1850.] 



Sircar of Pytun. 



363 



monachisin, or professing doctrines repugnant to the times, it gradu- 

 ally succumbed to the debasing popular forms of Hindooism, that fi- 

 nally superceded it ; this followed the cruel persecutions, originated 

 by Sankar Acharya about the 9th century, prior to which it would 

 appear, a species of compromise had been entered into by the apos- 

 tate Jains, which allowed them to linger on after the final expulsion 

 of that faith, they had deviated from : their season of triumph was 

 however but of short duration, and about the 12th century, gave way 

 entirely to the system of Hindooism that now prevails. With these 

 preliminary remarks, we proceed to the description of the caves ; 

 approaching them from Aurungabad, the western ones are first ar- 

 rived at* which we will commence to examine. 



First Group. 



A smart scramble up a steep rocky foot path, leads to a terrace in 

 the hill side, half buried by rocks and earth that have fallen from 

 above : much of it has also crumbled away ; after making good our 

 footing, we become aware of the existence of several caves, whose 

 entrances were not visible from below. Above this first terrace, at 

 the distance of about fifty feet, another ledge or terrace is perceived, 

 in equally a ruinous state, and also having caves opening on it ; their 

 entrances are choked up, by the successive deposits of muddy streams 

 flooding their interior every monsoon. This upper terrace measures 

 70 feet in length, and 15 in breadth, having apparently three caves 

 leading from it : a partial attempt at clearing away the rubbish and 

 sandy earth from one of them, showed the sculpture to be of Bud- 

 dhist character, and with this 1 was forced to rest content, as to have 

 removed the obstruction, would have required more time and labour, 

 than was at my command. The communication with the terrace be- 

 neath, was buried under rubbish ; here we find four caves, the in- 

 teriors of which have been sufficiently cleared, as to enable the en- 

 tire characters of the sculpture being described ; commencing with 

 the western cave, we shall designate it No. 1 and so on with the 

 rest. 



No. 1, is a small cave, consisting of an anteroom, vestibule, and 

 sanctuary, with a passage around it. The entrance is nearly closed 

 by bushes and rock fallen from above, leaving a narrow space just 

 sufficient to crawl through on hands and knees. In the half choked 

 anteroom, Buddhist figures are seen arranged right and left on the 



