2 
L. A. Waddell —Discovery of Buddhist Remains 
[No. 1, 
during the rains, and a celebrated place of pilgrimage in olden times, 
very fnlly described by the Buddhist pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang* in the 
seventh century A. D. 
Remains being destroyed by quarriers. —It is a pity that the site has 
remained so long undiscovered, for the unfortunate proximity of the 
hill to the railway, and the excellent quality of the rock (granite) have 
induced the railway authorities to use the hill as a quarry for ‘ road- 
metal ’; and only about six years ago two of the most interesting of the 
rock-sculptures were in this way demolished and the fragments further 
broken up and carried off as ballast; and the blasting operations have 
now extended to within a few feet of the more important rock-sculptures 
and markings still remaining. Many of the inscribed statues also have 
been carried off from time to time by the overseers or contractors super¬ 
vising the quarrying operations—one of these in particular, a Mr. S—— 
is reported to have carried off, about thirty-six years ago, a full cart-load 
of the best preserved statuettes, the ultimate destination of which cannot 
now be traced. Sufficient evidence, however, still exists to place the 
identification of the site beyond all dispute, and I am glad to have been 
the means of rescuing these ancient remains, more especially the rock- 
markings, from imminent destruction.f 
Hiuen Tsiang''s description of the site .—The I-lan-na-po-fa-to ( Hira - 
nya-parvata) country of Hiuen Tsiang is held by the recognized autho¬ 
rities Julien,| Fergusson§ and Sir A. Cunningham|| to have coincided ap¬ 
proximately with the hilly portion ( i. e., the eastern half) of the modern 
district of Mungir (Monghyr) in the province of Bihar, with its capital 
at the site of the present town of Monghyr. In describing this country, 
Hiuen Tsiang writes :— 
“ On the western frontier of the country (I-lan-na-po-fa-to), to the 
# Si-yu-Tci, Buddhist Records of the Western World, translated from the 
Chinese of Hinen Tsiang by S. Beal, Yol. II, pp. 190-91, London, 1884. 
f Since writing the above I have again visited the site and find that further quar¬ 
rying operations have been extensively carried on since the submission of this report 
to the Society. The western cliff, bearing numerous chaitya figures, has been in great 
part removed by blasting, only the fractured bases of a few of the chaityas still 
remaining. Also at the south-east margin of the hill, where the rock was highly 
polished and contained ancient markings, most of this surface has been removed 
by blasting. And a blast had been put in within two yards of Buddha’s footprint, but 
had miscarried in explosion. All this destruction has occurred subsequent to my 
report to the Societ}\ 
t Memoires sur les Contrdes Occidentales, traduits du Chinois, Paris, 1853. 
§ Jour. Roy. As. Soc ., Vol. Yi, p. 230. 
|| Ancient Geography of India, p. 476j and Arch. Survey of India Reports, Yol. 
XY, p. 16. f Beal, loc. cit., Yol. II, p. 190. 
