12. Identification of Three Monuments at Sarnath. 
By Brinpavan C. Baarracuarya, M.A., M.R.AS., 
A.R S. 
Great diversity of opinion prevails among Meike 
with regard to three monuments discovered at erestey 
(1) The Asoka Pillar, (2) Jagat Sing stupa, and ss “¢ Main 
Shrine.” About these three we possess tw ah ac- 
counts of different ages. One is Hiuen-t- “asia 8 decor pti 
of Sarnath, another is the account in Mahipala’s Inscription. 
In Hiuen-t-siang’s travels these monuments are mentioned as 
intact, whereas the Mahipala inscription makes mention only 
of repairs. No endeavour has hitherto been made to establish 
a correspondence between Hiuen-t-siang’s account and that o 
the Mahipala’s inscription or between these two and the topog- 
raphy of the newly discovered monuments. 
us now examine the Chinese pilgrim’s account in so 
far as it concerns our discussion. He writes :—To the north- 
east of the river Varana about 10 li or so, we come to the 
ps ign of Lu-ye. Its precincts are Atria into eight 
“ enclosure is a Vihara about 200 ft. high ; ae the roof 
is a golden-covered figure of the Amra fruit. The foundations 
of the building are of stone, and the stairs also, but the towers 
and ee are of brick. In the middle of the Vihara is a 
figure of Buddha made of she a a ; he is represented 
as ‘nests the wheel of the law. To the south-west of the 
Vihara is a stone stupa built by Asoka-raja. Although the 
foundations have given way, there are still 100 ft. or more of 
the wall remaining. In front of the building is a stone pillar 
ahent 700 ft. high. The stone is altogether as bright as jade. 
It is glistening, and sparkles like light.! 
Next let us examine how far the present remains can be 
identified with the monuments mentioned in the above ex- 
tract; we propose the following identifications :— 
A. “A Vihara 200 ft. high’? = the Main Shrine and 
its original foundations. 
B. “A stone stupa” =the Jagat Singh Stipa (ac- 
cording to Sir John Marshall). 
C. ‘A stone pillar’? = the Asoka Pillar. 
1 Beal’s ero Record of the Western bids: (Popular eat rg 
Bk. VII, pp. Also, Watter’s ‘‘On Yuan Chwang’s Travels, 
Vol. II, p. 50.  Senl’s Life of Hiven-tsiong, p- ‘99. The height of the 
Vihar, as given here, is 100 ft. instead of 200 ft. as in other v ersions. 
