[ 385 ] 



men, one a Mahommcdan the other a Hindu. The first, 

 named Meer Ala Khan, an inhabitant of ^//wet/- 

 ?}uoe^er\ who said that he had heard it from a person 

 of acknowledged erudition, but whose name I for- 

 got. The second, a BraJunen, inhabitant of Roza, 

 M'ho quoted a book entitled Seiea Lye JMahat, or the 

 grandeur of the mansion of Sewa, i. e. Mahdew, 

 as his authority ; for the authenticity of which I 

 have hitherto songlit in vain. 



The MaJiomjjiedan says, *' the town of EUora was 

 " built by rajah Eel, who also excavated the tem- 

 *' pies, and being pleased with them, formed the 

 " fortress of Deoghire (Doidutabad), which is a 

 *' curious compound of excavation, scarping, and 

 " building, by which the mountains were converted 

 *' into a fort, resembling, as some say, the insulated 

 *' temple in the area of the Ixdur Subba. Eel rajah 

 *'■ was contemporary M'ith Shah Momin Arif, who 

 *' lived 900 years ago." 



The 'Brahmen on the other hand, says, " That the 

 *' excavations of EUora are 78^4 years old, formed 

 *' by Eeloo rajah, the son of Peshpont of Eiich- 

 *' pore, when 3000 years of the Dzvarpa Yoag were 

 " unaccomplished, which added to 48^4 of the pre- 

 " sent Kal Yoag, makes 7894. Eeloo rajah's body 

 *' was afflicted with maggots, and in quest of cure, 

 ■^' he came to the famous purifying water named Sexva 

 '' Lye, or, as it is commonly called Sezvalla, that had 

 *' been curtailed by Vishnu (at the instigation of 

 *' Ye:sidurhum, or Jum, the destroying agent) from 

 '* sixty bows length (each four cuvits square), to the 

 ^' size of a cow's hoof. In this water, Eeloo dipped 

 " a cloth, and cleansed with it his face and hands, 

 " which cleared him of the maggots. He then built 

 *' Koond (or cistern) and bathing therein, his whole 

 *' body ^vas purified; so that, looking on the place 

 " as holy, he first constructed the temple called 

 "■ Keylmas, &c. to the place of Biskurma." 



Vol. VI. C c This 



