82 



DESCRIPTIVE REMARKS ON 



IV. 



DESCRIPTIVE REMARKS ON THE SEVEN 

 PAGODAS. 



CHAPTER I. 



GUIDE TO THE SEVEN PAGODAS. 



Mamallapura, now more commonly called on the spot 

 Mavalivaram, or " The Seven Pagodas," lies nearly 30 

 miles south of Madras on the strip of sand, about a mile 

 wide, between the sea-shore and the East Coast Canal. The 

 latter has been recently made along the hollow which appears 

 to have been formerly an extensive creek or backwater ; con- 

 nected with the open sea probably at the mouth of the Palar 

 River, which rises in the eastern uplands of Mysore and, 

 after flowing past Vellore, Arcot, and Conjeveram (Kaiici- 

 puram) falls into the sea at Sadras (Sadurangapatna) a few 

 miles south of Mavalivaram, which is supposed to have once 

 been a flourishing seaport town. 



That the place was once largely inhabited is shown by the 

 whole plain being strewn with pieces of pottery, old coins, 

 and other relics of a civilized population. Here and there 

 are mounds of debris covered by the drift sand which is 

 blown up from the beach by the sea-breezes in the Spring. 



The most remarkable natural feature of the place however 

 is the rock or rocky hill, nearly half a mile (700 yards) long 

 from north to south and 250 yards wide from east to west, 



