1865.] Report of the Archaeological Survey. 183 



will, however, manage to have them examined at the end of the 

 ensuing season. 



215. The most important of the Buddhist ruins is an irregular 

 shaped mound, about 1,000 feet square, from the centre of which 

 rises a large Stupa of solid brick-work, which the people call 

 chhatr. I have already identified this with the great Stupa which 

 was built over the spot where Buddha converted the Serpent King. 

 It is surrounded by eight smaller mounds, of which four would 

 appear to be the ruins of Stupas, and three of temples, whilst one 

 only is doubtful. Now, Hwen Thsang describes the great Stupa, 

 as having on one side of it four small St upas, which account agrees 

 exactly with the position of the four small mounds above men- 

 tioned. I have no doubt, therefore, as to the identity of the chhatr 

 mound with the Stupa of Hwen Thsang, although I was unable 

 to discover any certain trace of the tank called the Ndga-hrada, 

 or "serpent pond" by the Chinese pilgrim. It is quite possible, 

 however, that a tank may once have existed on the south-west side, 

 where the ground is still very low. 



216. The great ruins called Chhatr is a mass of solid brick- 

 work, 40 feet in height above the fields, and 30 feet in diameter 

 at top. The original building was a hemisphere of 50 feet diame- 

 ter, which was raised upon a base or plinth 15 feet in height. At 

 some later period an outer casing, 12-g- feet thick, was added, 

 which increased the diameter to 75 feet, and the height of the 

 crown of the hemisphere to 52J feet. Allowing two-sevenths of 

 the diameter for the height of the cupola or pinnacle, which is 

 the proportion observed in the Sanchi bas-reliefs, the total height 

 of the original Stupa would have been 57 feet, and that of 

 the later Stupa 77 feet. I made several superficial excavations 

 around the base in the hope of finding some portions of the stone 

 railings with which the Stupa was most probably surrounded, but 

 without success. I still believe, however, that there must have been 

 the usual Buddhist railings around this Stupa, and that a further 

 search would probably bring some of the pillars to light. I found, 

 however, a number of curved wedge-shaped bricks, that must have 

 belonged to a circle of between 15 and 16 feet in diameter, and which, 

 I presume, are the remains of the cupola. 



