





























202 Report of the Archeological Survey. [No. 4, 
which‘Fa Hian calls an ox, and Hwen Thsang an elephant. See para. 
342 of this Report. 
247. Admitting, then, that this elephant capital is not improbably 
the same as the lion pillar described by the Chinese pilgrims, we have 
a clue to the site of the great monastery which would seem to have en- 
closed within its walls the great stone pillar as well as the three holy 
staircases. I infer, therefore, that the temple of Bisdri Devi most pro- 
bably occupies the site of the three staircases, and that the three mounds 
which stand to the east of the Nivi-ka-kot may be the remains of the 
three Stupas which were erected on the three other holy spots of Sankisa, 
which have already been described. I made several excavations about 
the different mounds just noticed, but without any success. 
248. I made also a careful but an unsuccessful search for some trace 
of the base of the stone pillar. The people were unanimous that the 
elephant capital had been in its present position beyond the memory — 
of any one now living, and most of them added that it now stands in — 
its original position. But there were a few men who pointed to a spot 
on the west of the village, or Kilah mound, as the original site of the 
capital. Here, indeed, there is an octagonal hole in a small mound, 
from which the bricks of a solid foundation have been removed. If any 
dependence could be placed upon this statement, the mound on which 
the village now stands would almost certainly be the site of the great 
monastery with its three holy staircases, and the three mounds to the 
east of Nivi-ka-kot would still represent the three Stwpas. The main ob- 
jection to our accepting this statement as correct is the apparent want of 
all object in the removal of the elephant capital to any other site. It is, 
however, quite possible that the capital may have been stopped on its 
way to the temple of Mahadeva, near the Néga mound and tank. 
Thetemple of Bisdéri Devi would then be the site of one of the ten ancient 
Brahmanical fanes which are described by Hwen Thsang. Altogether, 
this is perhaps’a more probable solution of the case than that first 
described. re 
249. In his description of Sankisa, Hwen Thsang mentions a 
curious fact, that the Brahmans who dwelt near the great monastery 
were ‘‘ many tens-of-thousands” in number. As an illustration of this 
statement I may mention that the people have a tradition that Sankisw 
was deserted from 1800 to 1900 years ago, and that 1300 years ago, 
