, , ,

seven ty nin e p upils

-
A s u bstantial Church , in th e
.

Grecian styl e, was erected abo ut tw enty yea rs ago .

The girls school is an el egant Go thic stru cture, buil t

’

by Major H ittos, in th e year 1852 .

The Mission of the B aptist Missionary Society was

founded in 18 17, and was originally , an o utpost of the
,

S erampore Mission in co nnexion with that body

, F or .

m any ye ars it h ad no E uropean a ge nt, and its opera

tio ns were carri ed on by an East I ndian a m an of grea t ,

si m plicity and piety Of late y ears, the Soci ety has

.
,

generally had two European m issionaries residing in

,

B enares I n 186 6 , the Missio n possessed two m ission

.

ari es,
three n ative cat echi sts th ree candidates for the
,

office of catechis t, an d two Christian t each ers T he .

nu mber of converts is sm all as co mpared wi th the two

,

oth er Mi ssions Th ere is an orphanage for the su pport

.

and trai ni ng of na tiv e boys an d girls A handsom e .

Chu rch in which D ivine service is p erfor m ed for th e

,

benefit of th e E nglish and E ast I ndian resid ents, was

erected , a few y ears si nce, in the cantonm ents .

Oth er schoo ls, u nconnected either wi th the Govern .

m ent or with m issio nary institutions, exist in the ci ty .

336 m am ,
rm m rnnsnxr .

idolatry ; but, in the N orth Woman Provinc es, they -

are usually, m ore cautious and, alth ou gh ady oa ti ng

, ,

for the sake of peac e, avoid religious m atters The in .

fluence of all, ho wever, is, undou btedly, m ore or less good ,

tending to dissipate the m ists of superstition fro m th e
minds of their m em bcrs . I n C alcu tta and som e other

es md n atives The form er, as a class ha ve avowedly

.
,

abandoned idolatry , and with it all religious reveren c e

, ,

for the sacred books of their coun try, and have estab
lish ed a new sect known as th e B rahm o S om éj Nativ es .

ti midity and hesitancy in the holy city of Benare s, an d

have been careful not to assail too suddenly the pre
judices of strict Hindus .

Sev eral soci eties were , at one tim e, in exi sten c e

in Benares O ne of these, the m ost distingu ished of
.

all styled the Ben ares I nstitu te , still flouri shes

, It .

n um bers m ore th an one hundred native m em bers of ,

whom som e are princes and nobles of high rank o th ers ,

are p an dit s and maulavi s, — m en of great l earning in

, ,
—
Sanskri t Arabic and P ers ian literatu re, som e are pro
fessera and teach ers in coll eges, oth ers are m agistra tes
and judges in the courts of law, whil e all are m en

of co nside ration and local i nfl uence A few E uropea n .

residents of the sta tio n are, also, connected with the

I nstitu te A t the m eetings which are held, lectures
.

and essays are deliv ered on subj ects of general in ter efl

an d i m portance d the discu sio s which c rried

; an s n are a

on are often m ost earnest and exciting Hindus of the .

 BEN A BBS , rm AND rnnsnrvr . 337

old school here contend wi th Hindus of the new school ,

— m en of the past, determ ined to u phold the old sy s
t ems to the l ast, with m en of the p resent d eterm ined ,

at l east to m odify th em and to brin g the m to th e test

,

of rigid scrutiny ; all which is ben eficial to the m ind ,

although it m a
, y b e no t a lw a
,
ys sati sfa ctory in its im

m edi ate issue The Institute has five constituent sections,

.

each of which has a E uropean presiden t and one or m ore

nativ e secreta ries The sec tions are d evo ted to the fol
.

lowing subj ects : Education ; Sociology or Socia l P ro

gress ; P hilosophy and Literature ; Sci ence and Art ,

with which is assoc iated M edi cal and Sanitary I mprove

m en t ( in Benares ) ; and Jurisp rud ence The Institut e
.

p u blish ed a volum e of Transac tions in the year 1865 .

The foreign residents of Benares live ch iefly at

S ec role, an extensive su burb on the north w est side -

of the city This Sta tion is di vided by the Bern i

.

riv er
,
to th e south of which th e grea ter portion of
the m ilitary cantonm ents and buildings connected th ere
with are situated and lik ewise th e English Church
, , , ,

the Governm ent College the Medical Hall , the old Mint,
,

the town residence of the Maharaj a of Benares th e three ,

Missions of th e Church of England and of the London ,

and B aptist Soci eti es a n d th e Courts of L aw of the

,

Civil and Sessions Ju dge, the D epu ty Judge , and th e

J udge of S mall Causes T o the north of this river
.

are the houses of th e civil officers of Governm e nt the ,

Courts of the Co mm issioner of the Division, and of the

Collector and other Magistrates of the district ; several
b ungalows inhabited by dep osed R aj as and other na
,

ti ves ; the Wards I nstitutio n for the residence of sons

’
,

22
338 m u ms , rasr sun
'
PRESENT .

of native noblem an, under special charge of th e G overn

m e nt, an d whil e pu rsuing th eir studi es at Q u een s C ol ’

lc gc ; the beau tiful P ublic Gardens , supported by su b

scription ; the S wi m m ing B ath ; the Jail in w h ic h , ,

occasionally seventeen h u ndred priso ners are confin ed ;

,

the Lunatic A syl u m established in 18 12 , shelte ring

,

one h u ndred an d ten pati ents ; the Blind and Lepe r

A syl um , wi th one hundred and thirty inma tes, foun ded ,

in 1825 by Raj a Keli Sankar Ghos al ; and the Ce m etery

, .

A Hospital and fou r D ispensaries are situated in various

parts of the city , and afford gratu itous relief to n u m erous
patients daily .

In the cem etery is a lofty m onu m ent, erected to th e

m e m ory of Mr Cherry — form erly P olitical Resident at
.

—
B enares and a nu m ber of E uropean ge ntl em en , wh o
were all kill ed togeth er on the 14th of January, 1 7 9 9 .

B eing sea ted at breakfast with Wazir Ali the deposed ,

N awab of O udh on a signal being given , th e Na wab

,

an d his servants rush ed u po n th em and th e form er ,

stabbed Mr Cherry with his own hand, whil e th e rest

.

lic ved Mr Ch erry to be opposed to his i nterests, an d

.
,

th erefore took this atrocious m eans of showing hi s

,

resentm en t .

B enares is, and has long been , a favour ite place of

resid ence and resort for native princes At th e head .

of th e Hind u co mm unity of the city is the Mah araj a of ,

—
B enares , descendant of th e fam ous Raj a Gh eit Sin gh ,
— a person of m u ch am iability and geniality of dis ~

position, who, by reason of th ese excellen t qualities and ,

also of th e hi gh station he occupi es, co m mands the

340 m an s, rm mm M .

of the R oy al S ociety , and of M ath e

and Astron om y in the S anskri t
College ; an d
Babu Mathnréprasé d anthor of the v aluabl e Trilin gu a l
,

Dictionary in English , Urd u and Hind i , lately pu b

, ,

lished .
 CH APTER XXII .

8m m d
d by the contem plation of the city of Benares
engen ere
I ts history the hi to y of I ndia — Princ iples of progress at work in
, s r

th c ity
e C hanges v isible in native soc iety —T h e Brahm o S a ndi
.
-
. .

D imi ni hed stu dy of S anskrit — D im inish ed faith in idolatry in

s ,

Benares and N orthern India generally — In fluc nce of ed ucation on

.

Hindu youths —A Martin Luther for India — I nfluenc e and p read s

of C h ristianity t .
- —
Pries s of Pisé ch Mochan T ank Literary and B
'

ligious S oc ieties am ongst the natives T h e Benares I nstitute

—
N ature of its discussions Lectu re of Paudit Lakshm aj i H is —

W hat i th destiny of Idolatry and of C hristianity in

s e ,
—
India l T hc
‘

Future in respect of Benares —R em arks of the R ev D r . . T homeon.

Bishop of the Methodi t E pi c opal C hureh ot the U nited S tatu s es
‘
s s

T HE nci ent
a and m odern buildings of Benares and

were constructed by a living, earnest people, who h ave ,

for the m ost part, passed away, but have left these
behind them, illustrative of their power and
skill of their greatness and glory By examining these
,
.

buildings, we gain so me knowledge of the people who

erected them ; and this is the m ain object we should
have in view Undoubtedly there is a subtle m ys
.
,

M plati on of an old ruin ; but it owes all its force

to th e fact that the old ruin is associated with human

342 BENARES, rm m rassss r.
'

presen t race inhabiting the earth . These sentim ents ,

again, are m odified in proportion to th e ex tent of ou r

knowledge of th e pas t For instance , if

. we are able to
accum ulate d ata sufficient to co mpare one epoch wit h

pain, in preportion as we find humanity progressing or

degenerating There are few sentim ents m ore eleva ti ng
.

to the soul than those whi ch spring fro m the stu dy

of a nation which has carried on a long and despera te
struggle with great syste ms of error and m oral c or
ruption and has com e out of the confli ct trium pha n t
, ,

with clearer perceptions of truth and p u rer notio ns of

virtue On the other hand, th ere is no sentiment m ore
.

d epressin g than that which is produ ced by the study

of a people who have declined fro m bad to worse ; fro m
one abo mina tion to another ; fro m one system of evil to

oth ers m ore and m ore opposed to truth, to reaso n and ,

to God .

