1851.] Notes on the " Mahapurushyas." 459 



not himself go in till the holy visitor comes out ; but this account, 

 suggestive as it is of somewhat too intimate a connection between the 

 spiritual guide and his fair penitents, was not given to me by any 

 member of the sect, though it is very generally asserted. 



In the cloisters to the east and west of the Namghar, there are at 

 present one hundred and fifty-seven monks. Long sheds substantially 

 built and enclosed, with front Verandahs from end to end, about six feet 

 in breadth, are divided into apartments, sixteen or twenty feet square, 

 opening out on the verandah by one double door to each. In these 

 apartments the monks live sometimes two together, sometimes one alone. 

 They exercise considerable ingenuity in making their cells commodious, 

 the simple materials of which they are composed do not give much 

 scope for their skill and taste, but the doors and lintels are elaborate- 

 ly carved and the door fastenings, all different, are so many inven- 

 tions for which each originator might take out a patent. The cloisters 

 and every place connected with the Shostro, are kept scrupulously clean 

 and neat. The monks have a small flower garden in which they cul* 

 tivate flowers and flowering shrubs used in the religious ceremonies. 



In the dress and appearance of these monks there is nothing peculiar 

 to distinguish them from ordinary mortals, with the exception of the 

 long staff already alluded to. For raiment, however, they are required 

 to confine themselves to the simple waistcloth and a small white 

 " chadder" or scarf, and to keep the cloths they wear at worship and 

 at meals exclusively for those occasions. 



Detached in other parts of the village there are two other sets of 

 cloisters containing the one fifty-five, the other twenty-six monks. 

 In one of these there is a particular seat from which the head monk 

 reads and expounds. In consequence of a dispute there are at present 

 two who by turns occupy this seat. The old monks are called Ata 

 and Atoi as marks of respect. 



There are in the Kamrup district one hundred and ninety-five 

 Shostros subordinate to that of Borpetah. I know not how many 

 there may be in other districts. All those I have seen are built 

 exactly on the model of the parent institution, each having its esta- 

 blishment of Udasins in cloisters, and its " Grihis" or laymen in ordi- 

 nary dwellings. Five or six of these are to a small extent endowed, 

 that is, have received grants of land held at half rates from the former 



