472 Captain Cuapuan on the City of Anardjapura 
and those which form part of some of the most important Hindé temples 
on the opposite coast, which I visited at a subsequent period. 
The temples of Rémiseram, Madura, and Seringam, have each their 
Thousand Pillars. In Rdmiseram the pillars are arranged in colonnades of 
several parallel rows, and these colonnades are separated by tanks or spaces 
occupied by buildings. Some of these pillars are of granite, most elabo- 
rately carved; others consist of a rough stone, which is covered with 
chunam. In Madura the pillars are disposed in a square of lines, radiating in 
such manner, that a person placed in the centre can see through in every di- 
rection. This square is raised on a platform about four feet high ; the pillars 
are about eight feet in height, are of granite, and are carved in a very 
simple manner. At Seringam the pillars also form a square; and, at the 
time I was there, preparations were making for a great festival, during which 
the idol was to be placed in the centre of this square. 
In Rédmiseram and Seringam, the temples in which the idols are kept are 
surmounted by domes covered with copper. 
In the whole of these temples, as well as in many others, the entrances 
are through lofty gateways or pyramidal buildings of many stories in height. 
The coincidences which are thus found to exist between the description 
and remains of the Lowd-mahd-pdya and these temples; the circumstance 
of the model on which it was constructed being derived from the palace of 
the goddess Buavant, and thus not of native origin; and the fact of its 
being the only one of the kind in the island, coupled with its striking 
dissimilarity to the general character of the Baudd’ha temples, afford fair 
ground to believe that the Lowd-mahd-pdya is rather of Hindi than of 
Baudd’ha origin. 
8. The Dagobas or Mounds.* 
The remaining objects which were mentioned as being still held in reve- 
rence are seven Dagobas. They are of different dimensions, and some 
* The dagobas are described by Mr. Hartncron (As. Res. vol. VI. p. 450) as consisting of 
a mound of earth inside, and an outside covering of no great thickness of brick. This is probably 
the case, with the addition that there is usually a hollow space in the inside in which the relics 
are placed. 
