194 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MlR. 
[Extra No. 2, 
series of ruined structures. Among these three great buildings attract 
attention. As an indication of their size it may be mentioned that the 
ruined mound which marks the central shrine of the northernmost 
building has a diameter of nearly 300 feet. Though it consists now 
only of a confused heap of massive blocks it still rises to a height of 
over 30 feet from the ground. The enclosing quadrangle which can 
also be traced, measures about 410 feet square. At some distance 
from this group of ruins there is another smaller one at the south¬ 
eastern extremity of the plateau now known as Gurdan. 
I must refer for a more detailed account of these ruins and their 
relative position to the Note on Parihasapura, F , appended to my 
translation of the Chronicle. Here it will suffice to point out that the 
four great temples of Visnu Parihasakesava, Muktakesava, Mahavaraha, 
Govardhanadliara as well as the Bdjavihara with its colossal image of 
Buddha, which Kalhana mentions as Lalitaditya’s chief structures at 
Parihasapura, must all be looked for among these ruins. Their ex¬ 
tremely decayed condition makes an attempt at detailed identification 
difficult. 
Still less we can hope to trace now the position of the numerous 
shrines, Lingas, Viharas, etc., which are mentioned by Kalhana as 
having been erected at the king’s favourite residence by his queens and 
court. 1 One of the great ruins of the northern group shows features 
characteristic of a Vihara and may be the Rajavihara. Some clue is 
also furnished by the name Gurdan attaching to the isolated ruins 
above mentioned. Gurdan is the common Kasmiri form of the name 
Govardhana, and hence points to these ruins being the remains of the 
temple called Govardhanadhara. 
The state of utter destruction in which the ruins of Parihasapura, 
are now found, is easily accounted for by the 
history of the site. Parihasapura ceased to be 
the royal residence already under the son of 
its founder. The Chronicle distinctly records of King Vajraditya that 
he withdrew the various foundations which his father Lalitaditya had 
made there. 2 When a century later King Avantivarman effected his 
great regulation of the Vitasta, the bed of the river and its junction with 
the Sindhu was diverted to Shad 1 pur, nearly three miles away from Pari¬ 
hasapura. 3 This change must have still more seriously diminished the 
importance of the latter. The ruinous condition into which Parihasa¬ 
pura must have fallen only one and a half centuries after its foundation, 
History of Parihasa¬ 
pura. 
1 See Rdjat. iv. 207-216. 
2 Rdjat. iv. 395. 
8 See above, §§ 70, 71. 
