294 Essay on the Avian Order of Architecture. [Sept. 



is one peculiarity about the older buildings of Kashmir, and that is, 

 that * * the wall surrounding the peristyle has, as usual, a colonnade 

 in the interior, but its outside is completely a blank and unornamented." 



XV. — Temple near Dydmun. 



1. — On the left bank of the Behat, at 3^ miles to the N. E. of Uri, 

 and at less than half a mile from the village of Dyamun, and on the 

 opposite bank of the river, there is a small Hindu temple in very good 

 preservation. Baron Hugel* calls it " a Buddhist temple still in good 

 repair, and built in the same style as those of Kashmir. * * Its 

 name is Brangutri." Vigne's accountf is much more detailed. He 

 says, — " Proceeding thence towards Uri, we pass two more ancient 

 Hindu temples, of the same style of architecture as those of the valley. 

 The colonnade which surrounds one of them, is in a good state of pre- 

 servation, it is also evident that the top of the building in the centre of 

 the peristyle, and now about ten yards high, was once pyramidal. The 

 remains of a massive flight of steps are still in position before the 

 entrance." * * "All the remaining ruins I have seen, are of lime- 

 stone ; but this which is called Bryn-kutri, differs from them in being 

 ifouilt entirely of granite." 



2. — The name which the people gave me was Brinkar ; but I suspect 

 that the name recorded by Hugel and Vigne is the more correct one ; 

 for Kotari 3H^Tt, which means a "naked woman," is also an appella- 

 tion of Durga. It is probable, therefore, that the temple contained a 

 naked image of that goddess. Indeed, the whole name may, possibly, 

 have been Varna-kotari "^ire^t, the "painted" or the "golden 

 Durga." The enshrined image might have been a gilt one. 



3. — The period of the erection of this temple, as well as that of 

 Bhawanigarh, cannot be ascertained except within wide limits. For there 

 are no data to guide us, save the existence of colonnades, which fixes 

 the time of their construction between the fifth and tenth centuries. 



Having completed the description of all the Kashmirian temples that 

 have myself seen, or of which I can find any account, I will now 



* English translation, p. 174. 

 f Kashmir, vol. 2 — p. 176. 



