1865.] Report of the ArcJiceological Survey. 243 



ancient records. He is said to have erected 360 temples, on as many- 

 different spots, sacred to Rama and Sitd his wife, to his hrothers 

 Lakshmana, Bharata, and Satrughna, and to the monkey god Hanu- 

 mdn. The number of 360 is also connected with Sdlivdhana, as his 

 clansmen the Bats Rajputs assert that he had 360 wives. 



312. There are several very holy Brahmanical temples about 

 Ajudhya, but they are all of modern date, and without any architec- 

 tural pretensions whatever. But there can be no doubt that most of 

 them occupy the sites of more ancient temples that were destroyed by 

 the Musalmans. Thus Rdmkot, or Hanumdn Garhi, on the east side 

 of the city, is a small walled fort, surrounding a modern temple on the 

 top of an ancient mound. The name of Ramkot is certainly old, as 

 it is connected with the traditions of the Mani Parbat, which will be 

 hereafter mentioned ; but the temple of Hanuman is not older than 

 the time of Aurangzib. Ram Ghat, at the north-east corner of the 

 city, is said to be the spot where Rama bathed ; and Sargdivdri, or 

 Sivargadiodri, the "gate of Paradise," on the north-west, is believed 

 to be the place where his body was burned. Within a few years ago 

 there was still standing here a very holy Banyan tree called Asok Bat, 

 or the " griefless Banyan," a name which was probably connected 

 with that of Swargadwdri, in the belief that people who died or were 

 burned at this spot were at once relieved from the necessity of future 

 births. Close by is the Lalcshman Ghat, where his brother Lakshman 

 bathed, and about one-quarter of a mile distant, in the very heart of 

 the city, stands the Janam Asthdn, or " Birth-place temple" of Rama. 

 Almost due west, and upwards of five miles distant is the Guptar Ghat, 

 with its group of modern white-washed temples. This is the place where 

 Lakshman is said to have disappeared, and hence its name of Guptdr 

 from Gupta , which means " hidden or concealed." Some say that it 

 was Rama who disappeared at this place, but this is at variance with 

 the story of his cremation at Swargadiodri, 



313. The only remains at Ajudhya that appear to be of any anti- 

 quity, are three earthen mounds to the south of the city, and about a 

 quarter of a mile distant. These are called Mani-Parbat, Kuber-Parbat 

 and Sugrib-Parbat. The first, which is nearest to the city, is an artificial 

 mound, 65 feet in height, covered with broken bricks and blocks of 

 kankar. The old bricks are eleven inches square and three inches thick. 



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