Now, in regard to th e histo ry of B enares I can not ,

say th at m any pleas urabl e feelings h ave been engend ered

'

in m y m ind , as I have pondered over it I ts histo ry .

is to a great extent, th e history of I ndia ; and t h ere

, ,

fore it is hardly fair to isolate the city fro m the country

, ,

an d to pass j u dgm en t on it alone Speaking then of

.
, ,

this great city as representative of an im m ense em pire ,

one is bound to say , that , whil e its career has been of

long du ration, it h as not been of a character to awa ken

m uch of enthusiasm or adm iratio n It cannot be said
.

that eith er the m oral, or th e social , or even th e intel

l ectual , condition of th e people residing here is a w hit
better than it was upwards of two thousand years ago .
344 BE NARES, rxsr AND Pas ssm .

look forward to its co ming history with stron g hope an d

have raised the w estern nations of the world to tha t

high position of civilim tion and grea tn ess which th ey
at pr es ent occ u py h ave already reached this land and
, ,

begun to operate u pon its in habitants These princi plea .

ha ve bo th an in tellect ual and a spiritu al aspect, tending

ev erywh ere to strength en and exp and th e m ind as w el l ,

as to p u rify th e heart and wh en brou ht to bear u pon

, , g
co mm uniti es and na tions, rege nerate th em socially and
religiously by bringing th em into harm ony with G od
,
.

They ha ve therefore a divine origin, and, if properly

, ,

applied, n ev er fail to im prove those who receiv e th em ,

and to lift th em up to H im fro m who m they proceed .

T he grea t changes m anifestly takin g place in th e m a

teri al and social condition of the people of Ind ia are m ore
than equalled by the chan ges being wro ught in their
religious sentim ents and habits What the tel egraph .
,

and railroads and cana ls

,
and b ridges, and m etalled
,

roa ds are accom plishing physically , in openi ng u p th e

,

co un try, and in developing its imm ense resources, so

m uch , and m o re, Christiani ty and ed u cati on are effecti ng ,

i ntell ectu ally in u prooting error and superstition in

, ,

i m parting right notions respectin g virtue and religio n ,

and in el ev ati ng th e peopl e gen erally T h e m ost c on .

spic uou s an d deci d ed illustration of this is undo ubtedly

, ,

visible in so m e parts of B engal particularly in Calcut ta

,

and oth er citi es and towns in which the soci ety called

th e Brah mo S am éj exis ts This society new num bers

.

sev eral thousands of a dheren ts who are for the m os t

, ,

part, m en of education and intelligence, and is, next to

 nsN A a ss, PAST AND r asssN r . 345

India .It is, also , professedly , a sto u t Opponent of caste ;

bu t in practice, its m em bers are not so m uch released
,

fro m its bonda ge as from that of idolatry ; nor are they

such unequivocal adversaries to its au thority as to the
authority of th e n u m erous gods of th e l and .

I n Benares and its nei ghbourhood Bengalis exert but

'

little infl uence , except u pon their fellow country m en of -

Bengal residi ng th ere ; for th ey are regarded by the ,

Hi nd ustani population, as foreign ers althou gh holding,

the sam e religion ; and their senti m ents and projects

are always look ed upon with suspicion Bu t even here .

x rting an influence sim ilar to that which the paren t

e e

society ex ercises S uch an infl u en ce wherev er it exists

.
, ,

altho ugh not all that C hristians desire , y et, so far as it

.

go es, is, to a large extent, saluta ry I t is mi xed u p.

with error but, neverthel ess, co ntains m any noble prin

,

ciples, the operation of which u po n the h earts and

'

consci ences of the natives can not fail to raise them far
abov e the d egra d ed social and sp iri tual condition in

whi ch, for ages, they ha ve re mained Better far b etter

.
, ,

that all India should attach itself to the Brah m o Sam aj ,

than that its inh abitants should blindly persist in the

worship of S iva and Krish na, and R am , and should
,

continue be nighted by the fatal errors which su ch

worship sanctions But, in saying this I am no advo
.
,

sets for the adoption of this religion as such I .

earnestly hope that , having taken a great step in ad

vance of gross heathenism , the m embm s of the B rahm o '

Sam aj will take another, still further in ad vance , and y et

346 nsN A nss, PA sr AND PassE Nr.

m ore decided , and will embrace the pure t ab g on of

Christ in its entirety, fro m which nearly all that is good
,

in th eir own reform ed religion has been derived .

However, th e signs of i m prove ment apparent in B e

nares and in the N orth w estern provinces generally , ha v e
,
-

little or no co nnexion with this society , or with its a d

h erents but are the l egiti m ate results of oth er agen ci es
,

locally at work They are of a twofold character

. .

There is a destructive process visibl e, on the one ha n d,

and a co nstr uctiv e proce ss on th e oth er T h e old fab ric
.
,

of Hinduism is being u nder m ined and destroyed ; and a

new st ru c ture altogeth er differ ent in form a nd m a ter ia l ,
,

is being erected Th ese I shall speak of conjointly ; b e

.

cause in point of fact they can hardl y be separate d

, , .

O ne of th e princi pa l reasons th at B enares is so fam o u s

is that it was for merly the resort of large nu mbers of
,

Brahm ans, who, divided into schools and colleges pu r ,

su ed the stu dy of th e ancient Sanskrit writings At on e .

ti me th ere were m any hundreds of s uch establishm ents ,

in which tho u san ds of stu d ents w ere tau ght th e philo

sophical tenets of Hi ndu is m ; an d pri nces and nobl es in ,

all p arts of I n di a vi ed wi th each oth er in the su pport

,

they rendered to th e priests and pandits of B enares, and

to the nu m erous Sanskri t coll eges establish ed in it Enor .

m ou s sum s w ere annually giv en for this p u rpo se , so tha t

l earned p andits and their disciples were alik e nourished
and cared for S uch m unificence to teach ers and p upi ls
.

naturally attracted to B enares aspiri n g you ng Brahm a ns,

from every province of I ndia who recei vi ng a thoro u gh

, ,

ed u cation in certain branches of philosophy , d u ring their

long and severe co u rse of study, returned eventually , to

,
348 nsN A ass, rA sr AND PRESENT .

that the pandits are beginnin g to see that variou s

situation s are open to the m under Briti sh rule, whic h
th ey can fill with honour and co m fort to them sel v es ;
and as th ey are just as desirous of worldly ease an d
,

distinction as oth er people , it is only na tural that they

should be anxiou s to obtain them , even at the risk of

foregoi ng their favourite study .

Again whil e it is an undoubted fact that Hin du i sm

, ,

is still kept up by the people generally in the templ es ,

at th e sa cred w ells and tanks on th e gh ats and in th e ,

,

holy stream s, with enthusias m and punctiliou sn ess, y et

it is, I beli eve, indisp u tabl e that th ere are thousands of
,

perso ns, in this city alone, who are not sa tisfied wi th

their rites and devotions ; and although , for the sa ke
,

of appearance, they do as oth ers do , th ey have no fa ith

whatever in idolatry Furthermore there are so me wh o
.
,

have entirely abandoned it , except under certain c ir

c u m stances wh en the necessity of their position has o t
, g
the better of their convictions and who, neverth eless,
,

h ave not o utwardly embraced a better creed, nor ha v e

an
y i mm edi a te intention of d oing so A s already r e .

m arked in a previous chapter , this is an age of tem pl e

buildi ng, in Benares and in all this p art of India su ch ,

as h as not been known perhaps since the period pre

, ,
~

cedi ng th e Moham m edan rule and succeedin g th e

declin e and extinction of Buddhism in I ndia ; and y et ,

withal , it is an age of un easiness anxi ety, and alarm,,

am ong all ranks of rigid Hindus Th ese latter kno w

.

well that th ey are erectin g tem pl es in vain, and that,

,

while they are contri buting to th e o u tward splendour

of th eir religion, its inner life is being gradually under
 nsN Anss, rAsr AND r as ss Nr . 349

m ined and
destroyed ; for the thou ght constantly rises u p
in their m inds, that th eir sons are a different race from
th em selves with new and enlarged ideas, antagonistic to
,

and destructiv e of those which th ey and th eir forefathers

long ch erished The ground, they feel is slipping fro m

.
,

under th em ; and there is a dim prevision of conscio us

ness in th eir breasts that one da , th eir te mples will
, y
,

be forsaken, and that the hu ge stru cture of their re

ligion will fall with a crash .

