22 Notes on Assam Temple Ruins. [No. 1. 



very singular, preserving in the plan, the cross shape of the capital 

 (Fig. 1 Plate X.) ; heads, shoulders and arms, of human figures 

 appear as the supports of the abacus, and the same arrangement is 

 followed up in the architraves, from which spring the domes ; and 

 from other fragments found, there must have been a cornice, thus 

 ornamented, all round the building. 



The columns were not larger than those of the Choigong temple, 

 and from the pilasters, these temples had all closed vestibules, not 

 open porches like that represented in plate I. Round the base, 

 above the plinth, the first and smallest of the Seesee temples, had a 

 row of elephants shewing the head and fore-legs, in high relief, as in 

 the Hazoo temple (vide plate XXVIII.) 



In regard to the divinity, to which it was dedicated, a large figure 

 of Durgah was found worthy of holding that position ; and no doubt 

 she was at some period, if not always, the object of worship there. 

 The second temple, from the space covered by the ruins, appears to 

 have been about 60 feet in length by 40 in breadth, including the 

 shrine and vestibule. I extricated the altar block from the ruins of 

 the shrine, and found, broken into several pieces, another figure of 

 Durgah, the pedestal of which neatly fitted on to the block, and 

 there could be no doubt that the one was intended for the other. 



The figure and pedestal measured 5 feet 5 inches. The Durgah 

 herself, when she possessed a head, which I could not find, must 

 have measured 3 feet 6 inches from the crown to the feet ; about 

 one third larger than the Durgah of the first temple. 



The arrangement of the two figures is somewhat different, but 

 both represent the goddess in her most terrific form, embodying 

 by no means feebly, the power of the divine energy in action. Kali 

 or Durgah appears to have been for some centuries, the favourite 

 divinity in Eastern Assam, and it is possible, that the blood of hu- 

 man victims may have been shed before her altars here, as well as 

 at the shrine dedicated to her, known as the copper temple, above 

 JSudya. 



Yet, the figures on the lintels of the doorway and other parts of 

 these and the third temple, do not appear to me to be emblematic 

 of the Sakti form of worship. The grave figures, (PI. IX. fig. 2, and 

 PI. X. fig. 3) seated cross-legged, in postures of profound meditation. 



