338 Note on the Sculptures of Bodh Gyak. [April, 



worship at Juggannath was in fact the Supreme Being, " Jug-nath," 

 " Lord of the universe," in the sign triliteral syllable representing His 

 three attributes " aurn." 



That Soranath, the great pagod of Western India, was dedicated 

 also to the Supreme Lord of the creation under the same symbol Aum, 

 I think there can be no doubt ; both temples are alike situated on the 

 border of the ocean, where mortals at a glance could see the three 

 great elements themselves, viz., the Heavens, the Earth, and the Waters 

 the mightiest works of the Creator. 



The word Somnath may be composed of two syllables, Som and 

 Nath, the latter meaning Lord, the former, either a way of expressing 

 Sri in the dialect of the gulf or of an abbreviation of the words Sri 

 and Aum, or thus Sri — Aum — Nath. The mighty Aum, the Lord, 

 which latter I consider to be the most probable ; the first conjecture 

 merely arising from the fact of " Som" being an affix to other names in 

 that part of India, such as Som Meanee for instance, and others I cannot 

 at this moment call to mind. I am nevertheless aware that Som was a 

 name for the moon, also an emblem of Siva. 



I believe Juggannath to be of comparatively modern date ; the present 

 temple is more recent than that to the Sun at Kanarac commonly called 

 the black pagoda, and neither are above 600 years old. I think it there- 

 fore not improbable when Somnath was destroyed Juggannath was esta- 

 blished on the opposite coast in a remote spot less likely (as it has 

 proved) to be molested by the Moslem usurpers of India's thrones. 



I have suggested that the objects represented in the Gyah sculptures 

 point to Egyptian origin ; perusal of Mr. Patterson's treatise above quot- 

 ed will show that the idea that India borrowed her mythology from 

 Egypt is not novel. Capt. Burr, in his Journal of the Campaign in 

 Egypt in the same volume has thrown out hints on the subject ; nor are 

 these gentlemen the only persons who have brought forward strong argu- 

 ments in favor of the supposition, I therefore invite particular attention 

 to this point and to the drawings,* in which will be found the figure of 

 a female with the head of a horse or an ass, another of a goat on a 

 pedestal or altar, — the water jars, the three figures, two female and one 

 male. The Lotus oft repeated, and again the couple caressing each other, 

 beside whom water jars are placed. The centaurs or minataurs, the 



* I hope to be able ere long to supply copies of these drawings to the Society. 



