54 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MIR. [Extra No. 2, 
It would be easy to multiply examples showing the strange vicissi¬ 
tudes to which old topographical names are exposed at the hands of the 
local Purohita. But the explanations already given will suffice to prove 
that the topographical data found in Mahatmyas can only then be used 
safely when they are critically sifted and supported by our more reliable 
sources. 
A critical examination of these data is, however, much impeded 
by the difficulty we experience in fixing the exact age of particular 
Mahatmyas and their component portions. 1 Even in the case of ap¬ 
parently old texts modern additions and changes may be suspected, 
while again the most recent concoctions may preserve fragments of 
genuine tradition. 2 In view of these considerations I have not- thought 
it safe to crowd my maps with hundreds of names of petty Tirthas 
as found in the Mahatmyas, but have marked only those pilgrimage 
sites the ancient names of which can be established with certainty. 
1 The difficulty here indicated is increased by the fact that no really old 
manuscripts of Mahatmyas seem to be preserved in Kasmir. MSS. written on 
birch-bark, i.e., earlier than the 17th century, are quite unknown at present. Of the 
numerous paper MSS. I have examined, none seem to me older than two cen¬ 
turies at the utmost. It is probable that this absence of older copies is due to the 
rough usage to which Mahatmya MSS. are exposed when carried about on the 
pilgrimage tours. 
2 I am glad that chance gave me an opportunity of gaining some personal ex¬ 
perience of the mauner in which Mahatmyas are occasionally produced. Some ten 
years ago the Purohitas or Bachbattas of the Gan a patyar quarter in SYinagar reco¬ 
vered an ancient Lihga from a Mosque and began to erect a small shrine for it' near 
the river Ghat of Mal a yar. Guided by a local tradition which, as far as I can judge, 
may be genuine, they believed this to have been the site of the shrine of S'iva 
Vardhamanesa mentioned already in the Rajataranginl (see note ii. 123), The Lihga 
was re-consecrated accordingly by this name. 
In 1891, when examining old sites in this part of the city, I also visited the 
temple of Vardhamanesa then under construction. The interest I showed in the 
old Lihga and in the tradition regarding it, coupled with an appropriate Daksina, 
soon secured me the confidence of the head-Purohita of the little shrine. ‘ Pandit 5 
T.R., a man more intelligent than the average of his fraternity, was not slow to 
confess to me that the Mahatmya of the Tirtha in spe was as yet under preparation. 
Some weeks later when in camp near S'rlnagar, I received the visit of my Purohita 
from Vardhamiinesa’s shrine. He brought me the draft of the new Mahatmya 
and asked my assistance in revising it. 
I found it to consist chiefly of extracts from the Vitastamahatmya. The passages 
dealing with Vardhamanesa and the neighbouring Tirthns within the city had been 
suitably amplified with laudatory verses in the usual Mahatmya style culled from 
other texts. The vested interests of other local shrines had received due recogni¬ 
tion by being included in the Ydtrd of Vardhamanesa. I did what I could to indicate 
the genuine names of these localities. This quasi-antiquarian co-operation does 
not seem to have detracted from the popularity of the new Mahatmya among the 
Bachbattas of Gan a patyar. 
