BORO-BODO TEMPLE. 253 



of a lake, and covered with innumerable large water- 

 lilies ; here I left the carriage, and was piloted across 

 in a crazy sort of boat, and thence, after half an hour's 

 walk knee-deep in mud, I reached the ruins of Moen- 

 doel and Mongloot. They are not large, of the 

 ordinary pyramid shape, much carved but sadly 

 injured, and ornamented with statues, of which, how- 

 ever, not one is now recognizable. A tall fig-ti"ee 

 had forced itself throuo'h the stone rio-ht into the 

 heart of the Mongloot temple. 



Some distance farther, upon the crest of a hill, is the 

 far-famed temple of Boro-Bodo, properly Bura-Buddha or 

 Great Buddha, which, according to a popular legend, was 

 erected within three days by one hundred thousand 

 men, each putting his stone, duly sculptured and 

 prepared according to plan and design, in its appointed 

 place. 



On reaching the top of the hill, and passing a neat 

 bungalow where the guardian is quartered, and at the 

 extreme end of a fine avenue, fifty feet wide, flanked 

 on either side by a row of dog sphinxes, this stupen- 

 dous work rises to a height of 120 feet or more, 

 and it would seem almost impossible to convey a 

 true impression of this wonderful relic without having 

 seen it. The form of the temple is that of a square 



