1865.] Report of the Archeological Survey. 269 
which with Sita-Mai shares the devotions of the villagers, was an 
effectual check against any excavations. This is the more to be re- 
gretted, as the Stupa is said to have been built by Asoka, an at- 
tribution which might have been verified by an exploration of its 
interior. 
355. The figure which the ignorant villagers worship as Stta is 
in reality a statue of Maya Devi, the mother of Sakya Buddha. She 
is represented standing under the Sd/ tree, with her right hand raised 
and holding one of the branches, which is the well known position in 
which she is said to have given birth to Sakya. Her left hand is 
placed on her hip, and there is a parrot perched on her shoulder, The 
statue is 3 feet 4 inches in height. 
XXI.—NIMSAR, OR NIMKAR. 
356. Nimsar is a famous place of pilgrimage on the left bank of 
the Gumli (or Gomati) River, 45 miles to the north-west of Lucknow. 
The Brahmans derive the name from Nimisha, a “twinkling of the 
eye ;” hence Naimisha-saras, or Nimsar, means the pool where in the 
twinkling of an eye the sage Gawra-Mukha destroyed the Asuras. 
The place is also called Nimkhdr, which is formed from Naimisha, 
pronounced Naimikha, and aranya a forest, which becomes Naimikhd- 
ran, and Nimkhar, The Vishnu Purana declares that “he who bathes 
in the Gomati at Naimisha expiates all his sins.” Its popularity is 
therefore very great. It is noticed in the Ayin Akbari as ‘a famous 
large fort, with a great number of idolatrous temples, and a reservoir.” 
This reservoir is called the Chakra-tirtha, and is said to be the place 
where the Chakra, or*“ discus,” of Vishnn fell during the contest with 
the Asuras. The shape of the poolis nearly hexagonal with a 
diameter of 120 feet. The water springs up from below and flows out 
by the south side into a swampy rill about 20 feet broad called the 
Godaveri Nala. The pool is surrounded with a number of shabby 
brick temples and Dharmsdlas, and though the water is clear, yet the 
place looks dirty and uninviting. 
357. The fort of Nimsar is situated on a precipitous mound to the 
north of the holy pool, about 1,100 feet long, from east to west, 
between 300 and 400 feet broad, and 50 feet high. The west end is 
a high cliff called the Shah Bij, or King’s Tower, which overhangs 

