246 Report of the Archcsological Survey. [No. 4, 



three hundred of the original temples of Vikraniaditya had already- 

 disappeared, and we may therefore reasonably infer that the city had 

 been gradually declining for some time previously. The Buddhist 

 monuments, however, would appear to have been in good order, and 

 the monks were just as numerous as in the eminently Buddhist city 

 of Benares. 



319. The first monument described by Hwen Thsang is a great 

 monastery without name, but as it was the only notable monastery, it 

 was most probably either the Kdlakdrdma of Saketa, or the Purvvd~ 

 rdma, both of which are mentioned in the Ceylonese Mahawanso. 

 The monks were of the school of the Sammateyas, and their monastery 

 was famous for having produced three of the most eminent Buddhist 

 controversialists. This monastery I would identify with the Suyrib 

 Parbat, which I have already described as being about 500 feet long by 

 300 feet broad. The great size and rectangular form of this ruin are 

 sufficient to show that it must have been a monastery, but this is 

 placed beyond all doubt by the existence of an interior well and by the 

 remains of cloistered rooms forming the four" sides of the enclosure. 

 Its position to the south of the city, and to the east or left of the road, 

 has already been specially noticed as agreeing with the recorded posi- 

 tion of the monastery. 



320. Beside the monastery there was a stupa of Asoka, 200 feet 

 in height, built on the spot where Buddha preached the law during 

 his six years' residence at Saketa. This monument I would identify 

 with the Mani-Parbat, which is still 65 feet in height, and which 

 with its masonry facing must once have been at least as high again, 

 and with the usual lofty pinnacle of metal may easily have reached a 

 height of 200 feet. Hwen Thsang ascribes the erection of this monu- 

 ment to Asoka, and I see no reason to question the accuracy of his 

 statement, as the mixed structure of half earth and half masonry must 

 undoubtedly be very ancient. The earliest stupas, or topes, were 

 simple earthen mounds or barrows, similar to those that still exist in 

 England. There are many of these barrows still standing at Lauriya- 

 Navandgarh to the north of Bettiya, but this is the only place where 

 I have yet seen them. They are undoubtedly the most ancient monu- 

 ments of the Indian population, and I firmly believe that even the 

 very latest of them cannot be assigned to a lower date than the fifth 



