Archaeological Survey Report. x¢Cili 
an omission of five letters in the 15th line. I made also an impres- 
sion of the inscription over which I pencilled all the letters as they 
appeared to the eye. This is indeed the only successful method of 
copying a weather-worn inscription, for the edges of the letters being 
very much rounded, an impression gives only a number of confused 
and shapeless spots, although many of the letters being deeply cut are 
distinctly legible, and may easily be copied by the eye. The value 
of an impression thus pencilled over is very great, as it ensures 
accuracy in the number of letters, and thus most effectually prevents 
all errors, both of insertion and omission. ‘The copy which I have 
thus made is, I believe, as perfect as it is possible to obtain now, 
considering the weather-worn state of the letters. 
222. From the copy which I prepared in January 1836, a translation 
was made by Dr. Mill, which was published in Prinsep’s Journal 
for January 1837. My re-examination of the inscription has corrected 
some of Dr. Mill’s proposed readings, while it has confirmed many of 
them, a few being still doubtful owing to the abraded state of the 
letters. As translated by Dr. Mill, the inscription refers chiefly to 
the reign of Skanda Gupta, closing with his death, and the accession 
of his infant son. The object of the inscription was to record the 
erection of a sacred image, the name of which Dr. Mill was unable 
to read, but which may possibly be recovered when my new copy is 
retranslated by some competent scholar. In my remarks on the lower 
inscription on the Bihar pillar, 1 have already noticed that all the 
remaining part of the upper portion of it, which contains the genea- 
logy, is letter for letter identical with the first part of the Bhitari, 
record, and I repeat the notice here for the purpose of adding that 
by a comparison of the two inscriptions, every letter of the upper 
part of both, or about one-third of the whole, may be restored with- 
out chance of error. 
223. The sculptures now to be seen at Bhitari are very few, but 
they are sufficient to show the former existence of several large 
stone temples. In the village there is a colossal figure of Glanesa, 
and a broken bas-relief of the Wavagraha, or “ Nine planets.” The 
colossal statue must almost certainly have been the principal figure 
enshrined in a temple dedicated to Ganesa. There is also a large 
slab with a half-size two-armed female figure, attended by another 
female figure holding an umbrella over her, both in very high relief. 
