18 H. Cousens —Report on the Boria or Lahha Medi Stupa. [No. 2, 
At the foot of the southern slopes of Girnar whose precipitous 
cliffs rise a short distance to the east of Junagadh, is a small secluded 
valley—an amphitheatre among the hills—almost entirely surrounded by 
the latter. It is about six miles from Junagadh, and the only path to it 
leads for some distance along the course of the river, past the celebrated 
Asoka Rock, and crossing an intervening spur, debouches at once into it. 
It is thickly wooded, and the bush and scrub, with a good sprinkling of 
larger trees, climb the hill sides to near their summits. At every turn 
in the path, lovely glimpses of the surrounding scenery are seen through 
the foliage, and many a charming view is further enhanced by its vivid 
reflection in an occasional pool in the watercourses crossed in the way. 
The great rugged sides of Gfirnar, with its everlasting rocks, kissed by 
the lingering rays of the rosy sunset, and begirdled with a cloak of 
varied tinted foliage, now fading into the softest pearly greys, is a pic¬ 
ture one loves to linger before. Around us, beside this old patriarch 
among hills, we have in the soath-east the heights of Gadesing, crowned 
by its ruined fort, on the south-west Datar-no-dongar, with the hills 
of Makhan Kundi, Taktakgiyo, Sazadiari, and Pavandhoda between, 
and the low pass on the eastern slopes of Girnar known as Surya-kund- 
ki-godi. In the middle of this beautiful valley, then, thus cut off from 
the outside world, upon a rocky knoll, stands the great mound known 
as the Boria Stupa or the Lakha Medi (the abode of Lakha). The 
ground on every side between it and the western edge of the valley is 
strewn with fragments of bricks, and here and there are small mounds 
which look much like the remains of little stupas. Directly eastward 
of the big stupa , and on the eastern edge of the valley, is the small 
temple of Bor Devi, so called from the Bor trees which surround it. 
On our arrival at the stupa we found that a relic casket had been 
unearthed. The digging that led to its discovery is described in Mr. 
Campbell’s notes attached, from which it would appear that the depth 
of the casket from the summit of the mound was 39 feet. During the 
excavation the top of the mound had been cut off to a depth of 22 feet, 
and a trench 20 feet wide at the top had been driven from the east 
straight into the centre. The sides and floor of the cutting shew, that 
the whole stupa was built of close horizontal layers of good brickwork 
in herring-bone bond, and it is a solid compact mass. The bricks are 
of the old Buddhist type, measuring 18" X 15" X 3". Whatever the 
state of the upper portion, which has been cleared away, may have 
been, the lower part now standing is solid enough to allow a perpen¬ 
dicular cutting to be carried down without fear of the sides falling in. 
During the excavation various slabs and fragments of sculptured 
stone (Junagadh freestone) were met with, most of them having been 
