364 



/Statistics of the 



[No. 38, 



walls io compartments, the seated figures of Buddha having the legs 

 either dependent, or crossed, with the hands invariably placed in an 

 attitude of devotion. The vestibule fronting the sanctuary, has the 

 roof supported by two square pillars, and two pilasters, well sculp- 

 tured. The sanctuary is 14 feet square, and 10 feet high, with the 

 door towards the south, a passage three feet broad passes the whole 

 way round. In front of the door is seated the image of Buddha, 9 feet 

 high as sitting — the legs rest on the expanded calyx of the lotus, and 

 the hands disposed in the usual attitude of contemplation, represented 

 here, by the thumb of the right hand, pressing the little finger of the 

 left : a thin drapery seems to cover a portion of the idol, the folds of 

 which become apparent round the neck, lap, waist and across the 

 thighs, the ends being gathered and grasped in the left hand : neither 

 beard nor mustachoes are visible : the hair of the head is arranged in 

 small conical curls terminating in a roundki,ot or bunch on the summit: 

 the ears hang low, with stretched lobes, pierced in the same manner 

 as seen in the Jogees of the present day : no ornament appears upon 

 the figure, unless a small hemispherical protuberance upon the fore- 

 head, about the size of a marble, deserves the name. The Sinhasun 

 or lion-throne on which the figure is seated, has maned lions right 

 and left supporting the bench : behind are represented several ani- 

 mals, at the base is an elephant crouching, with' his trunk curled 

 up beneath his ^ead ; immediately above him, rests a four-legged 

 animal in a rearing attitude, carrying a human being on his back. 

 He has a neck, scaly like the Dragon, a Goat-like head, with protrud- 

 ing eyes, and four short horns, two curving backwards and two up- 

 right, his tail and claws are like a lion's. This fabulous animal is 

 constantly represented in old Hindoo temples, and at Elloora is seen 

 as one of the non-descript animals supporting Mahadeo's grand hall 

 in Kailas. The head is a favorite ornament to brackets and mullions, 

 and sills and lintels of sanctuaries in brahminical temples ; at the 

 top of all, and on a level with the upper part of the throne, appear 

 the head and shoulders of some open mouthed probiscidean monster 

 forming an elegant scroll-work to the summit of the throne : what 

 it is meant to represent is difficult to say, being a compound of the 

 Dinothreium with its tapir like proboscis, the Crocodile, and Hip- 

 popotamus. Winged praying figures kneel on either side of the 

 head of the idol, behind which appears a nimbus. Over the image 

 in each corner, are seated figures of Buddha in high relief, and the 