These remarks are espec ially true with regard to the

youths bro ught u p in the Governm ent and Mission col
l ogos and schools These institutions are yearly sending
.

forth a large n um ber of young m en, w ell train ed and -

well educated who un derstand our E nglish books, speak

-
,

and write our langu age, take delight in European litera

ture and civilization and are generally, m ore or less,

,

cou rse of study, they h ave reflected u pon the facts of his
tory, of scien ce and of the Christian religion, that have
,

been brou ght before their attenti on ; and th ey have al ,

m ost involuntarily, bee n led to co m p are them with the

dogm as of their own religion and with the practic es
,

which it either perm its or enjoins The conseq uence of

.

this course of instruction and reflection is, th at , after

spending sev eral years as students when th ey com e to
,

go forth to the business of the world , th ey find th em

selves very different in though t and belief, from their
,

friends and parents at hom e A few of them , as shown

.

before, of m ore courage than the rest whose hearts the ,

grace of God has tou ched , honestly avow th eir disbe

G
.

lief in idol atry and belief in Christ ianity , and, in spite

350 nnN Aass, rA sr AND P asa r .

of all oppositi on cast in th eir lot with th e sm all b u t

,

co ntinually i ncreasing body of native Christians Other s .

,

—but how large a cl ass I cannot sa — abandon th eir

y,
idols y et do not becom e C hristians Oth ers again
, .
, ,

a co nsiderabl e n u m b er I beli e ve worship idols t e

, ,

lu c tantly from feelin gs of respect to their relations a n d

,

acquai ntan ces , and if possible sol ely on b lic oc

, , p u c a

sions and at festivals They are not y et ready to g iv e

.

u p everything for th eir principles th y n o t re d y

; e are a

to sac ri fice property positi on, fam ily , and fri ends for
, ,

wh at th ey have been brought to feel is the truth .

T he fact is all this class are beginning to be seen

,

dalized by idolatry , and so m ewh at ash am ed of it They .

k now too m u ch to be honest and co nscientious idolater s .

T h ey cannot willingly prostrate th em selv es b efore an

i m age of stone or cl ay So m e have deep er feeli ngs tha n
.

oth ers ; and som e are too fi ivolou s and thou ghtl ess to
'

distress th em selv es m uch about the m atter But I b e .

,

lieve, v ery few, indeed of th e edu cated class that is,

, ,
-

ed u cat ed on th e E nglish m od el are thorou gh an d

,

h earty idolaters ; and I am satisfied that th ere is not ,

one who does not hold Hinduis m with a lighter and loos er

grasp than form erly, or th an wo uld have been th e case ,

h ad his m ind n ot b een expand ed and benefited by th e

ed u catio n h e h as rec eived Let it be w ell u nders tood
.
,

that ed ucation de Hind uizes the Hind u , b reaks down idol

-

atry and inspi res h im wi th a di sta st e for it and a l a ten t

, ,

desire to be free from it N ot long since as I was con

.
,

v ersing with an ed u cated native gentl em an in B enares ,

h e m ade a r em ark of great significanc e, as showing the

feeling of m en of his own class attached by associati on,
352 nsN A nss, rAsr AND r asssN r .

have introdu ced into the country, have l ent their aid ;
but the m ost potent and efficaciou s instrum ent of aH it ,

m ust be confes sed , has been the direct and indire ct

teaching of Christi anity in m any places the patient and
,

persistent exhibition of its divine principles the preac h ,

ing of the W ord to all elasses, in the ci ty and in the

vill age , in the streets and in the lanes, and in all pla c es,
and at all practi cable ti m es, perseveringly and u ninter

P u tting together all

the favourable circ umstances c on
nec ted with the Hind us in rela tion to th e progres s of

Christianity am ong th em , I consider that th ere is ev ery

reason for encourage m ent and hope in the future In .

deed, I feel that it is incumbent on th e C hurch to ren der

special thanksgiving to God for the wonderful change in

the se ntim ents of the people gen erally which H e h as
already grac iously effected To ch erish doubts and fears
in th e prosecution of this great work or in regard to its
,

ultimate iss ue, would be significant of unbeli ef and of ,

distrust of God s all powerful grac e It is one of the

’ -
.

m ost gratifyi ng features of the spirit of inq uiry now

m anifest am ong th e natives that it has spre ad to th e
,

m ost u nlik ely and u npro m ising m em bers of th e com

m unity . I will give an illustration of this assertion .

It is well known, that a large num ber of priests are

en gaged in te m ple and other religious servic es in Be
nares . Th ey are a very bigoted people and, in fac t, ,

with the pandits are the m ain stay of Hinduism Of

, .

this en tire cl ass the m ost prejudiced and m ost strongly

,

attached to i dolatrous rites are the Gangs pu m a s, or -

 RE N A R E S , PAST AND PRESENT . 35 3

80 118 of the Ganges, m en wh o gai n their livelihood by

th e o fferings m ade by worshippers at the gh ats of the
sacred stream and at certain sacred pools in th e city .

Th ere is a celebrated reservoir in Benares where so m e ,

fo rty thousand pilgrim s from all parts of India, annually

,

present sacrifices to th eir ancestors , and bath e Not m ore .

than five or six head priests direct the religious cere

-

monies of this host . And it m ust be borne in m ind that

the cere m ony , once perform ed , n eed nev er be r epeated
here ; so that the pilgri m s are renewed every year It .

has been the custo m , for sev eral y ears past, for t his ta nk
to be visited, occasionally , by m issi onaries and native
evangelists fro m the m issions in the city for th e pur
,

pose of preachin g to both priests and pilgrim s I n this .

way several of the priests becam e well acquainted with

Christiani ty, and also per sonally attached to ourselves .

But I m ust confess th at we w ere greatly asto nished ,

one day at receiving a visit fro m two head pri ests, ac
,
-

com panied by so m e seve n or eight disciples These had .

co me to the m ission , professedly for the purpose of con

fessing their beli ef in Christianity, and of m aki ng ar
range m en ts for p ublicly abandoning Hinduis m and em
bracing the true rel igion I regard th e circu mstance
.

as one of i ncalc u l abl e significance , as indicative of the

influence which the Christian religion is exerting on the

people, ev en on that class m ost diffic ult to reach and
m ost w edded to superstition Nor is its significancy at
.

all di m inished by th e fact tha t not on e of th ese persons

persisted in his d eterm ination, and that all, startled by

—
the obstacles in the way , not raised by the m issio naries ,
—
but entirely by the mselves after a short interval re ,

23
354 BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT .

t urned to th eir te mples, and to their idolatro u s p ractices,

On the 24th of D ecem ber, 186 6, a lecture was de a

liv ered before the B enares Institute by a Hindu, not -

a Chri sti an , nor a m e m ber of th e Brahm o Sam a j,

nam ed Paudit Li ngam Laksh m a i Pantlu Garu , p ri
j
v ate secretary to his Highness the Maharaj a of Viziana ~

gram , on The Social S tatus of the Hindus, in which

“ ”

som e v ery rem arkable statem ents were m ade on a g rea t

v ari ety of topics connected with th e social usages an d
inner life of his fellow cou ntrym en It is asto nishi n g
-
.

th at a B rah m an before a com pany of Brah mans and

,

others form i ng the élzte of native soci ety in th e holy

'

city shou ld h av e h ad the courage to u tter se nti m en ts

,

lik e the following striking at th e root of the preva l en t

,

philosophy and religion of the l and At p age 2 7, the .

Paudit says
“
Then we com e to th e Au gean stabl es of ou r religio n
— the nev er failing source of all our m isery of all ou r ,

dem oralization of all our deteriora tion in short of ou r

, , ,

ruin and fall O ur faith as all of y ou are aware is of

.
, ,

two kinds one idol atrous and the other m onoth eistic ;
,

y e t both are so interm ix ed th at it is i m possibl e to tr ea t

of the one withou t to u ching the oth er We h ave in .

,

d eed , a trinity to represent th e creating, the p reservi ng

, ,

and th e d estroying powers ; and we are ch aritabl e eno u gh

to give to each of th ese gods a wife Th en we hav e th e

.

ten i ncarnations of th e preserving power Th en

we h ave idolized and deified everything possible ; giving , .

at th e sam e ti m e, with s edulo u s care, a wife to ea ch god .

This is th e P uranic account of our popular faith I n .

