1848.] Essay on the Avian Order of Architecture. 259 



dicated. The temple itself is mentioned in the following verse of the 

 Raja Tarangini : B. 3— v. 462. 



which is thus translated by M. Troyer, vol. II. pp. 112 — 462. "II con 

 struisit aussi dans le village Sinharotsika un sanctuaire au soleil, le- 

 quel, sous le nom de Ranapuraswami, acquit une renommee repandue 

 partout." 



2. — In the original the term used for the Sun is Miirttand ; and there 

 can he no doubt therefore that the celebrated temple of Matan or Miirt- 

 tand is the edifice referred to. But the name of the temple which was erect- 

 ed by the King is Ranapitraswdmi, or as it is called in the next verse 

 Ranesa, both of which terms have precisely the same meaning, as " Lord 

 of Rana" or Ranaditya, and would usually imply the king's devotion to 

 Siva. In M. Troyer' s translation however the temple is expressly said 

 to have been dedicated to Mdrttand or the Sun ; and as this name has 

 adhered to the building down to the present day, there can be little 

 doubt of the correctness of my appropriation. There would appear to 

 be a slight error however in M. Troyer' s translation in the transfer of 

 the epithets from the sun himself to the title of Ranapuraswami. I 

 have consulted two intelligent Brahmans upon this point, and as their 

 opinion agrees with mine 1 will venture to give my own rendering of 

 the above couplet, as follows :— - 



"He in the village of Sinharotsika, erected (a temple) named Rana^ 

 puraswami to the famous all-pervading Sun." The true name of the tem- 

 ple would therefore appear to be Ranapuraswami, which has been com- 

 pletely superseded by that of Marttand ; the deity to whom it was de- 

 dicated. 



3. — I have a suspicion however that two different edifices may possi- 

 bly be indicated in the above verse. In support of this we have 1st, 

 the probability abovementioned that the temple of Ranapuraswami 

 must have been dedicated to Siva, and 2nd, the fact that the author of 

 the Raja Tarangini in mentioning the erection of the surrounding colon- 

 nade calls the temple by the name of Mdrttand and not by that of Rana- 

 puraswami. Judging from these two points alone, I conclude that two 

 different temples are most probably referred to j the principal one dedi- 

 2 o 2 



