1865.] Report of the Archceological Survey. 249 



from a large temple of Asohnatli Mahadeo. Hatila was killed in an 

 assault on the temple, and his tomb, a low domed building only 20 

 feet square, is still much frequented as the shidne of a Ghazi, or martyr 

 for the faith. It is built entirely of large bricks from the ruins of the old 

 temple of Asohnatli. The remains consist of a low mound, 700 feet long 

 by 500 feet broad, with three prominent masses of ruin on the north side. 

 I made an excavation in the north-west ruin near the base of a large 

 Maliwa tree, but without any result, as a small Muhammadan tomb on 

 the top prevented me from digging in the centre. But the coolies 

 employed on the work voluntarily informed me that the Mahwa tree 

 had been the "tooth-brush" of a Raja who stuck it in the ground and 

 it grew to be a tree. From this tradition, Avhich also exists at G-onda, 

 I infer that it was usual to make cuttings and to take seeds from -the 

 famous danta-dhdwan or " tooth-brush tree" of Saketa for distribution 

 to religious establishments, just as cuttings from the Bodhi tree at 

 Gaya were made for the same purpose. Both Fa Hian and Hwen 

 Thsang agree in stating that the Danta-dhdwan of Saketa was only 

 seven feet high, and that it never grew any higher, which would seem 

 to show that it was only a small tree or shrub ; and this indeed is 

 actually the case with the Datton, or " tooth-brush tree " of Gonda, 

 which is a Gliilbil, or shrub eaten by goats, that never exceeds 8 or 10 

 feet. I conclude therefore that the original tooth-brush tree of Hatila 

 has disappeared, and that the name has been applied to the Mahwa, 

 which is the only tree now remaining on the mound. 



326. The north-east mound is a mere undistinguishable mass of 

 broken bricks, but the central mound is still covered with the rains of 

 the temple of Asoknath Mahadeo, containing a large broken Mngam. 

 Portions of the brick walls, which still remain, show that the temple 

 was only 12 feet square ; but the whole has been lifted up by the 

 roots of a gigantic Pipal tree, which still hold the bricks together by 

 their interlacings. These remains attracted the attention of Buchanan 

 Hamilton during his survey of G-orakhpur, who remarks that " a wild 

 fig tree having taken root on the linga will soon cover it." This 

 actually took place, and the linga was almost completely hidden by 

 the matted roots of the Pipal, until the tree was cut down by the 

 Tahsildar of the neighbouring village of Vazirganj in A. D. 1862. As 

 the cut stem of the Pipal shows 849 annual rings, the tree must have 