356 saN A ass, PA sr
'
AND PasssN r
'
.

regard every idol we worshi p as th e self -

existent, ca r na l,

S up reme B othy , who is the cause o f every thing, and into

“
P urity of personal character is nothing to m an y of
us : th e Gangs ( Gauges) and our idols h elp us to hea ven !
But, sir, we are not free agents ; what we do we do ,

pro m pted by the divine essence i mpl anted in us Y et .

we enjoy the fruits of our good acts, and suffer punish

m ea t for our sins ! Our souls pass through a series od
'

births according to our actions, over which we have n o

,

control ! If we do ev erythi ng prom pted by the im

planted diviue essen ce , and if u nreasonably God punish es
us for our sins, and rewards our m erits, all by carry ing
our souls through a series of corpore al exis ten ces, th en

wh at need ha ve we of a God ? Do es not this throw us

into th e dark abyss of atheism ? We do nothing of
our own accord , n ot ev en the act of worshippin g ou r

favourite idols I A ll this nonsense is the fr uit of en dl ess

Al though , in the actual prosec u tion of Missionary

labour, not only in Benares bu t also in oth er pl a ces
,

in India, there are m any difficu lti es and discoura ge

m ents to encou nter, both in the opposition of idolat ers ,

and in th e not infreq u en t i nco nsist ency of nativ e Chris

tians, y et th e results are m ost extensive and extra .

ordinary Considering th e sm all am ount of m oney which

.

h as been expended , th e li m it ed m eans which hav e been

e m ployed and the bri ef spac e of ti m e which has elapsed
,

since the Missionary en terprise was in augu rated in

the sacred city, and bearing in m ind, lik ewise the
-
,

stern fact tha t Ch risti anity has there m et with its

 a A s ss, PAST AND PRESE NT . 357

fiercest and m ost determ ined opponents , th at it is the

great seat of caste prej udice and pri estly dom ination ,

that it is the chief and acknowledged bulwark of idol

atry and superstition in all India, and th at , in short
,

Hinduism has there sat enthro ned in the m idst of pomp

and power
,
sust ained by the le a rnin g and s ubtlety of
the Brah mans, and by the wealth and au thority of
raj as an d princes from all parts of the country, for a
period stretchin g over m any ages , it is m ost surpris
ing th at so m uch h as been achieved In appearance , .

Christ ianity has been m ore successful in m any places

in India than in Benares ; y et, when the peculi ar
obstacles which exist in that city are taken into con
sideration I believe it is not too m uch to sa th at it
, y
has, in the aggregate, acco m pli sh ed as m uch th ere as
in any city in the land I t has been proved, too, in
.

B enares as elsewh ere, th at, wh erev er idol atry has co me

,

into direct antagonism with th e G ospel , it has, together

with oth er acknowledged evils, such as caste super ,

stition
,
and false philosophy , in associa tion therewith ,

fallen before it .

To extend th ese observations, so as to include within

their scope the entire peninsula of H industan , and at ,

the sam e ti m e, to bring th em to a conclusion, I would

re mark that th e results of missions in I ndia are not
,

surpassed by any thing th at has been acco m plished of a

,

religious ch aracter in m od ern ti m es, either in Engl and

, ,

or in Am erica or in any quarter of the globe These

, .

results are both direc t and indirec t ; direct, in the way

of conversions fro m the h eathen ; indirect, in regard to
the general enlightenm ent and progress of the people,
358 R E N A R E s, r A sT AND PRESE NT .

incident to the operation of Christia n Truth and E uro

pean Civilization upo n th eir minds It is progress in .

sou nd knowledge, in thought in the quickening of c on

,

science, and in tru e religion Christi anity is now a

.

power in India a felt and acknowl edged power, which

,

m en of all castes an d ranks including Hin d us of th e

,

strictest sects respect an d f ear Wh a t is the

. gr ea t
,

prom in ent qu estion at this m om ent agitating no sm all

portion of the m illions of In dia ? N ot the increa sed
social happiness and prosperity of the peopl e, nor th e
au gm entatio n of co m m erc e and t rad e nor th e v ast i m ,

p rovem ents in th e country — visibl e on ev ery han d, won

,

derful as they all are — bu t this , Wh at is Truth ? Wh a t

,

constitutes religio n Wh at is th e destiny of Idola try ,

and what th at of Christianity in th e co m in g ag es The

,

—
peopl e are thinking, co mparing arguing, not knowing
,

exactly wh at to do I ndia is m u ch in the condition of

.

Home previou sly to the bapti sm of the E m p ero r C on

stantine . Idolatry , here as th ere now as then is falling
, ,

into disgrace M en are beco m ing wiser Truth in its

. .
,

clearness and power is gradually entering their m inds,

,

an d changing their habits and lives .

India is un dergoing an intellectual and also a m oral

and religious r evol u tio n T he Past is slowly losi ng its
.

bewitching influence ov er the p ublic m ind The Hi n du .

—
dares to think and has ev er dared , thou gh h e lacks the
,

—
courage to ac t up to new convictions y et the inspira
tion of earnestness has e ntered his breast ; and, as his
convictions beco m e fix ed and defi nite, he will, I doubt
not, fling away fro m h im the weight of prej u dic e an d

custom , which has oppressed him so cru elly and so long .

360 R E N AR E E , PAsr AND PR E sE N T .

A nd , when the warm feeling poetic ima gina ti

and

the Hi ndus are directed to ou r co mm on Chris ti n

when their h earts have been vitalised by its ia fl n
when th ey have, as a people, risen into the regi
holy tho ught, and of earnest prayer to their I
above ; then ma it be e x pect ed that they will
y
sudden and rapid progress in civilization , and in
ever con
with us in the exalted privilege and honour of ex
ing th e kin gdo m of Christ, and of hastening H is
v ersal reign .

I venture therefore to predict a Future for I nd

, ,

u nparall eled glory and lustre A nd why shou h

.

Benares still hold a fore m ost pl ace in her history ?

should not sh e t ake the lead of all In dian cities 3 ,

ever has done , and sh ow by her own example, an

,

th eir im itation, how sh e can abolish useless socia l

th ens can abandon exploded errors , and can aocep
,

Truth in all its form s ; how sh e can strive after

attai n to th e high est and purest happ iness and can l
,

h erself, with God s h elp to hate wh atever He hates

’
,

to lov e wh atever H e loves ?

I will sum u p these rem arks on th e religiou s
social condition and future prospects of India by m ,

tract from an articl e in an A m erican Quarterly R e

from the pen of th e Rev D r Thom son, a Bishop o
. .

M ethodist Episcop al Chu rch of th e United States ,

lately journey ed in I ndia, on a tour of visitation a
m issio ns of th at body , situ at ed chi efly in R ohilkh an i
O u dh S peaking of British ascendancy in India,
.

Tho mson writes Wh at will this power effect ? J

 BE N A R E s, PAST AND PRESENT . 36 1

by what it has already eflec ted It has reduced anarchy .

to order, given law, established j usti ce protected th e ,

l and fro m in vasion, and prevented it fro m being ravaged

by i ntestine wars It h as suppres sed suttee and d acoity
.
,

forbidden hu man sacrifices repressed infanticide , and

,

m ade slavery illegal It h as woven a network of tele

.

graphs arou nd th e em pire, fro m C alls to Peshawa r, and

from P esh awur to Ra ngoon It has establish ed a reg u lar
.

system of postage for l etters papers , and books at low

, ,

charges and u niform rates It has i m prov ed old ro ads

.
,

and m ade new o nes , sent steam ers u p th e principal

stream s constructed a canal nin e hundred m iles long

, ,

and will , probably, soon construct oth ers in the valleys

of the M ahanaddy the Kistna, and the Godavery I t

, .

has co m m enced a syste m of railways em bracing about ,

five thousand m iles of trunk li nes at a cost of nearly ,

three thou sand m illions of dollars which , when com ,

p leted ,
wi ll u nite th e e xtrem es of the P enins u l a,
open
h itherto i naccessible tracts , and b ri ng all parts close
to each other and to the civilized wo rld Already th e .

steam horse traverses the Gangetic v alley fro m Calcutta

-

to D elhi cross es th e P eninsula from M adras to the

,

western shore and prances from Bom bay to N agpore

,
.

“
It has steadily increased the trad e of the cou ntry ,
which , before the days of Cliv e co uld be convey ed in a ,

single Venetian frigate u ntil it now reach es nearly five

—
,

hundred m illions of dollars annually It has raised th e .

revenues of the governm ent to two hundred and fifteen

m illions . It h as given I ndi a the newsp aper th at g reat ,

ed u ca tor ; so th at there are twenty eight newspapers ub

p
-

—
lish ed weekly in B engal , three of them in E nglish , by
362 R E N A R E s, PA sT AND PR E sE N T .

