1865.] Report of the Archaeological Survey. 187 



nionnd, marked D in my map, ifpwarcls of 300 feet square, and 35 

 feet in height above the road. The principal mass of ruin, which is 

 in the middle of the west side, is the remains of a large temple, 40 feet 

 square outside. In the middle of the south side there are the ruins 

 of a small building which may perhaps have been the entrance gate- 

 way. To the right and left of the entrance there are the ruins of two 

 small temples, each 14 feet square outside, and P feet 4J inches inside, 

 raised upon a plinth 24 feet square. The centre of the square is open, 

 and has evidently never been built upon. My excavations were too 

 limited to ascertain more than I have noted above, but I propose to 

 continue the exploration towards the end of the ensuing cold weather. 

 I believe that this mound is the remains of a very large monastery 

 with its lofty enclosed temple, which could not have been less than 80 

 or even 100 feet in height. 



224. Connected with Ahi-chhatra is an inscription of the Gupta 

 period on a square pillar found near the village of Dihvdri, 3 kos, or 4J- 

 miles, to the south of the fort. The inscription consists of 14 lines 

 of five letters each, the letters of one line being placed exactly under 

 those of the line above, so as to form also five straight perpendicular 

 lines. The stone is 2J feet long, 1 foot broad, and 9 inches thick in 

 the middle, but the continual sharpening of tools has worn down the 

 edges to a breadth of from 7 to 7J inches. The inscription, which is 

 on one of the narrow faces, has accordingly suffered in the partial loss 

 of some of the initial and final letters of several lines. The other 

 three faces of the stone are quite plain, and there is nothing whatever 

 to show what the pillar may have been originally intended for. 



225. My account of Ahi-chhatra would not be complete without a 

 reference to the gigantic Ungam near the village of Gulariya, 2 J miles to 

 the north of the fort, and to the Priapian name of the village of Bhim- 

 laur, one mile to the east of the fort. Bhim-gaja and Bhim-laur are 



•common names for the Ungam in all the districts to the north of the 

 Ganges. I have already quoted Hwen Thsang's remark that the nine 

 Brahmanical temples of Ahi-chhatra in A. D. 634 were dedicated to 

 Siva, and I may now add in illustration, that only in one of the many 

 ruins above the old fort did I find a trace of the worship of any other 

 divinity. 



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