THE JAINS. 285 



menSj are so very confused, that they suppose Pa'rsvva 

 Bhat't'araca to have been the founder of the Mu- 

 hainmedan faith. None of them have the smallest 

 trace of the Arabian features ; but are in every respect 

 entirely Hindus. 



There are two kinds of temples among the Jains; 

 one covered with a roof, and called Basti ; and the 

 other an open area surrounded by a wall, and called 

 Bettu, which signifies a hill. The temples of 'Siva and 

 Vishnu, the great gods of the followers of the VSdas^ 

 are called here Gadies. In the Bastis are here wor- 

 shipped the images of twenty-four persons, who have 

 obtained Sidd'hi, or become gods. These images are 

 all naked, and exactly of the same form ; but they 

 are called by different names, according to the person, 

 whom they are meant to represent. These idols are 

 in the form of a man sitting. In the temples called 

 Bettu, the only image of a Sidd'ha, is that of a person 

 called GoMATA Ra'ja, who, while on earth, was a 

 powerful king. The images of Gomata Ra'ja are 

 naked, and always of a colossal size. That, which 

 is at Kurcul*, is made of one piece of granite, the 

 extreme dimensions of which, above ground, are 38 

 feet in height, 10^ feet in breadth, and 10 feet in 

 thickness. How much is below ground, I cannot say ; 

 but it is probably sunk at least three feet, aa it has no 

 lateral support. According to an inscription on the 

 stone itself, it was made by Vira-Pandia, son of 

 Bhairave'ndra, 369 years ago. 



The Jains deny the creation of man, as well as of 

 the world. They allow, that Brahma' was the son 

 of a king, and that he is a Devatd ; and the favourite 

 servant of Gomata Ra'ya ; but they altogether deny 

 his creative power. Brahma', and the oXher DevataSy 

 are worshipped, as I have said, by the Jains^ who 



• Cereal, Rknnel's map, (U. L) 



