1076 Note on Inscriptions from [Dec. 



in his statistics of Orissa, of which a plate is given in the 15th volume, 

 of the Researches*. 



* As few of my readers have an opportunity of seeing the Researches, I ex- 

 tract the following description of these caves and of the main inscription from 

 Mr. Stirling's Report on Orissa, in the 15th volume. — Ed. 



" About five miles west of Bhobanesar, near the village of Jaymara, in tha 

 Char Sudhi Khandaiti of Khurda, and still within the limits of the Khetr, a 

 group of small hills occur, four in number, from one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred feet in height, which present many objects of interest and curiosity. 

 These hills called severally the Udaya Giri, Dewal Giri, Nil Giri, and Khand 

 Giri, (by which latter name the spot is now generally designated,) are composed 

 of a silicious sandstone of various color and texture, and are all curiously per- 

 forated with small caves, disposed in two or three irregular stories. Each of the 

 caves is large enough to contain from one to two human beings in a sitting pos- 

 ture. Some of them appear to be natural cavities, slightly improved by the hand 

 of man ; others have obviously been excavated altogether artificially ; and the 

 whole are grotesquely carved and embellished. In one part, a protecting mass 

 of rock has been cut into the form of a tiger's head, with the jaws widely dis- 

 tended, through which a passage lies into a small hole at the back secured by a 

 wooden door, the residence of a pious ascetic of the Vyshnavite sect. The ridi- 

 culous legend which the natives relate to explain the origin of these isolated 

 hills, is, that they formerly constituted a part of the Himalaya, at which time 

 they were inhabited by numerous Rishis, who dug the caves now found in them. 

 They were taken up bodily, ascetics and all, by Maha'bi'r Hanuma'n, with 

 other masses of rock, to build the bridge of Rama, but, by some accident, were 

 allowed to drop in their passage through the air, when they alighted in their 

 present position. I am almost tempted to add, as a curious coincidence, that 

 they are the only real sandstone hills found in this part of the country ; but the 

 geology of the district has not been sufficiently explored, to warrant my advanc- 

 ing such an assertion positively. The summit of the highest rock, is crowned 

 by a neat stone temple of modern construction, sacred to the worship of Paras- 

 nath ; all around, and in the neighbourhood of which, are strewed a quantity of 

 images of the nirvanas, or naked figures worshipped by the Jain sect, executed 

 chiefly in the grey chlorite slate rock. At the back of these temples, a highly re- 

 markable terrace is shewn, called the Deo Sabhd, or assembly of the gods, which is 

 covered with numberless antique-looking stone pillars or temples in miniature, 

 some standing, others lying on the ground, about two or three feetloDg, having, on 

 each of the four sides, a figure of the naked Jain deity rudely sculptured. The 

 place is still frequented by the Jain of Parwar merchants or Cuttack, who assemble 

 here in numbers, once every year, to hold a festival of their religion. A short way 

 up the Udaya Giri hill, the nour or palace of the famous laja Lalut Indra 

 Kesari, is pointed out as the chief curiosity of the place. It consists of a 

 sort of open court formed a perpendicular face of sandstone rock, about forty 

 feet in height, with shoulders of the same projecting on either side. Rows of 

 small chambers have been excavated in each face, arranged in two stories and 

 divided by a projecting terrace. Both the exterior surface and the inner walls 

 of the chambers are decorated with cornices, pilasters, figures, and vurious devi- 



