
— 
1865.] Report of the Archeological Survey, 183 
will, however, manage to have them examined at the end of the 
ensuing season. 
215. The most important of the Buddhist ruins is an irregular 
shaped mound, about 1,000 feet square, from the centre of which 
rises a large Stwpa of solid brick-work, which the people call 
chhatr. I have already identified this with the great Stwpa which 
was built over the spot where Buddha converted the Serpent King. 
It is surrounded by eight smaller mounds, of which four would 
appear to be the ruins of Stupas, and three of temples, whilst one 
only is doubtful. Now? Hwen Thsang describes the great Stupa 
as having on one side of it four small Stwpas, which account agrees 
exactly with the position of the four small mounds above men- 
tioned. Ihave no doubt, therefore, as to the identity of the chhatr 
mound with the Stwpa of Hwen Thsang, although I was unable 
to discover any certain trace of the tank called the Ndga-hrada, 
or “serpent pond” by the Chinese pilgrim. It is quite possible, 
however, that a tank may once have existed on the south-west side, 
where the ground is still very low. 
216. The great ruins called Chhaty is a mass of solid brick- 
work, 40 feet in height above the fields, and 30 feet in diameter 
at top. The original building was a hemisphere of 50 feet diame- 
ter, which was raised upon a base or plinth 15 feet in height. At 
some later period an outer casing, 12} feet thick, was added, 
which increased the diameter to 75 feet, and the height of the 
crown’ of the hemisphere to 52} feet. Allowing two-sevenths of 
the diameter for the height of the cupola or pinnacle, which is 
the proportion observed in the Sanchi bas-reliefs, the total height 
of the original Stwpa would have been 57 feet, and that of 
the later Stwpa 77 feet. I made several superficial excavations 
around the base in the hope of finding some portions of the stone 
railings with which the Stwpa was most probably surrounded, but 
without success. I still believe, however, that there must have been 
the usual Buddhist railings around this Stupa, and that a further 
search would probably bring some of the pillars to light. I found, 
however, a number of curved wedge-shaped bricks, that must have 
belonged to a circle of between 15 and 16 feet in diameter, and which, 
I presume, are the remains of the cupola, 
