ABORIGINAL S A C R K D ENCLOSURES. 147 



is sometimes octagonal, but mostly square." — (^Heber''s Travels, Vol. I., Chap. 3.) 

 " Sometimes a number of temples are built within this sacred area. One at 

 Chanchra, in Jesson, has twenty-one temples, and one thousand acres of ground." 

 — {Ward, Vol. III., p. 230.) The Pagoda of Seringham is one of the most mag- 

 nificent in India. It stands on an island in the river Careri, in the dominions of 

 the Rajah of Tanjore. Seven square enclosures, formed by walls twenty-five feet 

 high, four feet thick, and three hundred and fifty feet distant from each other, 

 enclose a court in the centre, in which are sacred pyramidal structures, the abodes 

 of the gods of the Hindu pantheon, and among them the sanctuary of the Supreme 

 Vishnu. These various deities are believed really to animate their respective 

 pyramids or shrines. Four large gates, one in the middle of each side, each sur- 

 mounted by a tower, are the entrances to the several courts. The outer wall is 

 four miles in circumference. The number of the enclosures has a symbolical 

 signification, and refers to the several regions into which the Universe, the abode 

 of the gods, was supposed to be divided, according to the theory of the age in 

 which the structure was built. — {Dudley^s Naology, p. 104; ' Colmati's Mythology of 

 the Hindus, p. 157 ; Maurice^s hidian Antiquities, Vol. III., pp. 13, 50.) The great 

 temple of Jaggenath, at Orissa, the general resort of all Hindu sects, is regarded 

 as possessing such exceeding sanctity, that the earth for twenty miles round is 

 considered holy. The most sacred spot is an enclosed area about six hundred and 

 fifty feet square, which contains the temples of the idol and his sister, surrounded 

 by fifty lesser temples, all of pyramidal form. — {Colmati's Myth, of the Hindus, 

 p. 52.) 



In the Island of Java are the remains of many ancient temples, of similar character 

 and construction. A large number of these, designated as the ruins of Prambanai, 

 exist in the district of Pajang. One of the most perfect of the groups occurring 

 here is termed by the natives " the Thousand Temples." The group occupies a 

 rectangular area six hundred feet long and five hundred and fifty feet broad, and 

 consists of four rows of small pyramidal structures, enclosing a court, in which is 

 placed a large pyramidal edifice. The whole is surrounded by a wall, having 

 entrances midway on each side. Some of these groups are disposed in squares 

 of greater or less dimensions, but all have a common character. — {Crawford'' s 

 Indian Archipelago, Vol. II., p. 196 ; Asiatic Researches, Calcutta, Vol. XIII.) 

 There are also single temples of like form, occasionally of great size, and gene- 

 rally surrounded by a series of enclosures. 



The religious edifices and pyramidal shrines of the Japanese are described by 

 Kaempfer as " sweetly seated " in the midst of large square enclosures, approached 

 by spacious avenues, and embracing within their walls springs, groves, and pleasant 

 walks. " The empire," observes our authority, " is full of these temples, and their 

 priests are without number. Only in and about Miaco, they count nearly 4,000 

 temples and 37,000 priests." — {Kcempfer^s Japati, Vol. II., p. 416.) 



These examples might be greatly multiplied, so as to extend the chain of analo- 

 gies quite around the globe. Passing, however, over the intermediate space, we 

 come at once to the British Islands. 



