1 67.] Ancient Hindu Ruins in Garhwal. 155 



admirable preservation in which the temple still is, and the beauty 

 of the carving on it, and the surrounding fragments, have induced me 

 to make sketches of the most remarkable portions. I send herewith 

 zincographs* from my sketches, trusting that with the following brief 

 account, they may prove interesting to the Asiatic Society. 



In January last, while in the Chandipahar Sevaliks and near the 

 site of an ancient but now ruined village called Mandhal, almost six 

 miles east of Hurdwar, I found among the grass the carved figure of 

 a Bull ; following up my discovery I came upon a small temple of 

 exquisite carving and design, the figures on the frieze in fine alto- 

 relievo and the whole arrangement of the facade perfect. 



Round the temple, which was eight feet in height and six or eight 

 feet square, were scattered a number of carved slabs, a group of 

 wrestlers, Ganesh with his elephant head, and some gods under 

 canopies so very Buddhist, as to remind me of " Sakya Thubha" on 

 the drawings of the monks of Zauskar and Ladakh. 



The temple itself stands on a platform or " chabutara," twenty feet 

 square, and at each side is a trench or drain which was probably intended 

 to carry off the water, and leave the flat square dry for worshippers. 

 Beautifully executed heads terminate the trench at the four corners : 

 on the south a woman's head and bust, at the west a lion, at the 

 north a ram ; the east corner is broken and defaced. These heads in 

 form and execution brought to my mind most vividly " the Gargoyles" 

 on the gothic Cathedrals of Europe. 



Scattered about were two or three large capitals and shafts of pillars, 

 evidently belonging to a building of far larger dimensions than the 

 small one now standing. The frieze and doorway faces the south ; 

 the northern door is much plainer, but I would draw attention to 

 one of the pillars shewing a stag under a tree which is identical 

 with the stag and tree on a silver coin found by me two years 

 ago near Beirut in the Saharanpur district, and attributed to the 

 Maharaja Amojdha ; the coin is now in the possession of Babu 

 Kajendralala Mitra of Calcutta. Inside the temple lies a square carved 

 slab, cracked by a fall, bearing a fine three-headed deity. This 

 three-headed god occurs on most of the slabs throughout the 

 Terai, and is conspicuous on the lingam found near Lai Dhang. 

 * These zincographs may be seen in the Library of the Asiatic Society. Ed. 