—
the natives, thirty native presses in Madras, and 1 kn
not h ow m any in Bom bay and Cey lon a n d twen ty fl -
,

presses am ong the m issions alone It has esta b li sh

.

schools in all parts of the land in which those sc iem

,

are taught tha t u nderm i ne the prev ailing sy ste m s

su perstition and error It has m ad e th e E ngli sh ls

.

guage classical 1n the country , and, by this m ea ns it ,

furnishing the native m i nd with th e rich and Chr isti

stores of which that noble tongue is the m ediu m .

has protect ed m issionari es of C hrist, and th eir con vert:

n at th is grea t P eninsula
,
li nked to t
,

co ntinent th e world by its languages, co m m erc e , a1

religions source of th e false faiths which, togeth er
, ,

snare six h undred mi llio ns of the h u m an race , an d ti

stronghold of a del u sion th at bl inds a h u ndred and eigh
m illions m ore There are m ore Mohal
m edans u nd er Victori a s sc eptre than un der any oth
’

on earth . T he S ultan has bu t twenty one m illion -

she has twenty five m illions, at least There are me

-
.

h eathen u nder th e sam e Christian Queen than und

any sovereign except th e E m pe ror of China A 1 .

this m ass is all thro ugh and thro ugh, and m ore a:
,

m ore, su bj ected to Christi an i nfl u ences T he telegrap .

are so m any gangli a in a great nervo u s system , d

fusing new se nsations ; the railways are so m an y in

arteri es
,
pu m ping Christian blood thro u gh the n ati '

v eins ; the newspapers are so m any digestive pow es

prep aring h ealthful m oral food ; the schools are so m a1
batteri es, thundering at th e c ru m blin g battl em en ts
error ; the m i ssio ns are m any brains thi nking new in
,

bet ter thoughts .

NW od M com ia n vicit b

M Laadrem .
M 1836 . ca m e a
r - M W

one of th e sta tions of F oe ( B uddha ) .

h
t is day . S till following for twelve
,
 A PPE N D I x A
. 365

Imm ortal s Deer S in ce the tim e when the H onourable of the A ge

'
.

acc om plished th e Law th e men of later ages ha ve construc ted a

,

chapel in th is plac e .

F oe desiring to c on vert from am ong th e five men Keen lin

, , ,

( K aundiny a ) these five m en said am ong them selv es :

, F or six
“

y ears this C he m en ( S ram ana) Kiu tan ( Gauta ma ) has p rac tised
austeri ties ; ea ting daily only one h em p seed and one ra in of ric e ;
g
-
, ,

and h e has not y et been able to obta in th e law 1 forh ori wh en

'

.
,

one li ves in th e society of m en and giv es one s self u p to one s

’ ’
,

body m outh and though ts how could one ac com plish the doc trine
, , ,

W hen he com es to-

day , let us be careful not to speak to h im .

When F oe drew near , homage to him

the five m en rose, and did .

S ix ty pm s to the n or th of this spot F oe fac ing the east sate , , ,

down and began to turn the Wheel of the Law From am ong the
, .

five m en h e convert ed Keou lin ( Kau ndin y a) Twenty pac es to ,

th e n orth is the S pot where F oe rec ounted h is history to Mi lé

M aitreya) Fif y pac es th enc e to the south is the p lace where the
( t .
, ,

dragun I lo poasked F oe : I n what spac e of tim e shall I be able

“

to ob tai n deliverance from th is dragon s body A t all these spots

’

th ey ha ve raised towers am ong whic h are two song Id a lea ( samba

,

re a d or m onas teries) in whic h are devotees

, , .
 APPE N D I X B .

N arrative of H iouen T hsa ng T ransla ted hy myself, .

f rom the “
M ém oira
iom M
"
cur ios Goa trées O c cidenta les c q S tanid a
J lien, translator of the original
u Chim e work Vol i . . .
, pp . 35 8 8 36 -
,

KI NGDO M or r e m -
m e ss .

m m ) .

T he ki ngdom of P o lo ai sss ( Varanasi Benares ) is about four

’
- o -
,

h
t ou san d —
lis ( 6 6 7 m iles) in c ircui t T o the west near the Ganges
‘
. , ,

is th e capita l whic h is from eighteen to n in eteen lis ( three m ilea

,

an d u pwards ) long an d from five to six lis ( abou t one m ile) broad
, .

T he villages lie very n ear togeth er an d contain a num erous p op u ,

lation .Fam ilies of very great wealth whose houses are stored ,

with rare an d p rec ious thin ga are to be seen . T he peop le are

gen tle and polish ed ,

and esteem m ost high ly m en given to stu dy .

T he greater portion of th em believe in th e heretical doc tr ines

H in d uism ] an d few rev ere th e Law [religion ] of B uddha T h
[ e .

c lim ate is tem perate grain is ab u n dant th e frui t trees are lu xurian t
, ,
-
,

an d th e earth is c ov ered with tu fted v ege tation There are thirty .

[ B u ddhist] m onasteries c ontain ing abou t three th ousand d evote es

, ,

who all study th e p rinc iples of th e sc hool T aking tinny ? “ ( the

, ,
-

sc hool of th e S amm atiy as) whic h h olds to th e M inor Vehi cle

, Th ere .
‘

T aking th e common reckoning of six hc to tho mile M 8 t Martin au igns only

’

. . .

five ii: to the mile .

A ccor ding to M J . ulien, whose explanation is based on a C hinese ic tionar , theD y

B ddhi t
u s recognize F ive Veh icles, that is to say , five means, m od by as man cla w y
368 APPENDI X B .

eaoh of them c on taining a statue of Buddha in em bossed gold . In

the c entre of t ish W e stands a sta tue of B uddh a in T ees - chi

( b rass) . I t has exac tly th e height of Jon-lot ( the T athégata) , who

T o th e south west of the Vihdm is a stone S tay s erected by kin g

-
,

Won yew ( Asoka)

- Although its rm is em bed ded in the ear th
.
,

it has about a h undred feet of eleva tion I n fron t of th i s m on u .

m en t a stone c olum n has been set up som e sev enty feet hig h
, ,

T he ston e is sm ooth as j ade and sh ines like a m irror , T hese wh o .

pray fervently discern in it a m ulti tude of figures ; on all oc c a

siona every one sees there im ages that answer to his virtues or h is

vices I t was at this spot that Jou la l ( th e Tathagata) after hs vin g

.
-
,

atta ined to perfec t k nowledge began to tu rn the Wheel of th e La w , .

T he S trip s on th e side of th e aforesaid m ark s the place where

O go kiao tc h ia j ou ( Aj usta Kau ndi ny a ) etc [the other com panion s
’ ' ' ’
- - - .
,

of Bu ddha] ha ving seen th e PM

, ( th e Bodhisattwa) relin q ui sh

his austerities su dden ly desisted from following him and from

,

watc hing over h is safety H aving arrived at this place they ga ve . ,

th em sel ves u p to m edi tation .

T he S l ap s on th e side of that last m entioned occ up ies th e site -

wh ere five h undred Pratyeka Buddhas ( T o kin) entemd N W - -

( N ir v an a) to ge th er T h ere ar e a ls.o th r ee oth e r S t ip e s T

, h e th ree , r .

last Bu ddhas reposed on tha t spot and there walked for ex erc ise , .

T o the side of the plac e where th e three Buddhas walk ed for

exercise there is a S l a p a I t w a s th e re th a.t M ei ta li y c p ouw - - - -

M aitr ey a Bodh isattwa) received a predi c tion announci ng tha t h e

(
should attai n to B uddhah ood Of yore when Jon la t ( the Tatha .
,
-

g ate ) w as at R a j ag rih a
( W on g c he w in g) o n [ M o un t] -V u l tur e P e a k ,
-

( rG id h ra k fita
) h e a dd,re ss ed th e P i tso a
( Bh i k h sh u s ) as fo ll o w s : -

I n c om ing ages when th e inhabitants of th is island of M m

,

shall have bec om e j ust and u p right an d when m en shall atta in a ,

lon gevity of eighty thousand y ears a Po lo men ( Brahm an) c h ild ,

- -

nam ed T se chi ( M aitrey a ) will be born there H is body will be

’
- .

of th e c olour of th e purest gold and wi ll shed ab road a lustrous ra d i ,

anc e .H e will ren ounce his fam ily will atta in to superi or kn owledge ,

( P a m m a b od hi ) an d at,t h re e g re a t sy n,o d s w ill exp o u n d th e L a w fo r ,

the behoof of all m en T hose whom h e will con vert an d save are
.
 APPEND IX B . 369

the num erous m ortals to whom I have bequeathed m y Law in order ,

to con d uc t them to happinm T o the Three Jewels th ey wilh ‘

remain with their fam ilies or quit th em , whether th ey observe tbe

pre c e pts or tra ns ress them ,

g all will have the happ iness of being
c onv erted and uided to good ; all will obtain the fruit of BodM
g ,

S ynods, he will save the disc iples to whom I have bequeathed m y

Law S ubseq uen tly h e will c onvert their virtuous frien ds wh o
.
,

have the sam e vocation .

