1865.] Report of the Archaeological Survey. 269 



which with Sita-Mai shares the devotions of the villagers, was an 

 effectual check against any excavations. This is the more to be re- 

 gretted, as the Stupa is said to have been built by Asoka, an at- 

 tribution which might have been verified by an exploration of its 

 interior. 



355. The figure which the ignorant villagers worship as Sita is 

 in reality a statue of Maya Devi, the mother of Sakya Buddha. She 

 is represented standing under the Sal tree, with her right hand raised 

 and holding one of the branches, which is the well known position in 

 which she is said to have given birth to Sakya. Her left hand is 

 placed on her hip, and there is a parrot perched on her shoulder. The 

 statue is 3 feet 4 inches in height. 



XXL— NIMSAR, OR NIMKAR. 



356. Nimsar is a famous place of pilgrimage on the left bank of 

 the Gumti (or Gromati) River, 45 miles to the north-west of Lucknow. 

 The Brahmans derive the name from Nimisha, a " twinkling of the 

 eye ;" hence Naimisha-saras, or Nimsar, means the pool where in the 

 twinkling of an eye the sage Gaura-Mukha destroyed the Asuras, 

 The place is also called Nimkhdr, which is formed from Naimisha, 

 pronounced Naimikha, and aranya a forest, which becomes Naimiklid- 

 ran, and Nimhhar. The Vishnu Purana declares that " he who bathes 

 in the Gromati at Naimisha expiates all his sins." Its popularity is 

 therefore very great. It is noticed in the Ay in Akbari as " a famous 

 large fort, with a great number of idolatrous temples, and a reservoir." 

 This reservoir is called the Chakra-tirtha, and is said to be the place 

 where the Ghakra, or " discus," of Vishnu fell during the contest with 

 the Asuras. The shape of the pool is nearly hexagonal with a 

 diameter of 120 feet. The water springs up from below and flows out 

 by the south side into a swampy rill about 20 feet broad called the 

 Godaveri Nala. The pool is surrounded with a number of shabby 

 brick temples and Dharmsdlas, and though the water is clear, yet the 

 place looks dirty and uninviting. 



357. The fort of Nimsar is situated on a precipitous mound to the 

 north of the holy pool, about 1,100 feet long, from east to west, 

 between 300 and 400 feet broad, and 50 feet high. The west end is 

 a high cliff called the Shah Bttrj, or King's Tower, which overhangs 



