160 Antiquities of the Cuttack Hills. [No. 3, 



art. There are inscriptions on the stone behind the shoulders, 

 and in one instance near the feet. I found it difficult either to 

 decipher or to copy them, but I thought the style of writing to be 

 the same as I found in another part of the hill and which will be 

 noticed below. In front of this temple, there is a brick pillar. It 

 is round, but encircled at places by raised rings, and has also small 

 niches, and projecting bricks intended for ascension. 



On the higher peak and on the highest point of the Nalti Griri, 

 at an elevation of about 1000 feet above the surrounding country, 

 I found the ruins of a round building. Three circular layers of 

 stone are alone to be seen now, which formed the base of the 

 temple. In the middle of this platform, there are traces of three 

 other layers, and a number of cut stones lie scattered round it, 

 among which I found a slab, bearing an inscription often lines. I 

 had not time enough to copy the inscription, but I found no diffi- 

 culty in removing it to my tent, and hope to submit it to the Society 

 shortly. 



About five hundred feet below the above point on the western 

 slope of the hill, there is a place called the " Hathi-khal" or the 

 elephant hole or cave. I have no doubt there was formerly a large 

 cave cut in the rock at this place, the roof of which must have 

 come down, the hill itself having been disturbed by an earthquake 

 whence the tradition at this place of its being cursed. I saw six 

 figures of Buddha of the same size and height, standing in a line, 

 portions of their legs up to the knee having gone down or been 

 filled up by the fall of the cave, in front of which they must origi- 

 nally have stood. These figures are four feet in height (from knee 

 to head) and cut in slabs of sandstone, two feet three inches in 

 breadth. They appeared to be very old, and enveloped in milk- 

 white moss that had very nearly filled up the lines of an 

 inscription which, after some difficulty, I succeeded in recovering 

 from one of the slabs. The inscription contains the Buddhist 

 creed Ye dharmaVhetu, &c, in the Kutila character. 



A few yards from the above figures I found a broken pedestal 

 ornamented with two lions-couchant with a lotus in the middle, on 

 which a Devi was sitting whose feet and dress up to the waist 

 only were visible. The pedestal is elegantly cut and exhibits a 





