154 £ssAy on 



temples of Budd'ha: they might also be call&d th« 

 temples of Bala or Balas, one of the titles of 

 Budd'ha, but little known now, and more particu- 

 larly so to the vulgar. The word Balas, properly- 

 pronounced, sounds exactly like Belos in Greeks 

 and Belus in Latin. May we not then reasonably 

 suppose, that the temple and tomb of Belus at Ba- 

 hylon, was precisely a similar monument, ^nd calcu- 

 lated for the very same purpose. 



On the summit of it was a chapel, dedicated to 

 Belus, according to Herodotus. Diodohus, the 

 Sicilian^ says there were three ; but this is immate- 

 rial: for Balas is three and one. Besides, the 

 temple of Herodotus pi'obably consisted of three 

 chapels. About the center of the tower, in the 

 middle, was the tomb of Balas, and near it, in the 

 body of the pyramid also, another chapel, exactly as 

 in the PTeat pyramid of Giza in Egypt. It is pro- 

 pable, however, that the bones of Belus Were not 

 deposited in the ostensible tomb, but were concealed 

 in a secret vault, in some other part of the pyramid 

 or tower. It appears then, that the pyramids were 

 similar fabrics, and intended for the very same pur- 

 pose. For the Egyptians, the Phenicians likewise, 

 had their Belus, as well as the Babylomans and Hin- 

 dm : and this Belus, it is probable, was originally 

 the same through these different countries. In the 

 eastern parts of Bengal, particularly toward the Stm- 

 derbunds, there is, almost in every village, a repre- 

 sentation of this worldly temple, of earth with steps. 

 The whole is neatly plastered with a whitish clay; 

 and on stated festivals, the statue of some favourite 

 deit)'^ is placed on the summit, in a small, but 

 handsome portable temple. Some of these fabrics 



