1834.] origin of the Topes of Mdnikyala. 571 



or less perfect state, besides urns, arms, implements, and beads of 

 various shapes, colours, and materials*. Mr. Wilson attributes these 

 monuments to a very ancient Hindu practice of collecting and burying 

 the ashes and bones of their dead, in places where no sacred stream was 

 at hand, into which they might be committed. He quotes in support 

 of this hypothesis, the following passage from Mr. H. T. Colebrooke's 

 Essay on the Funeral Ceremonies of the Hindus, in the seventh volume 

 of the Asiatic Researches. 



" Using a branch of Sami, and another of Palasa, instead of tongs, the son or 

 the nearest relation first draws out from the ashes the bones of the head, and af- 

 terwards the other bones successively, sprinkles them with perfumed liquids, and 

 with clarified butter, made of cow's milk, and puts them into a casket made of the 

 leaves of the Palasa. This he places in a new earthen vessel, covers it with a 

 lid, and ties it up with thread. Choosing some clear spot, where encroachments 

 of the river are not to be apprehended, he digs a very deep hole, and spreads the 

 Cusa grass at the bottom of it, and over the grass a piece of yellow cloth. He 

 places thereon the earthen vessel containing the bones of the deceased, covers it 

 with a lump of mud, moss, and thorns, and plants a tree in the excavation, or 

 raises a mound of masonry." 



This is precisely the Kodey Kul ; and the same authority helps us to 

 an explanation of the Topi Kul, in which no bones are found. 



" To cover the spot where the funeral pile stood, a tree should be planted or a 

 mound of masonry be raised." 



" The one," says Mr. Wilson, " commemorates the cremation, and is 

 consequently nothing more than a pile of stones : the other inurns the 

 ashes of the dead, and consequently contains the frail and crumbling 

 reliques of mortality." 



The curious circumstance noticed by M. Court of the eight coins 

 symmetrically arranged around the central casket, calls to mind that 

 part of the ceremony described in the passage immediately preceding 

 the foregoing extract from Mr. Colebrooke's Essay. 



"The son or nearest relation repairs to the cemetery, carrying eight vessels filled 

 with various flowers, roots, and similar things. He walks round the enclosure 

 containing the funeral pile, with his right side towards it, successively depositing 

 at the four gates or entrances of it, beginning with the north gate, two vessels con- 

 taining each eight different things, with this prayer, "May the adorable and eter- 

 nal gods, who are present in the cemetery, accept from us this eight-fold unperish- 

 able oblation : may they convey the deceased to pleasing and eternal abodes, and 

 grant to us life, health, and perfect ease. This eight-fold oblation is offered to 

 Siva and other deities : salutation to them+." 



Although the foregoing extracts refer to the ceremonial of the or- 

 thodox Hindus, they may probably represent the general features also 

 ef a Bauddha funeral ; for the Buddhists agree with them in burning 

 their dead ; and in afterwards consigning the ashes and bones to some 

 * Oriental Magazine, vol. i. page 25. t As. Res. vii. 255. 



