THE ATOULAH KAU MUSJID. 
179 
costliness of its materials to the celebrated Taje 
Mahal. And when we remember that it was built 
full two hundred years before, the expenditure may 
be considered as falling little short of that laid out 
upon the more gorgeous structure. 
The Atoulah kau Musjid is said to have cost se- 
venty lacs of rupees, or upwards of eight hundred 
thousand pounds ; and the view of this grand edifice 
fully justifies the supposition that the amount of the 
outlay has not been exaggerated. This temple is 
highly venerated by all pious Moslems, who hold it 
only second in reverence to the Prophet’s shrine at 
Mecca. We were admitted into the interior without 
the slightest difficulty; for, unlike the Turks, the 
Mahomedans in India are generally extremely cour- 
teous to strangers, and express no repulsive hostility 
to Christians. The most gorgeous portion of the in- 
terior is the central aisle, that rises to a great height, 
being divided into several stories, and covered by a 
vast dome which has a panelled ceiling ornamented 
with very elaborate decorations.* The basement of 
this aisle represents a square rising to the height of 
about twenty feet, when the angles are intersected, 
their number being thereby increased to eight. Here 
is the termination of the first story, round which there 
is a gallery divided into recesses, and adorned with 
the most exquisite tracery. At the termination of 
the second story, where there is also a gallery simi- 
larly decorated, the angles are again intersected and 
increased to sixteen ; each story thus graduating 
towards circularity until the angles fade before the 
* See frontispiece. 
