Vol. X, No. 9.] Notes on Ancient Anga. 339 



[N.S.] 



Rehuanala was in the dominion of Indradyumna who is 

 supposed to have been the last king of the Pala dynasty, 

 defeated by the Mahomedans. 1 



At a remote period, Anga was considered to be a holy place, 



and three celebrated Rsis [Rishisjlived 



Rsyasrnga-asrama. fa . fc The herm itage of R>i Ksya- 



srhga was situated at Rishikunda, twenty-eight miles to the 

 west of Bhagalpur and four miles to the south-west of Bariar- 

 pur, one of the stations of the East Indian Railway. It is men- 

 tioned in the Rarnayana that Romapida, king of Anga, in 

 order to avert the calamity of a severe drought which lasted for 

 several years, wheedled away this young ascetic of miraculous 

 birth from the hermitage of his father Rsi Bibhandaka. and 

 caused him to perform a sacrifice which brought down rain to 

 the country. The success which atten led the sacrifice induced 

 Romapada to send Royasraga to Ayodhya at the request of 

 his ally Dasaratha to' perform an Asvamedha sacrifice in 

 order to enable him to get a son. This also was crowned with 

 success. The hermitage of the Rsi was situated in a circular 

 valley formed by the Maira hill which is a spur of the Kharak- 

 pur range : it is evidently the Maruk hill of Captain Thuillier. 2 

 The valley is open only on the northern side. It contains a 

 series of seven springs issuing from the foot of the western 

 hill, five being of hot water and two of cold, at the extremities. 

 The combined water of these sptings is collected in a tank 

 or pool called Rishikunda, the superfluous water flowing out 

 through the northern side in a small stream called Abhi-nadI 

 falls into the Ganges at a distance of five miles; but it is 

 evident from the existence of a dry bed that the Ganges for- 

 merly flowed very close to the north of the valley. A small 

 space enclosed with broken stones on the south bank of the 

 reservoir is pointed out as the place where the Rsi and his 

 lather Bibhandaka used to sit in meditation. To the south 

 of these are some temples containing the phallic images of Kiva. 

 A fair is held here every third year in honour of the Rsis. 

 There are, however, other places in the district of Bhagalpur, 

 as the Singi-rik hill, about 8 miles to the south of Kajra, 

 Sinphesvar in the subdivision of Madhipura and Singhol hill, 

 about 7 miles to the south of Rehuanala, which also claim to 

 be the hermitage of the Rsi. But the position of the Rishi- 

 kunda to the Ganges, which afforded facility to the women 

 sent' by Romapada to entice away in their boat the young 

 hermit from his seclusion, and the statement m the Mahabharat 

 that the hermitage was situated not far from the river Kusi 

 (ancient Kausikl) 8 which has now receded some miles to the 



1 Martin : East. Ind., ii. 86. * J.A.^B.. 1852, p. 204 



i iii.ch. 110, vs. 21, 22. 



