50 
Gaur Dae Bysack — Notes on a Buddhist Monastery [No. 1, 
Notes on a Buddhist Monastery at Bhot Bag&n {Howrah), on two rare 
and valuable Tibetan MSS. discovered there, and on Puran Gir 
Gosaiin, the celebrated Indian A'chdrya and Government Hmissary 
at the Court of the Tashi Lama, Tibet, in the last century. — By 
Gaur Das Bysack. 
( With two Plates.) 
Opposite to Calcutta, on the right bank of the river, is the village 
of Ghusari. 1 Ascending the flight of steps of a ghat at this place, a 
visitor is struck at the sight of a range of temples, behind which is a 
building of a peculiar structure, exhibiting marks of old construction 
■with subsequent additions. It is a two-storied house of worship with 
a boundary wall, having in its centre a gateway facing the river, and 
affording a passage into the main quadrangle within the enclosure. 
Tho special feature in the construction is the absence of arches, and its 
partaking of a Tibetan character. A garden is attached to it, and the 
lands which formed part of the demesnes are let out to tenants on per- 
manent leases ; on one of the holdings, stands the “ Goosery Cotton Mill.” 
The following is a detailed description of tho building for which I am 
indebted to the kindness of Mr. W. B. Gwyther, A. R. I., B. A., of 
the Public Works Department, who very readily complied with my 
request to visit the place and examine the structure. (See Plate I.) 
“ The structure, in the main, consists of the principal courtyard 
“ for religious, and a back-yard, for domestic purposes. The former is 
“ towai’ds and entered from the riverside by the gateway which forms 
“ the subject of one of the sketches. A casual visitor arriving at the 
“ ghat would, on glancing at this face of the structure, find his atten- 
“ tion first drawn to the portion over the entrance where the primitive 
“ trabeated form of construction is now seen in its original character, 
“ despoiled of courso to a great extent by the hand of time.” 
“ Without speculating upon the details and forms in any minute 
“ degree, it must be expected, from the history and associations of the 
“ Tibetan visitors who established this place of worship, that a feeling 
1 Ghumrir (ydml- sqm sometimos spelled ghusurir, Ed.), ‘the 
turning jut of Ghusari,’ and the Vishdla/eshmir* daha or Visdldleshir f daha 'the 
whirlpool of disastrous water’ or 'whirlpool of the broad eyed (Durga),’ are 
the Soylla and Charybdis of the Hnghli river between Calcutta and Barrackpnr, 
the maelstrom being near Titaghar. The dangers in doubling the tydmk are illus- 
trated in the familiar song of the East Bengal boatmen. They are now not so much 
dreaded as in former days. 
* Visha ‘ water,* alakshmi f misfortune.’ 
t Yiiala , large,’ akshi ‘ eye.’ 