A t that m oment T se cLi p os ao ( M aitrey a Bodhisattw a) havi ng

’
- - -
, ,

heard these words oa ddha rose from his sest and said to Buddha : ,

I desire to becom e this H on ourable of the A ge u nder the nam e of ,

T ss chi
’
- Then Jon lat ( the Tathagata) spoke to h im -

B uddha] . What I have j ust dec lared will be owing to th e in fl uence

of instructi ons
’

yn ur .

west of the plac e where T ss chi p ou se ( Maitreya Bodhi

T o the
’
o - -

sattwa received this predi c tion there is a 8ta w h

) p o I t as there t a t , .

C hi 5 0 1 mm “ ( fi lry a B odhisattwa ) received li kewise a p redic tion

-
, , .

I n th e A ge of the Wise ( Bhadrakalpa ) when the life of m an lasted

'

for twenty thousand years Xia ye p oj o ( K r i éy apa B uddha) appeared

,
o - -

in the world H e tu rned the Wh eel of th e ex c ellent Law con vert ed

.
,

m ortals and rec eived from H on u ri ng p om

, ( Prabh é pé la B odh i o -

sattwa the following predic tion : T his Pou ss ( Bodhisattwa ) in the

“
) -
,

ages to c om e, at the tim e when the life of m an shall last for a

of ch a sm ( fi ky s M a ni ) .

A short distance from the p lac e where C hi M W ( fi ky a Bod -

hiss ttws ) received this predic tion to the south are anc ien t ston e , ,

x
e am ine T hey are sbout fifty paoes in length and seven fest in
.
,

height and con sist of blue stones A sta tus of Jon lei ( the Tatha
,
.
-

gats) in the attitude of walking is plac ed there I ts body surpm

, , .

I n S snsh i t trirm s or vatns m ”

‘ - . T hess, on the suthority of M Julisn. m .

Buddhg ths Vinb le c ommunion o m d the s .

370 am B.

there, and dv
the i ine o p wer displays itself with efiulgw oe ’

sac re d m onuments .

West of the walls of

is a reser voir of p ure

circuit . H ere Jon lat ( th e T ath-

W ) form erly bathed .

A little fur th er to the west is s great reser voir m ne hundred

eigh ty paoes in c ircuit. H ere Jou
devotee s water pot
’
-
.

A little further to th e north is another reser voir mne hundred

fifi y m in c ireu it . H em J ou- ls fl the

is deep ,

in these reservoirs, the Km -p i-lo ( Kum bh im s,

’

alli ators g ) destroy s

great nu m ber of th em ; buh should a piou pom on wm e he m ny

drs w water withou t any fear .

O n the side of th e reservoir where th e Buddha wu hed his gsm m h

is a h rge sqm m sw na on wh ic h m ay be seen the m arks of the m

aha ( Kashaya. brown vestment) of Jou lal o

( th e Tathagata) . T he
thm ads of the oloth have a bri ni m t h u e an d stsn d ou t distinetly ,

c ome here daily to ofier their adoration But shou ld heretics or

, ,
’
.
,

evil d oors tra m ple on this ston e c ontem p tuously the king dra gon
-
,
-
,

wh o lives in this reservoir at onoe unchain s the winds and ,

th e rain .

A sh ort dista nc e frem these reservoirs is s ps a w

I n m ci m t .

tim es, wh en Jon let (the Tathagata) was - leading th e life of a PO W

( B odh i sattw a) and was a k ing of elephants

, arm ed w ith six ,

ta sks a hunter wishing to c arry ofi these val uable ivories cloth ed

’

, , ,

h im self craftily with a R io clad ( Kashaya or dev otee s brown

, ,
-
,
’

garm ent) bent his bow and awaited his p rey T he king of the
, , .
372 m m s .

to die on the first ds y . S he went and told her dis treas t o th e

Bodhiu ttwm king of th e dem '
. T he kin g of the deer t aid to h u :
“
t t am atter for grief l A s an afleo
i c tions to m otherg y on ex t end '

y our kin dness even to a being not y et bom . Very well l t will
—
take y our plac e to day .
”

He repaired, at onc e, to the gate of th e king T he peopl aleng

e .

the road cu fi ed the newa say ingj n a loud voice : “

T his great kin g
T he '

hasten ed, em ulously , to oee h im .

T he ki ng was loth to credit this news ; bnt, when th e w d er of

addrm sing th e kin g of the deer, he asked him :

“
Why h av e y ou
”
c om e here all of a su ddem ?

T he deer ans wered : “

T here is a h ind who ongh t to die ; b u t she

c arries a littl e one tha t has n ot

y et seen the light of ds y . As I
i this v mm to ofier m y self to die in h emstea d ”
'

cam ot m -
per t e ven .

A t these words the king sigbed, and sai d: “

I am a deer, wi th a

h um an body ; and y c u am a m am vvith the body of a deer .

"
T hwa
u
p m
o he gave all the deer th eir freedom m nd no lcnger wish ed fi at
they should sac rific e th eir li ves for him I n consequenoe of tbis .

cir cu mstanc e, he gave up that forest to the deer, and called it fl s

fort u gi m to the decr, from whi ch cam e the nam e of th o D eer

F orest ( M rigadé va) .

F rom two to three lis [ about half a m ile] to the sou th - west of
the m onastery is a S tfip c , abou t three h un dred feet in heig h t . I t is

placed (on its sum mit) a kin d of devotee s water pot in va fiod ’
‘
, .

Although this S tap a is surm ounted by an arrow it is not c rowned

'
c ,

by a bell shaped oupols

- .

A t its si de is a sm all S tfip a I t was at this plaoe that O

’
. -
j o-H g o .

ata Kau ndiny a) an d others, to th e num ber

tek in j ou (a
'
o
of fiv e,
departed from their com p act and advanc ed to m eet Buddha ,
’
.
”

Originally the p rince royal S e p o bo la tho oi tho ( S am

,
-
’
c - - - -

T he compact was not to ccent Buddh , a a.

 m m s . 373

on the m ountains, and c onceale d him self in the v alleys : h e neg

looted his person to devote him self to the Law Thereupon King
, .
,

N ag fan ( S uddh odana R aj a)’ gave the following orders to three

'
-

persons of his fam ily and to the ( two) m aternal unc les ( of the
,

pri nce royal) : My son I toieJ tc k iag ( S arvarthasiddha) h as left

,
- -
’

u pon the m ounta ins and in ths plains, and lives apart in the m idst
of th e forests . On this account I ordery ou to follow his steps, and
ascertain whers he dwells palac e y ou are his paternal
. Wi thin the ,

and m aternal un cles ; abroad ou are at once prin ces and m i nisters
y ,
.

I t is absolu m necessary that y ou fin d out what he does and wh ere

”
he lives .

On receiving these c omm ands from the king, th ese five m en de

S ubsequently, they ght them selves after th e means of esc ap e

sou , ,

from life and death from transm igration] Then they said to .

one anot er h :
“
When any one aspires after knowledge is it oh ,

”
tained by austsrities mr in the bcsom of j oy ?
T wo of thw ans wered : j kn “
ow I t is in tranquillity and oy that
ledge is obtain ed But th e other three m aintained that it was by
”
.
,

severe austerities that knowledge could be attain ed T he two first .

and th e other three were still dispu ting the point withou t havin g ,

c leared up the m atter when the prin c e royal reflecting on th e sub

, ,

lim e verities imitated the c onduc t of th ose heretics who su bmi t to

,

hard privations, and who est ( daily) on1y s few grains of h sm p

hi m , said to one anoth sr :

“
T hat whi ch the pr ince roy al does is not

pleasan t m ean s ; b ut hs has rsoourse, to-day , to painful austeriti es .

