A LITTLE KNOWN PROVINCE OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE. 14-5 



stood in the way of perfection. The ornament on many modern', 

 temples at Puri is very Buddhistic. Hindu ideas of sanctity of 

 images are very strange, as shown, for example, by the difficulty in 

 bringing these gods home. "When the pilgrims who attend for the 

 car festival have left for their own villages, the parsimony of the- 

 priests, in paying too little for the hired labour to bring them backj. 

 was the real cause of such accidents as that to which I have referred, 

 but the native papers, of course, blame the Government. 



Mr. Odling does not give us an idea that the population is a. 

 wealthy one. It is indeed now poor as regards money. I would ask 

 him then whether it was different in ancient times. I think many 

 indications are given that it must have been so ; for example, 

 architecture was in a great state of perfection. We have been told 

 of the town of temples at Bhuvaniswar ; but there is one at Kanarak 

 north of Puri styled the black pagoda, representing the sun-god in his- 

 chariot, in which the carvings in the hardest stone are of wonderf uL 

 skill and richness. Then again the dress or rather the jewellery 

 carved on many of the figures is of a most sumptuous character.. 

 Is it possible that gold to pay for such work was found in some- 

 quantity 1 Is the name of the river north of Balasore, the Suvar- 

 narikha, the river of golden sands, any indication of this ? Is there 

 much promise of other mineral wealth 1 



It is curious how in Orissa, as in other provinces, the remains of 

 the different waves of civilisation which have passed over India stilL 

 exist. Hinduism we still have, and some traces of Buddhism. 

 Mohamedanism made few inroads, but Mr. Odling's reference to the 

 Meruah sacrifice of the Khonds points to the most ancient primitive 

 beliefs. 



Can he tell us whether there is still regret amongst these people- 

 at our extinction of a practice, which is so like that of the Aztecs t 

 Would not this, like Sutti and similar practices, revive if ever 

 Hindus became paramount ? 



There are one or two further points which may interest, as, for 

 example, when I was last at Balasore, I was shown the site for a new 

 hospital which included part of the land on which our first factory in- 

 Bengal stood, close by the Dutch monuments, which are those to- 

 which I suppose Mr. Odling refers — although there are some very 

 curious and very large ones, with English names in a small graveyard 

 at a little distance off — amongst them one to Mr. Ricketts, whom he.- 



