1848.] Essay on the Arian Order of Architecture. 251 



tion dated in A. H. 1069 or A. D. 1659. I copied this inscription in 

 1839 : but since then it has been so completely defaced by the Dogar 

 soldiery that I could with difficulty trace the name of Takht-i-Suliman. 

 How little did the idol-breaking Aurangzeb anticipate such a reverse of 

 fortune ! 



III. — Cave Temple of Bhaumajo. 



1. This little temple, which is only 10 feet square, and not quite 16 

 feet high, is the most perfect of all the existing buildings of Kashmir. 

 It stands in a cave which is partly a natural fissure, and partly an exca- 

 tion of the limestone cliff at a short distance from the holy spring and 

 village of Bhavana or Bhawan, and at about 4 miles to the N. E. of 

 Islamabad. At this point the hill projects into the plain, and has been 

 naturally scarped by the action of the river Lambodari, or Lidar, of 

 which a considerable branch still washes the base of the cliff imme. 

 diately beneath the great cave. There are also many other narrow 

 fissures at different heights above the ground, which are known as 

 Siva's cave, Bhima-Devi's cave, &c. ; and there are likewise numerous 

 square chambers hewn out of the solid rock at its base, which once 

 were most probably the monastic dwellings of Buddhist priests. The 

 large cave in which the temple stands, is situated considerably higher 

 than the others, it being upwards of 60 feet above the level of the 

 river. 



2. The cave and temple are both known by the name of Bhaumajo ; 



which in the Kashmirian Tdkra character, is written "tf>f TfT^T 

 Bhaumajova. But I cannot help suspecting that it is only the Sanskrit 

 W\^^\\^\Bhauma-jyotis, the " Planet Mars." This derivation however, 

 the Kashmirian Brahmans would not allow, though they admitted that 

 Bhauma was the name of a Rishi. Now as Vrihaspati, or the planet 

 Jupiter, is also the name of a Rishi, Bhauma may certainly be consi- 

 dered as the Regent of the planet Mars, if not as the actual star itself. 



3. There is not even a traditional clue to the date of the building : 

 but I have little doubt that it is one of the oldest of the Kashmirian 

 temples. Indeed its massive simplicity, its unadorned pilasters, its 

 unbroken tympanum, and its plank-like roof, all point to a much earlier 

 period than that of the most ancient of the authenticated structures, 



2 n 2 