H e cannot bs our com p nion . Let us leavs hi m , and go awa

y . Let
F or

n ot y et seen the fm it of Pou-ti ( Bodh i) . If we examine into his

austerities, we shall percei ve , that th ey do not c onstrtuts the true
m ethod . But when hs shall have recsivsd a dish of rice and m ilk,
he will obtain knowlodge
”
.
374 arm ou r .

m m m m m m m m w :

b e h olda baok F or six y san b o devoted hin sslf to pm

. aa os ; and
"
on e day he has loot the frnit d it
‘

in .

h imself to a desert n lley ; otfi p ofi his oostly garm M and c on r

him ssll with doer s okin ; ex hibit burning zesl mnd fiort h
’
a pnt ena »

i fl ; lead a ch asts h fa m d m m ent him self in sp iri t h

'

et o s erts
g

w i hi ? H e behaveo like fool F ormerly fl n

so slo
i n peroei v n
g t s a .

dwe
lt m the m oemes ot the palm m d livsd hs ppily in the m

woods . H e rm onnc ed th e thrc ne of Kin g a akm artin a d m - a

‘ ’

a he wc rth
M ) , to lead the life c f a vile and abj oct man I y to .
'

be thonght of rnore ? In s eakin

p g about him , me h ea t ia wm g

I n th e m eantim e, the Pou .

the rim N i-liea arm m

a e n ts having sats down un der tha

m am ad Marta -
f
o godc aa d m He m ained immovablo a nd

sa e vd .
“
T hia son of
’
Yo hs, “
hm devotsd h i n t

adhi) H e is worthy ot the encellent h aw

”
rsosiving
’
. .

T he D evu who m vemo th e air announosd to him this M

‘
T his word in inoorrsct . I t should be YM oJm o-m m dm m ol l hm ) .
376 m u m s.

sids is a dry reser voir , eighty pacss in circui t, c all s d

S everd hm dm d y ears ago a reolnss abode near th is m

He had bnilt a hut that hs m ight li ve apart frcm th e ' d i
had studied msgia and fathom sd the sc ienc s of the gods . I
able to tra nsform p ismall
eoss of b ric k into
p red ona ston s J

m stamorphoee anim als ; b ut neverthslm he was not a ble to

h im self to be c on vey ed by the winds an d clonda and to l
through the air, the c hariot of the im m ortals H e pc med.

wfious diagm m m m d sxplom d me seom ts of th e m m m

'

l
c over, withaL ths sc ience of ths I §isMs . T heir books infi
h im , that ‘
the E ishia, en o d wed with a divine pc wsr . pom fl
of livi ng etsrnally I f y ou wish to aoquire this sc ienos, it is l
.

sary , first of all, to fc rm an im m ovable rssol ution, te e1e c t l n

six feet in c irc uit and w cause th s t a hm m owned fi

fidelity and g
coura e, should arm him self with a long sahre

stand guard at ths cornsr of the altar, to snppress his bl ed

and to rsm ain speechlees from ev ening till m orning . Ho wbe
to bscome a R iehi m ust seat him self on the middle of the alta r,

h ol d m his hand a long sabra m ust wits magiod

r p ym
m and

the approaoh of m om ing, hs will rise to th e rank of a R ishi .

sharp sabre which he holds in his hand will b e changed i

valuable s word ; he will dart np in to the h eavsns and pass th1 ,

the air ; h e will bec om e th s ki ng of th s oom pany of kj ieh c

’

l .

dish ing his sword hs will issue his order s ; and h e will bs gn
,

in all hi s desm H e will never m ore be liable to feebleness t

.
,

“
When the rsoluse had learned the seoret of beoom ing a .

f h is dssire I n th e oourse c f t me, ha met w

ing t
hs ob ect j
o
.

i
 m an: s. 377

Being poor and nee dy ,

’
he rsplied, ‘
I was working for wages ,

em ployed me with entire c on fidenc e prom ising at the end of five

, ,

y ears, to ward m e m ost

rs liberally O n this I laboured diligen tly
.
, ,

fm S efitill g pain
'
and fatigue . But when the fii th y ear had ’
alm ost

beaten , and c oul d obtain nothing . T hi nki ng on this m isfortu na l

am consumad with cha grin , ( and 1 ask m y self) who will take pity
’
on me ?
4

power , he obtained for h im , in an instan t, x

an e c ellent re ast p . Then

and gave him five hun dred p ieces of gold adding : When y ou shall
,

have spent them , y ou m ust com e and ask m e for m ors . I beg it of
’
y ou not to m om m e .

From that tim e, he oflen gave him valuable presents , sec retl y

I was seeking fc r a brave chamlrion ,

’
sai d the recluso to him ,
‘
and now, after a great n um ber of years, I hsv e h ad the good
fortune to find him in y ou ; and y our rem arkable aspect answers

to the im sge of him wh ic h l had pic tured to m y self I have only .

ons thing to ask of you, whic h is, M ply not to u tter a word

Wh y do y ou p k
s ea ,
’
ans wered the h
c am pion ,
‘
of merely keep
I wou ld
’
ing silencs ? n ot m fuss evsn to die for y ou .

O n this, he c onstruc tsd an altar ; and, in order to ac quire the

di vine art of the E ishic, h e di d sv sry thing ac cording to the pw
scri e b d form ula . Hs sat down , waiting for ths setting of the sun .

As night drew on , eaoh aoquitted h im self of his res ecti e p v duty .

den ly he uttered pierc ing cries . A t this mc m ent a m ass of fire

Wh y did y ou u tter cri es of tsrror ?
’

m iddle of ths night h ad arrived, m y sp iri t was troubled, as thoug h

ey es. I sa w m y old master, who oam e and acco md me with kind

words . A lthough I chmi shed h vely grafimde for hi s kindnem y st

I c ontrolle d m yself , without answering him a single word . T he

I h ea ved desp sighs ; and I also resolvsd not to speak for agea in
ac knowledgem ent of y our gen erosity fi i ortl aftsr, I was born again ,
y .

m the house of a Brahm an in C en tral I ndia . When my ne w m oth a

of pains and hardships . Al way s im pressed with a ssn se of y om

goodness, l nevsr u ttsrsd a sin gle word Wh en I had finished m y

.

m y sslfi and refrained frc m speakin g . A ll m y relations and nsigh

bours were aston ished at my silenc e . When l had pa sssd th e age
of sixty

y ou persist in y our silenc e, l will kill y our son .

”

ready see m y self broken by old age ; this infant is m y onl y c hild .
”

If I u ttere d those criea it was only to disar m rny wife, and to

prevent h er from killing it
’
.

‘
A ll this perturbation was
onl y the work of Mars ( the
“
T he brave cham pion testified his gratimds to him H o grow ed .
-

bi tterly at th e fi flum cf his desim and died of indignafion an d

called th e S aviour Beau voir ( Jivakahrada

- —
d inasm uc h as this
an

m an peri shed for wishing to disph y fit —

his gm u da M the l eser

coir o
f the H ero

T o the west of the “

R eservoir of th e H ero
"
and a strong fire was about to be kindled, the h are sa id :

full of humanity I am sm all and feeble ; and as I was u m

, ,

find what I sought after I venture to ofisr m y h u m b le b

'

furni sh a repast for y ou

”
.

S c arcely had h e ceased speaking when be cast hi m s elf i x

,

fire and there died imm ediately

, .

A t that in stant th e old m an resum ed his form of kin g of th

,

( S ak r a) c ollec te d th e bon es of th e hare and ha

,vin g fo
,r a I on ,

heaved sorrowful sighs said to the fox and the m onkey

, I
it that he was th e onl y one able to m ake suc h a sac ri fic e
powerfully afiected by h is devoti on ; and not to let th e m
’

of it perish I will plac e him in th e di sk of th e m oon so th

, ,

n am e m ay go down to posterity
”
.

H ence all th e natives of I ndia say that it is sinc e

, , t

occ urred that a hars has been seen in th e m oon .

I n after tim es, a S trips was erected at this spot .

Brahma Puri nas and H ari Varirsa and especiall y in the Kati
, , , ,

Khanda of th e S h anda Puri na According to these authorities

. ,

S i va and Parvati desirous of oc cu pying Kat i whi c h D ivodfisa pos

, ,

th e princ s to the adoption of Buddhist dootri nes ; in consequence

of whieh, he was expelled from the sac red city , and, aocording to
the Vi ym foun ded another on the banks of ths Gomati .

S om e further illustration is derivable from the Mahabh i rats ,

! nti -Parvan, D ana dharm ao
. H ary aswa the king of the Kafis ,

rei nin
g g bs twsen the Ga nges and the Y am un a ( or in the D oab ) .

was inn ded by the H aihay aa a rac e desc sndsd ac cord

and slain

ing to this au th ority , from 8ary 6ti, ths son of Manu S udeva, th e .

son of fl a t y é wn was also attacked and defeated b y the sam e

enem ies.

whoss favour he had a son born to him , Pratardana, who de

”
lished the kingdom of Kafi .

Professor Wilson s Translation ’

of the Vu hpu
'

Pun ish (H all s ’

edition ) vol iv
, .pp 33 40
.
, .
,
.
 I N D E X .

