Lieut. Col. Francklin's Description of the Temple of Pars' wandt'ha. 529 



view of the Jangaltardi* and the temples at the bottom are seen to advan- 

 tao-e. After passing over some level ground between the two hills, you 

 again ascend, and shortly after complete tlie first range of this extra- 

 ordinary mountain. You proceed over elevated ground, and commence a 

 descent which brings you to tiie foot of the second range ; then pass along 

 the banks of the Gandharva rivulet, which runs in the bottom over 

 its rocky bed in sonorous murmurs, amidst the gloom of a deep 

 glen, and arched over head with umbrageous foliage : the road continues 

 through the forest till you again reach the Gandharva, which you cross 

 and commence the ascent to the second range. After crossing the rivulet 

 you continue to ascend. On the right is seen a large block of quartz rock, 

 covered over with red lead and oil, and dedicated to Gandharva, the 

 presiding deity of the place. The ascent still continues, and the forest 

 begins to thin. You are now at a very high elevation, and distinctly 

 hear the roarings of the Sitd river in the bottom. The road continues 

 in a winding direction, and at intervals you perceive the summits of 

 Pdrswandt'ha's mountain appearing in bluff jagged peaks, eight in 

 number, and towering to the clouds. You then commence a descent, 

 which brings you to the Sitd river, in a bottom rolling over a bed 

 of large mis-shapen rocks. On the right is a figure of Hanuman, and 

 on the left a small temple dedicated to Sita, the wife of Rama. After 

 crossing the rocky bed of the Sitd river, whose waters are ;:ool, and 

 clear as crystal, you now commence the ascent to the third range, 

 which is far more difficult than the two former, and in some parts 

 nearly perpendicular, the road being covered with large stones, from a 

 foot and a half to two feet high, over the tops of which the traveller is 

 obliged to pass witii great hazard of his life. At this part of the ascent, 

 though seated in a small litter or chair in a cramped position, it took 

 twenty bearers to carry me over these stones ; and so insecure is the 

 footing, that a false step would have precipitated the whole of the 

 party over a precipice of between three and four hundred feet in height 

 into the valley below. 



You now gain an opening in the forest from which the view is inex- 

 pressibly grand, the wide extent of ihe Jangal-tardi appearing as if beneath 

 your feet, and looking like the surface of a pictured landscape. 



• Jangala, forest, and tardi, marsh : the woody, and marshy district south of Bhagalpur. 



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