202 
AKCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MlR. [Extra No. 2, 
Tlie ancient temple of Varaha which seems to have been one of the 
most famous shrines of Kasmir, is repeatedly 
Temple of Varaha. me ntioned by Kalhana. According to the 
tradition of the local Purohitas it stood near the site of the present 
Kotitirtha , at the western extremity of the town and close to the river- 
bank. Some ancient Liiigas and sculptures found at the Kotitirtha 
may have originally belonged to the temple. The destruction of its 
sacred image is noted by Jonaraja in the reign of Sikandar But^hikast. 1 
A short distance below this site where a steep spur runs down to 
the river-bed, stood the ancient watch-station, still known as Drang , 
which has already been described. A bridge over the Vitasta existed 
at Varahamula already in old times. 2 * 
It cannot be doubted that Varahamula is a very ancient place. 
It enjoyed the advantage of being on the right river-bank, which is 
followed by the old route down the Vitasta Valley. But on the other 
hand the contracted nature of the ground which it occupies, between the 
hill-side and the river, did not favour the development of a large town. 
On this account we find that the twin town of Huskapura built on the 
open pin in of the opposite bank was in ancient times the larger of the 
two places. 
Huskapura is mentioned by Kalhana as the town built by King 
Huska, the Turuska, and is often referred to 
Huskapura. . * . , \ ,. „ T , 
m his subsequent narrative. 6 Its name sur¬ 
vives in that of the small village of Uskiir , situated about two miles to 
the south-east of the present Baramula. The identity of Uskiir and 
Huskapura, correctly noted already by General Cunningham, 4 * is well- 
known to STinagar Pandits, and is indicated also by an old glossator of 
the Rajatarangini. Kalhana in one passage distinctly includes Hus¬ 
kapura within Varahak^etra, i.e ., the sacred environs of the Varaha 
Tirtha, 6 and the same location is implied by numerous other references 
in the Chronicle. 
King Huska of the Rajatarangini has long ago been identified with 
the Indo-Scythian ruler who succeeded Kaniska, the Huviska of the 
inscriptions and the OOHpKI of the coins. The foundation of Huska¬ 
pura falls thus probably within the first century of our era. Hiuen 
Tsiang, as we saw, spent his first night after passing through the 
western entrance of the kingdom, in a convent of Hn-se-kia-lo or Hus¬ 
kapura. Alberuni too knows ‘ Ushkara,’ opposite to Baramula. 
1 Compare Jonar. 600. 
2 See Rajat. viii. 413. 
8 For detailed references as to Huskapura : Uskiir, see Rajat. i. 168 note. 
4 See Anc. Geogr., pp. 99 sq. 
6 See vi. 186. 
