1835.] Ruins at Chdrdwdr in Assam. 193 



must have formed the Bedi or altar-place of Siva, as there is a seat 

 fur the Ling or symbol of the deity in the middle of each. 



Among the specimens of sculptured figures that fell under observa- 

 tion, I discerned on a portion of frieze, nine images, each about afoot 

 high, of whom Kanheya playing on a flute, and flanked by two Suhelis 

 (damsels), were the only persons I could identify, though assisted by the 

 priests of Chardwar. There were four figures of naked children eight 

 inches high, that looked very much like Cupids ; they were executed 

 like the rest in basso relievo and were dancing or gambolling together 

 in pairs, and another groupe of five figures, eight inches high, two of 

 them in an obscene attitude, appeared like the others to have formed part 

 of a cornice. 



It will be seen from the sketch which accompanies this description, 

 that the ruins are partly encompassed by walls, which extend in so 

 many directions that it is scarcely possible to guess at the purpose of 

 the architect. The walls have their foundations laid very deep in the 

 earth : they are in an unfinished state, and were evidently constructed 

 at a period long subsequent to the temples ; they are built of massive 

 blocks of cut stone, sometimes disposed in a double row, and exhibit 

 a good deal of carving. The stones are of various shapes, and rise three 

 or four feet from the ground, and were all intended to be united with 

 bands of iron. The entrance of the principal enclosure appears to 

 have been from the south, where lie some pedestals, and three or four 

 wedge-shaped stones, about five feet long and three broad, of a flattened 

 pentagonal shape, intended I presume to have formed the voussoirs of 

 an arch ; and the middle of the key-stone is decorated with a hand- 

 some diadem or plumed tiara. 



A little to the north of the wood, buried in a forest of reed grass, 

 which an elephant penetrated with difficulty, I discovered a very in- 

 teresting fragment ; this was a solid mass of granite, of a much finer 

 grain than the kind used in the temples, measuring ten and a half feet 

 in length, two and three-quarters in breadth, and two feet in depth. 

 On this were sculptured, in very high relief, eighteen figures of gods, 

 partially mutilated, but generally in a good state of preservation. 

 Fifteen of the figures correspond in size, and are each eighteen inches high, 

 and placed lengthwise in compartments, in groupes of threes. Of these 

 the two external groupes, and the centre one representing, I think, 

 Padma' (Lacshmi), supported by two females, are raised on the 

 stone more than half a foot above the others ; and again, each centre 

 figure (Padma') of the compartments is more in relief than its fellows. 

 The whole of the images have high cone-shaped head-dresses and 

 ear-rings, and Padma' is represented standing on a snake, and the 

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