234 The Bonhara Temple. [No. 3, 



by the name of Namaz Talao, signifying " tank for prayer." It 

 is situated in the midst of a large plain, and is now used as a place 

 for the cremation of the dead. 



At 4 p. m., I went to see the remains of the old fort of Debi Raja 

 at Dumrawan which is about a mile north from the town of 

 Oinerpur. The fort was about a mile or more in circuit, consist- 

 ing entirely of mud walls surrounded by a deep ditch. The only 

 approaches to the fort were by seven large gates, some of which 

 are still to be seen. . The walls near these gates are tolerably 

 high, but in most places they are scarcely more than two or three 

 feet above ground, while in few places they have been levelled with 

 the ground by the cidtivator's plough. There was a small fort 

 within the fort for the accommodation of the women, and in it there 

 is a small tank which still goes by the name of ' Ranee Gurrea,' 

 or the Ranee's tank. Near this tank lie some bricks to mark the 

 spot where stood the palace of the Raja or his seraglio. 



It was within this fort that the last struggle for independence 

 made by the Khetauri Raja against the Muhammadan invaders ap- 

 pears to have taken place. Tradition has preserved an anecdote 

 regarding the romantic courage and prowess evinced by Debi 

 Raja during the contest. 



It is said that being besieged by the Muhammadans in his capital, 

 and finding himself unequal to the contest, he resolved to abandon 

 his capital, and left it at night with his little band of devoted 

 followers. A washer-woman, who was with child, could not run 

 so fast as the soldiers wished. One of the latter having there- 

 upon sneeringly observed, with reference to her pregnancy, " Who 

 told you to bring yourself to this pass?" she replied: — "The 

 Raja told me to do so ; for had I known he would cowardly desert 

 his capital, I shoidd not have been what I am." This speech be- 

 ing reported to the Raja, he felt ashamed of his cowardice, imme- 

 diately returned to his capital with his troops, contested, at fearful 

 odds, every inch of ground with the enemy, and was at last cut off 

 to a man. 



It is believed by some that the Raja had an improper connection 

 with the washer-woman. 



