88 An Accotmt of Ancient Excavations, [No. 33, 



spell as a guard ; they also took a man alive and burying him therein, 

 killed him : and if now these depositories be dug (or cut) open, and 

 examined, that ghost* conceals the whole; but if the proprietor 

 come, it will be found ; or if a human sacrifice be offered, it will be 

 found : so they say. Besides they add that in some places treasure 

 has been privately appropriated. 



7. Some term them Pantu-Samdthi, old burying places. This is 

 narrated according to the Puranas. In the days of Marcandeya- 

 rishi^ the son of Mricanda-rishi, the god Siva gave to Marcandeya, 

 sixteen years as the term of his life. At its close Yama came to 

 seize the youth ; Siva said, I have given him to be always sixteen 

 years; and on saying so killed Yama. Then Bhumi-devi (goddess 

 of the earth) not being able to sustain her load, according to the re- 

 commendation of JVarayana, and the four-faced one, f Bi'ahma ) Siva 

 again raised up Yama ; and appointed that men when old should 

 die of themselves. From that time forwards men began of them- 

 selves to die. But their age was very great. They lived to one 

 hundred, two hundred, three hundred years, and upwards. Be- 

 yond that period those who survived continued bed-ridden, and 

 unable to rise. Should the dying breath be drawn in the house, 

 it was thought to be pollution ; and therefore these houses 

 •were constructed apart, and making a bed of baked potters 

 earth, they placed the aged decrepid person, like a ripe fruit, 

 within it : also they put therein provision sufficient for a week ; and 

 then, together with the man lying in it, put it into the cave. As 

 soon as it was known that he was dead, his aged relatives made great 

 lamentations in that place ; and shutting up the cavern (or house) 

 covering it with earth brought from some distance around, they se- 

 cured it well ; and then, after bathing, returned to their houses. 

 Thus some say. This last account seems to be the right one. But 

 concerning these things, among many difi*erent persons, there are 

 many varying opinions. 



At the time when the two foregoing papers were translated, I was as- 

 sisted by Vencata-7'aya-pillai, (since dead) son of a Tamil poet, the au- 

 thor of a popular JVdtaca. J^encata stated that, when he was young, 

 he was employed at Chingleput, connected in some way with the 

 Nanji-roja then staying there. It was in 1821, and his recollection 



♦ Th« shade, or manes. 