A dm m l ishsl la, 299

p —
A d-Bn hedwar, 66, 318 32 1
dy
A it a. 127
A dku av, or Vishnu, 186
M d
A ll- au e“ , 104, 106

310 - 81 3

270. 278, 286

Art S angsm and Giant, 189 , 177 .
184, 2 17. 21 331
An ita Jt tra H 217

At ir . 16 1
A or Alu m . 28 , 83. 30
“v 10, 112. 123. 19 1.
306 , an 313
,
A ursngssb s sre- sra, sat
am a m 8 7, 1 16, 117,

N o Vl l
. . A hi l
r Kangfim Mosque
,

w
310- 312
Hind
No
u

w
mm
ll
m
T

M q
of K
a
, 26. 2 7. as. 2 15, 2 16. fits- 2 87.
29 3. see. m , 310, 323
Balhhs dra, m
g
. bht os ue, 314,
31

Ballastyue, D r late rinci P pal of

Go ernment ( S s
.

v
ig
h
m mm bou Mo q e Balw t;
'

s u , 318 321
-
ant 2»
K 8 , 80ne ki T filfio,
B ntu Raj
a , a, 86, 100, 292
 ra m m m n sa u g m
250.

ne w 213 ,
D ity 111
a a,
D aksh, s a, 77, 79 , 80
D ah hezwsr, 76 . 80
D fl bh

63.
mmé
, 129 , 180

8‘
s
elh, 229 M
Melt 2 17, 222
M u m edh Ghttt and

l) attktreys 16 1
a i son, i r , 2 6 1
.

D vd .

D Peer ark of the Imm o rtal, 232, 233,

231 235, 36 4, 36 7, 372. 375
D ec rim s ingh, l l , S Pre
d
i ent of the Benarm Institute, 188,

s sdstta , 371

Dh n o bi
a , v ro of, 22 8
Dh T an eras els, 228
D hsnwantsri, 2 19
D haraddi elt , 228 M Gan M
elt , 214
D im ma, 6 , 86
-
03 8
9 , 1 , 1
40 60-
16 2
D harmanads, 107 Gauri 160
D hsrmd war, 86
°

Gauri 8 69
DM kflp, 86 . 86
‘
y
Ga e, 6, 124 139
D harmshlh, or hostel, 179 0 62 1 m m 2 15, 2 13
D helh C hauth elt, 22 1 M ou t M ta 11
‘

2 15
D v
hru , D hruvefi rar, D hruvsi wsrs, 128 cm 2 13
D hu 61, 177 GhantAkarns, 118
m m pa a, 107 p Gor 11 Paudit, 90, 106
,

D igaiu sysntra. 137 Gou rdhsn. 17 1

D ivodu , 4 7, 82. 84, 140, 141, 143, 38 1
h e‘wsr, 8 4
wi ll Melt , 224
D ulares war, 164
'

D unesn, 14r Jonathan, formsr Besident of

. Gunshr1, 220, 22 1
Bessres, 260, 26 2 m a m as ss m m m a:
 I NDEX . 386

Guru uruimh, 2 18 .

Gysn or Gym-R ep, 6 3, 78

Koi ab e of 38 1
g F it edws d Lihrn ian
a, rac ,

H all, r. t r , of the
Indi 0 61 3 35 233 331 331 ”
?
a 0 , . , .

Mah ttbir, 69 . 73 76, 89 , 1 3 13 3 1 1 1

i 333
H anum hn, or -
cu 1,
9 1. 100, 123, 129 , 170, 221 uh sn, 1 S tanislsq 23 .
, 6
lm Jwarahareswar, 9 1
'

gfiI fi
'

t eV R S pen09 3 6
Kelli
4

H ari Gup 26 1 e, 79 , 8 3
H ariuath em e of, 149
. Ks j ri, 29 0
B sri Vafiu a d 31111,
’
1 .

H s ryad ws, K
ing of the Kfl is, 88 1 Kit 74
II 0 4‘ Kh li 8 ankar Ghoshl, s
’

388
fi h ffih
86 , 364 s,
n t 119 Kalkh 226 .

B d T p
in u em lB
es in enares, num er of, b Kt l-Kop, 6 6
4 1 42 Kames m , Khmanhn6th, 118, 114
m in T i d 135
a ra ,
Kandhs ws 177 :
H iouen T hsang, 8, 2 31, 232, 234, 236, Ktm heri, caves at, 269
255 , 25 3, 239 , 232, 237, 233, 272, Kautit, aja of 2 20 R ,

Kspils, 11a of, 2 6 4

3 4 1111311112 ,
Kapilmoc hau T ank,
Hipp 134
arc us. h Kardame‘war,
H irsuyakw ipu. 2 16 Khrkotak N ag i rth , 220 T
Mn R H a lstePolifiosl u lch C are, 20
in 2 12, 232 g arn ha nts, 1 18
g
110 11 M 19 2, 22 7, 228 Karts 170
H olika, 228 K i tt ik druimh M 226
R am, 127 Kh hhys, or rown sstment of Bud B
H om e, Mr C . .
, late Judge of Bena e r s, 234, 26 2, 370, 371
113, 119 7 1,

tla i Bod Km Karwat, 5 5

w ba e u z. m m
106 , 149 , 169 , 2 18, 331
K65 1, Ki
'

om of,
Indian Architecture 22 24, 28 Khsi -m hh tm ya, 96
'

62

2
, , ,
I ndra 130 131 170 171 Kasi pura 11311 11111, 117
'

, , , .
“has 26 1 , K
ant-M 96
I si pata na Vib hrs , 6 , 6, 11, 266 Kts u
'

ha, 36 9 B dd
t h at , Rs ya, 36 6 , 36 8
Kedhr, 93, 96 , 149 , 166
i
l sv ar-Gan i, 116 220 876 168
' '

g
I -tsio i-tc h mg ( S m i rthasiddhs) ,
o
,

7s Kodare‘war, Kedhruhth 147, 149, 60,

Jagsnn hth, 120, 189 , 177, 217, 2 18, 229 Profsmor,

Jagat Ga n) , 26 , 2 60 Bon u s, 332
J aga t i ngh, S a u. 26 , 260- 268, Bb K etu , 66
J 116 , 16 1 K e alw Ga ll , 16 6
Bishi , 2 16 iac hi
gi
J 364
Jaina, 28 9 , 29 4 317. 318 . t - o- o-
y p M “m e
Jaitpurt ahalla, 89 M Kins aras, 16 2
Jala , 16 0 Kirsnansdi , 107
Jamsnd war, 98 Kirtti Bishedwsr, 312- 314
Jt mbs vst1, 127
Jsmditi yt elt, M
Jam Gh t t, 2 26
J ama l ,170, 226 ddh ) 866
Ki n tau ( Bu a ,

37mm 90 . K lap oth M 2 31 364

r , " .

Jm m sda, 10 7 Ka t-Linges war, 100

‘

7 1a m , 11 W “, 124
 3“
13?if?
3
Mis si on 1110, 11 1,
. 11 2

t: C hi t 84. 03. 2 24
a

N ohm F smval of ths , 19 1, 2 11

'

Lolhrik Km , 15 7, 22 1

”M 38 4
M utiny , T he M . 29 4

1146110 6“ kt D ewhrt , 110

'
d
M adhodh s Gar en, 197, 206 , 209, 0,
M m 173 .

111 1113111 1 14 , 4 67 . 16 7, 2 17, 38 1

. NM 311411. 102
Mah abtr : see Bsuumhn N trs d “usi 77, 78, 170
.

l l shi devs see S i vs N hrfiy sns, 102

'

N m fih, 118, 11 216

) i ahi kh lt, 160, 16 1, 170 17 1 111311 C hasdss 314, 2 1
Mshesdrs, son of A soka, 168
M ahes ' sra, 9 , 233, 36 7 N augrsh. N sw grshs, 65, 9 1 M 887
M atti Phla, 26 1 N svsrt tri Melt 2 14 .

Sultan 2 16, 28 9
.

E p
M ahommsd 811111, m eror, 182, 183
M ahomet, 18

Ghtt, 6 7, 69 ,
R i-lim
m m a,
a
N

N irgrss thss T he, 867

,
8 74

N ig ult li k 16 016, 2 17
M an-M andi] 0 1141, 129 , 137, 189 N W N im itfi, 6. 26 7. 2 0 1. 86 8 . 86 4,
M i n Maudil Observe
-
48, 129 , 131,
186 , 136 , 137. 273. c a m er a s“ m ut t.
W
gm , 160 , 16 1 . 372
Bays, 42, 16 1 0 -11 1 - 211 -11 11 ( 1 2 434 m um )
’

to on
M ann. 38 1

Paneh 163141, 2 14
ngi
0 7 33 P Q R d
anch 031 oa , 47, 12 8, 174 , 179
,
180 , 18 1, 184, 8 2 1, 327
Panch -host 169 16, 226
Panehmukhi, 84