1864.] Some Persian Inscriptions found in Srmagar'. 



279 



The building may be said to be constructed entirely of wood. 

 Massive beams of the indestructible Himalayan cedar placed upon 

 One another, the interstices being filled up by small bricks, form a solid 

 square whose sides are relieved by well-proportioned balconies in the 

 upper story, the floors and roofs of which are supported by light and 

 graceful carved wooden pillars. 



Curious as is the appearance of the building, its history seems 

 as curious. At every turn in Kashmir one meets with evidences 

 of the policy of the Mohamedans to turn idol-temples into mosques, 

 tombs, and shrines. This place is an instance. There was on that 

 spot a famous spring sacred to Kali with (probably) buildings over 

 and around it. Sikandar called Butshikan (idol-breaker), the grand- 

 son of the first Mohamedan king of Kashmir, built the present 

 structure with the rich property belonging to the Hindu temple, as a 

 $l£ilA.. for the numerous Sayids who are said to have come into the 

 country with Shahi Hamadan, and who were adopting a monastic 

 form of life. After the death of Shahi Hamadan, a shrine in his 

 memory was erected over the very spot where formerly the sacred 

 spring welled up. It is not uninteresting to compare with this the 

 practice of other countries, such as the tradition which existed in 

 Borne concerning the sacred well under the Capitol, and that under 

 the temple of Apollo at Delphi ; or the fact that in the time of 

 Hadrian a temple of Jupiter-Serapis was erected on the place of 

 the crucifixion, and one sacred to Venus- Ast'arte over the real Holy 

 Sepulchre. 



For five centuries now have the Mohamedans of Kashmir been in 

 possession of this spot consecrated to the memory of the Hamadan 

 Sayid. Shall any one dispute their right to hold it now ? Yes. The 

 Hindus of Kashmir— they are almost all Brahmans— what ever else 

 they have forgotten of the history of their country, have not forgotten 

 this spring of Kali. The Dharm Eaj — the rule of a Hindu king — has 

 been restored to them ; the present ruler moreover is a devout Hindu ; 

 and they are claiming their sacred spring. Twice already have the 

 Mohamedans had to redeem their shrine, but this has not saved them 

 from a great indignity. On the wall fronting the river, which wall 

 really belongs to the mosque, the Brahmans have put a large red 

 ochre mark as the symbol of Kali, and Hindus may be seen rubbing 

 their foreheads and employing the forms of idolatry but a step or. two 



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