JOURNAL 
OF THE 
ASIATIC SOCIETY. 
Part I.—HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e. 
No. IV.—1874. 
The Temple of Jaysagar, Upper Asam.—By J. M. Foster, F. S. A., 
Nazir ah, Ascim. 
(With four plates.) 
This temple, situated on the north bank of an immense tank, two and 
a half miles south of Sibsagar (the ancient Kang pur) in Upper Asam, 
Lat. 26° 54' N., Lon. 94° 40 ; E., is not remarkable, when compared with 
many similar edifices in Central India, for its antiquity, ornamentation, or 
historical associations, but is of considerable interest from its being pro¬ 
bably the most perfect specimen of stone architecture existing in Upper 
Asam, and its having been erected at the time when the Hindu religion 
was first firmly established in the country, which was for once in its history 
in a state of peace under an energetic and competent ruler. 
The occasional earthquakes, the destructive influences of the weather 
and the pipal tree, combined with the fact that no proper plans or drawings 
of most of the ancient edifices in A'sam have been made, rendered it desir¬ 
able that some memorial of this temple should be preserved, as its destruction 
at a not very remote period may be anticipated. The cold weather of 
1873-4 having set in, a small camp was formed, the jungle was removed from 
the edifice as far as practicable, and careful measurements were made of the 
most interesting parts of it. The photograph by Mr. H. A. Coombes, 
Superintendent of Police for this district, gives a very fair idea of the edifice 
and its decorations (vide plates). 
The tank upon the bank of which this building is situated is very large, 
even for Asam, its dimensions according to the Revenue Survey map being 
900 by 650 yards, the ’ bund’ being about 120 feet wide on the top, and its 
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