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360 



On the Buddhist 'Remains of Sultanganj. TOo. 4 



On the Buddhist Remains of Sultanganj,- 



MlTKA. 



-By Bdhu Rajendkalala 



Ascending the Granges from Bhigalpur, the first object of interest 

 which arrests the attention of the traveller is a singular mass of granite 

 towering abruptly to the height of about a hundred feet from the 

 bed of the river. Its natural beauty and romantic situation have 

 long since dedicated it to the service of religion ; and Jangirah, the 

 name of the rock in question, has been associated with many a tale of 

 love and arms. It stands at a distance of about a hundred yards 

 from the right bank immediately opposite to the mart of Sultanganj, 

 and is surmounted by a small stone temple which is visible from a 

 great distance, and serves as a beacon tower to the mariner. The pre- 

 siding deity of the sanctuary is named Graibinatha, a form of S'iva 

 whose identity I cannot ascertain. Along with him are associated 

 a number of statues and images whom the resident priests hold in 

 such slender respect that they did not object to my scratching some 

 of them with a penknife to ascertain the nature of the stones of 

 which they are made. 



The temple bears no inscription, and the attendant Brahmans could 

 not give me any information regarding its history. Judging, how- 

 ever, from its make and appearance, I believe it cannot be more than 

 two or three centuries old. Around it are situated a few low rooms 

 for the accommodation of the priests. 



The face of the rock is covered by a number of bassi-relievi, most 

 of which are Hindu and include representations of Ganes'a, Hanu- 

 mana, Krishna, Badha, Vamana, Ananta sleeping on a snake, S'iva 

 and other Pauranie divinities. But there are a few which are decided- 

 ly of Buddhist and Jain origin. The Buddhist figures, mostly 

 Buddha in the meditative posture, occupy more centrical positions 

 than the Hindu ones and appear to be more worn away than the latter ; 

 both circumstances affording conclusive evidence of the place having 

 been originally a Buddhist sanctuary which the Brahmans have ap- 

 propriated to themselves since the downfall of Buddhism. A Jam 

 temple still exists on one side of the rock to which a few pilgrims 

 occasionally come to offer their adoration to Paras 'vvanatha the 23rd 

 teacher of the sect. 



