1865.] Report of the Archaeological Survey. 181 



Stupas. There is nothing to show whether these are the remains 

 of Buddhist or of Brahmanical buildings, but from their extent it is 

 probable that they were the former. 



210. According to Hwen Thsang there were only nine Brahmani- 

 cal temples at Ahi-chhatra in A. D. 634, all of which would appear 

 to have been dedicated to Siva. Bat as Buddhism declined, this 

 number must have been increased, for I discovered the ruins of not 

 less than 20 temples of various sizes, of which one is gigantic, four 

 are large, five are of middle size, and 12 of small dimensions. Three 

 of these are inside the fort, and the others are grouped together 

 outside on the west road. I made excavations in most of these 

 mounds, all of which yielded moulded bricks of various patterns, 

 but only two of them afforded sculptures by which their original 

 purpose could be absolutely identified. These two temples are 

 marked as Nos. I and IV in my survey of the ruins. 



211. The remains of No. I temple form a mound, 65 feet 9 inches 

 in height above the country, and upwards of 30 feet above the walls 

 of the fortress. This lofty mound stands inside the fort near the 

 middle of the north wall, and forms the most conspicuous object amongst 

 the ruins of the mighty fortress of Ahi-chhatra, The floor of the 

 temple is 60 feet above the ground, and at this enormous height 

 stood a colossal lingam, 3 feet 6J inches in diameter, and upwards 

 of 8 feet in height, which must have been visible from both east 

 and west through the open doors of the temple for a distance 

 of some miles. The interior of the temple is only 14 feet 

 4 inches by 10J feet. The north and south walls are 9 feet 5 

 inches thick, and the east and west walls only 5 feet 9 inches ; 

 but on these two sides there are open porches outside the two 

 entrances which increase the thickness of the walls to 19 feet on 

 the west side, and to 14 feet 11 inches on the east. The exterior 

 dimensions of the temple are 48 feet 3 inches by 29 feet 4 inches. 

 From these dimensions I calculate that the temple must have beeii 

 about 100 feet in height above its own floor, or 165 feet above the 

 country. The base of the stone lingam is square, the middle 

 part octagonal, and the upper part hemispherical. A tris.id, or 

 trident, is cut upon the base. The upper portion of the lingam 

 is broken. The people way that it was struck by lightning, 



