223 
1872.] A. M. Broadley — The Buddhistic Remains of Bilidr. 
flight of three steps exactly ten feet in length. The first court was of very 
considerable proportions, fifty feet by twenty-six, and was covered by a stone 
roof supported by a series of twelve large pillars. These columns rested first 
on a rough pedestal of unhewn stone which disappeared beneath the floor, 
and then on a cruciform base, also separate from the pillar itself, but joined 
to it by a stone plug six inches long, one end of which pierced the former, 
while the other was imbedded in the centre of the latter. Two of these 
pillars were recovered by me intact, and are of the most elaborate workman- 
ship. The cruciform base measures three feet each way, and the four arms 
are uniformly carved with a curious pattern. The shaft itself is seven feet 
eight inches high, of which one foot nine inches are taken up in the capital. 
The upper half of this consists of a simple square, and the latter of an oval 
band of a rich lace-like pattern. The rest of the pillar, down to one foot 
ten inches of the lower end, where it again has a third base of oblong shape, 
is oval, having a circumference of three feet eight inches, and ornamented at 
regular distances by two bands of carving about twelve inches wide. Each 
band consists of two parts, the first exhibiting a row of flowers strongly 
resembling heraldic roses, and the second a series of gargoyle-like faces* 
which form a peculiar feature in Buddhist ornamentation, and which is 
employed and re-produced at every possible opportunity. On each side of 
this covered terrace, but several feet behind it, is an elaborate brick mould- 
ing, fourteen feet long and six 'and a half feet high, surmounted by a narrow 
terrace of the same material, approached on either side by three steps from 
the pillared court. This moulding has sixteen turns, and is of the most 
graceful appearance. On each side of the entrance court, and above .the nar- 
row terrace, the main wall is still standing ten feet high. On tho west side 
of the court was the great entrance door, which was uncovered by me perfect, 
but was thrown down in my absence by the workmen, who imagined I wish- 
ed to remove the whole edifice to Bihar. This doorway was of extraordi- 
nary beauty, and measured twenty feet across and more than twelve feet 
high. It was composed of a series of eighteen slabs, nine on each side, gra- 
dually lessening in height towards the centre, where they terminated in a 
narrow portal, hardly three feet wide, and surmounted by a heavy slab de- 
corated with elaborate carving. The whole of this enormous mass of sculp- 
ture rested on three great stones, two and a half feet square and twenty -two 
feet in length. Each slab was joined to the next one by a strong iron 
clamp, and the upper portion of each was joined to the lower in the same 
manner. The first two stones on cither side were devoi(1 of il11 ornament 
and were placed nearly a foot behind the other slabs. The next pillar of the 
series (or rather what remained of it intact) was eight feet in height, twelve 
inches broad, and of enormous thickness. The first slab was of light brown 
* See plate, Proceedings, Asiatio Society, Bengal, February, 1872, p. 32. 
