78 
THE ANTIQUITIES OF MUKHALINGAM. 
supplied by tlie Kshetramdhdtinya as well as by the inscrip- 
tions on the temples, and some copper-plates. As I be- 
lieve that no such inquiry has yet been made inasmuch 
as the very existence of these temples has not been 
brought to the notice of arch^ologists, it is desirable that 
I should state here the facts that have enabled me to come 
to the conclusions that I have arrived at. 
15. The following account of the origin of the temple 
is condensed from the Kshetramdhdtmya. Brahma, the 
creator, who is deprived of his divinity, goes to Mahendra- 
giri, a mountain in the Kalinga country, a cursed tract, 
unworthy to be the abode of an Arya. He undergoes 
there a severe penance. Siva, who is pleased with his 
austerities, offers a boon. Brahma requests him to sanctify 
the Kalinga country by his presence on the bank of the 
Vamsadhard river, to which Siva assents. The Fates so 
contrive that certain Gandharvas are cursed by Vdviadrua, 
for an act of youthful indiscretion with the Savara women, 
to be born as Savaras, but they are to regain their former 
status on seeing the divine form of Siva which is in time 
to be revealed to them. So the Gandharva-Savaras live in 
the forest of madhuka trees, to the west of the Maheudra 
Hill, on the bank of the Vamsadhard, near the city of 
Jayanta. The Savara chief has a wife and a Saiva concu- 
bine of SrUailam. The two women quarrel for a madhuka 
tree, which the chief cuts off ; when lo ! the divine light of 
Siva issues forth from the hollow of the broken trunk 
Brahma,, Vishnu, and all the gods come to glorify the 
event. Brahmd brings there ten millions of lingas. 
VisvaJmrmd builds beautiful temples of gold and gems. In 
course of time (the book says in a prophetic strain) as the 
Kaliyvga approaches, the gold and gems of the temples 
will be stolen and the god will be without any shelter ; 
when a king of Kafaka, a descendant of Vishimvardhana, 
