158 



On the Antiquities of Mairqmri. 



[No. 3, 



Crossing an " dsar" plain, and passing through the village of 

 Sikanclarpur, you see the village of Asauli picturesquely perched 

 on its mound, which rises some forty feet from the level of the plain. 

 At one end is a large native brick house used by the Raja of Main- 

 puri during the mutiny, whilst at the other (the east) are swelling 

 mounds covered with trees. But ere you can reach the said village, 

 you have to go a long way round to avoid the extensive sheets of water 

 which environ it on three sides, and which have been caused by the 

 earth excavated therefrom to raise the mound. 



Entering by the east, one at once notices a large heap of stones, 

 &c. on a small mound, and here one naturally looks for the Buddhist 

 temple or " chaitya" which certainly faced the rising sun. 



Nor is one disappointed, for amidst the mass stands a stone with 

 a deity thereon carved, now called by the villagers " Giilpib-Debi." 

 Tins is represented in the rough sketch given below ; it is held by 



no no nagis 



'mi 



me to represent" Vishnu," the supplanter of Buddh in this instance. 

 This slab may, however, have formed part of the temple, and have 

 been placed to the right or left of the entrance, as in the later 

 Buddhist temple many Hindu deities were admitted. The carving 

 about the figure is very rich and characteristic of the period I would 

 assign to it, viz. circa 500 a. d. 



