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Of the city of Bhobaneser, and the worship of Mahadeo. Nearly all but 



the great temple, have been long since completely deserted ; and the esta- 

 blishment kept up there, is on a very small and inadequate scale, under the 

 patronage of the Khurda Rajas, whose ancestors granted all the lands and 

 endowments, by which the brahmins attached to it now subsist. It is oc- 

 casionally visited by the Bengalee pilgrims on their way to Jagannath, 

 and every year, at the Sheo Ratri, a considerable collection of Desi, or 

 country pilgrims, are gathered together under its walls, to hold a mela or 

 fair. 



The ruins of two extensive palaces, belonging to the Rajas of the Kesa- 

 fi line, are shewn at or near Bhobaneser. There is likewise a very superb 

 tank, lying north of the temple, called the BinduSagar, which forms a con- 

 spicuous object in the scenery of the place, and another, faced with stone, 

 on the east, remarkable for its being bordered all round with rows of 

 small antique looking temples, about thirty on a side, just large enough 

 to contain the human figure in a sitting posture, in which sixty female as- 

 cetics, who had devoted themselves to the worship of Devi, are said to have 

 lived and died many ages back. Amongst the curiosities of the environs, 

 the attention of the visitor is generally directed to a huge figure of the 

 lingam, forty feet in height, at the temple of Bhaskaresar Mahadeo. It is 

 formed of a single shaft of sandstone, situated partly in a subterranean 

 vault, and part rising into the centre of a great tower, of the usual form, 

 which is said to have been built round this impure and degrading object 

 of worship, after it had been set up and consecrated. 



About five miles west of Bhobaneser, near the village of Jagmara, in the KUana-hi; 

 Char Sudhi Khandaitiof Khurda, and still within the limits of the khetr, a 

 group of small hills occur, four in number, from one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred feet in height, which present many objects of interest and curio- 

 sity. These hills called severally the Udaya Giri, Dewal Giri, Nil Gin 

 and Khand Giri, (by which latter name the spot is now generally designate 



