84 



DESCRIPTIVE REMARKS ON 



on the spot. To be comfortable a tent and servants should 

 be sent in advance, but shelter from sun and rain can be had 

 in some of the vacant mandapams (pillared halls) or in the 

 rock-hewn caves, but they are anything but clean or pleasant 

 resting-places, and a small tent pitched under the trees on 

 the sandy plain to the south of the big tank (Pundarika 

 Pushkarini), south-east of the village, would be far prefer- 

 able. 



The best time of year to visit the spot is probably Novem- 

 ber or December, just after the latter rains and whilst the 

 north-east wind is blowing freshly. But any time of year 

 will suit ; and the sooner after the middle of November the 

 better. 



To ensure early arrival on the morning after departure 

 from Madras the boat should be sent early in the afternoon 

 a few miles down the canal as far as the road goes, and the 

 tourist may then drive there and embark in the cool of the 

 afternoon. Similarly a carriage should be sent to meet him 

 there very early on the morning of his return to Madras. - 



If the visitor's time is very limited, I should recommend 

 his taking the following course. 



On mooring the boat at the usual landing-place, after 

 some early breakfast, a messenger having been sent to the 

 village for a guide and coolies if desired, take the footpath 

 and make directly for the north end of the rocks distant 

 nearly half a mile to the east. Here ascend the slope and 

 examine the rock-cut facade with shrine cells, &c. (A, 21 

 and 22, see map.) 1 



The other objects in this group (A), although close by, are 

 not worth spending any time over : descend the rocks to the 



1 The letters prefixed indicate the principal object in each group, whilst 

 the numbers refer to those entered on the Madias Survey Map, a reduced 

 copy of which accompanies this paper. 



