steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was 



gone down. 



The chronology of this imputed event is fixed as about 700 

 years before Christ. 



Benares is one of the most interesting and oldest existing 

 cities of the world. It is situated upon the North side of the 

 Ganges river, the banks being paved with stone steps and ter- 

 raced, and constantly congested by the burning- ghats, diminutive 

 temples and the thousands of worshippers who flock to this place 

 to wash away their sins in the sacred waters of the river. 



Benares was formerly the center of the Buddhist religion, 

 but, long ago. Buddhism succumbed to Brahminism and it has been 

 swept out of India. Benares is the Mecca of Brahma, while Luck- 

 now is the Rome of the Mohammedans. Benares has more than 

 fifteen hundred Temples, the most notable of which are the Mon- 

 key Temple, so called from the multitude of monkeys which make 

 their home here and are sacred to this place of worship; the 

 Golden Temple, whose pagoda or tower is covered with gold leaf 

 and intricate and delicate stone tracery, and the Aurangzeb 

 Mosque with its two lofty needle-like towers, on the banks of the 

 river. 



Tlic Observatory is on the second floor or roof of the build- 

 ing called Maun Alandir, commanding the banks of the Ganges. 

 Upon a masonry wall faced wnth red sandstone are two instru- 

 ments of bronze, called Dakshinottar Bithe Yantra, used for indi- 

 cating the exact time of noon and the altitude and zenith distance 

 of the heavenly bodies wdien they pass the meridian at night. 

 The object for making two instruments of a like nature was for 

 checking one with the other. There are several other instruments 

 of bronze and stone, but of too complex a nature for detail in this 

 paper. 



The great Sun-dial with its two quadrant indicators of time 

 is of solid masonry. The length of the style is 36 feet and the 

 vertical height at the north end is 22 feet and 3'/ inches. From 

 its apex a fine view is presented of the city, the circling Ganges 

 and the surrounding country. With the exception of its size and 

 the angle of latitude, in every respect it resembles those at Delhi 

 and Jaipur which I shall attempt to describe. 



T'he present city of Delhi is of comparatively modern exis- 

 tence, having been established as late as the seventeenth century, 

 by Shah Jehan, who erected his Imperial Palace on the banks of 

 the river Jumna, and he surrounded his new city with the present 

 massive wall. The enclosure of this walled fortress-palace con- 

 tains marble structures which are exquisite gems of Oriental 

 architecture, of which the two most celebrated are the Diwan-i- 

 Kas, a place where the Emperor received in private audience, and 

 the Diwan-i-Am for public royal assemblies. In this Hall was the 

 wonderful Peacock throne which was carried away in 1739 when 



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