1837.] condition of Oujein or Ujjayani. 835 



Jains is very unsatisfactory. They are, and have some cause to be, 

 jealous of strangers, and will not admit them into their sanctuaries. 

 From an Oujein Jatti with whom I have lately become acquainted, I 

 learn that they have 1 6 mandirs in the city ; 1 3 Sitambari, and 3 

 Digambari. The Sitambari are always the most numerous in Malwa 

 towns ; the resident Jattis are not more than 12 in number. Of the 

 temples, three or four seem ancient : a subterraneous one to Purisnath 

 more particularly so. It is near or upon the site of the old city, and 

 cannot be visited even during the day without a light. A Pdrisndth 

 also about ten miles from the town has the reputation of antiquity, and 

 tirath (pilgrimage) is performed to it twice a year. 



The Rdmsanehi sect does not appear to have spread much to the 

 south of Mokandarra, nor could their pure philosophy be expected 

 to flourish in the superstitious atmosphere of Oujein. They have 

 however one plain temple in the city, and about 12 Sadhus*. I do 

 not particularize any of the other sects as they generally join in wor- 

 ship at their respective Vishnava or Siva temples. The Dadus and Kabir 

 Panthis are common amongst the military, while the courts of Vishnu 

 are filled with Ramavuts and Ramanujas, but the varieties of gosains 

 are perhaps less than might be expected, and of any local peculiari- 

 ties no information has reached me. My catalogue of the holy things 

 of Oujein is not yet exhausted. 



At the foot of nearly every tree, commemorating the courage or 

 weakness of woman, leans a sati stone, which some pious hand has 

 removed from its ruined chabutra, and set up to be worshipped in 

 the shade. These tablets have usually sculptured on them a male and 

 one or more female figures, with a symbol to mark the rank of the 

 deceased; as a horse for the cavalier, a cow for the brahman, and for 

 the Rajput (I suppose) a sun and moonf. Sometimes the figures are 

 more numerous ; horses and attendants crowd the field, and a dome 

 supported on pillars protects the stone from the sun and rain. On a 

 few, apparently the most ancient, the female figure is so gracefully 

 expressed that I more than once felt tempted to commit a sacrilege and 

 to steal one to adorn my study. Near Shah Dawal's Dargdh where 

 a battle was foughtj, the groves are studded with such affecting mo- 

 numents which are supposed to cover the remains of the slain. Puja is 

 commonly paid to these stones ; they are found let into the walls of tem- 



* They have also three or four Ramdivaras at Indore. 



f Some of the stones scattered about have merely warriors on them without 

 any female figure. They may have some connection with the commemorative 

 tablets mentioned by Col. Sykes in his Essay — Journ. Roy. As. Soc. 4. 



X Hunter gives a history of the battle. 



