162 Antiquities of the Cutiack Hills. [No. 3, 



The tradition connected with the building of the mosque runs as 

 follows : — 



Once upon a time the prophet Muhammad was winging his way in 

 mid-air on his celestial throne, with a large retinue. "When the hour 

 for prayer arrived, he alighted on Nalti Giri. The throne was too 

 heavy for the hill, and the hill too small for the retinue. Hence the 

 hill commenced to shake and sink. The prophet got annoyed, pro- 

 nounced a la/nat, or curse on it, and repaired to the more elevated 

 and spacious mount of Char-pitha, on the precipitous rock, where 

 the mosque now stands. There he addressed his prayer, and the 

 print of his knees and fingers are pointed out on the stone which 

 is preserved in the shrine. His followers rested on the four peaks. 

 No water being accessible on the hill, Muhammad struck the rock 

 with his wand, and a bubbling spring of pure water at once rose 

 up ; traces of which are still shewn to pilgrims. A darvish, by 

 virtue of his prayers, came to know this sacred spot, went up to it, 

 and, on a Khirni tree which, stood close by and still stands, 

 hoisted the prophet's flag made of his handkerchief. 



When Shuja'uddm was marching to Cuttack, he was encamped 

 at Erakpur, whence he heard the voice of prayer chanted on the 

 top of the hill at the distance of sis miles. The followers of Shuja' 

 became anxious to visit the shrine, but he dissuaded them, taking 

 the vow at the same time to come back, and pray on the spot with 

 them, should his march prove successful. Successful it proved. 

 Shuja' returned, made the road- of about two miles in length up the 

 hill on foot, through one of its easy slopes, and built the mosque 

 which still bears his inscription. 



The mosque faces the East. In front there is a platform sur- 

 rounded by a thick wall with a gate. Towards the west, high 

 and rough rocks overlook the building. But to its north, a high 

 terrace has been raised for the reception of darvishes and 

 pilgrims. 



The tradition narrated above, may be construed merely to refer 

 to the conquest of the Moslem over Hinduism, the demolition of 

 Hindu temples, the mutilation of Hindu gods and goddesses, and the 

 reduction of the Hindu supremacy on the Nalti hill by the followers 

 of the prophet, and the hoisting of the prophet's flag on a rival and 



