42 
L. A. Waddell —On the site of Buddha s death. 
[No. 1, 
for Padma Sambhava is ‘ the great Rig-dsin while Hung is the usual 
symbolic term for him. And a very common Lamaic hymn connects 
Hungkara with this site, viz .,—“ In the wondrous great shrine of ‘ the 
Pastern Pyre of the Cool-grove ’ dwells the rigdsin Hungkara (or Lo- 
pon Hungkara). Shower on us thy blessings ! Come Guru ! Come demi¬ 
gods ! Come fairies ! Come ! ” No local mention is made of the especial 
saint of Bhotan, viz., Zhab tung Nga-wang Nam-gyal,* which might 
have been expected, had he entered Bhotan by this route. 
The form of Buddhism here represented is of the highly Tantrik and 
demoniacal kind, propagated by Padma Sambhava and now existing 
n the adjoining country of Bhotan. Even this mild form of the image 
of Ogyen Guru has decapitated human heads strung on to his trident. 
The second image is of a more demoniacal kind. The third image is, of 
course, Shakya Muni (Buddha). The fourth image, from its Brah- 
manical name, is Tam-din (Skt. Hayagriva), one of the fiercest forms of 
demigods and an especial protector of Lamaism. The trident is every¬ 
where conspicuous in the hands of the sculptured figures on the walls, 
and Shakti rites are more pronounced here than in any other place in 
Northern India.f It seems therefore quite possible that a visit to 
Xamrup, as well as Kashmir, and the mystic traditions of his own land 
—Udyana (Tib. Ogyen)—may have accounted for the excessively Tantrik 
form of Buddhism professed and taught by Padma Sambhava. 
It is also remarkable to find that the high-priest of the Hajo 
temple, in common with the other high-priests in Kamrup, is called 
Dalail ,—a title which is usually stated to have been conferred on the fifth 
Grand Lama of Lhasa by a Mongolian emperor in the seventeenth century 
A. D.; but the Tibetan equivalent of this title, viz., Gyd-tsho or ‘ ocean ’, 
is known to have been used by grand Lamas previously. As, however, the 
word is Mongolian, it is curious to find it naturalized here and spon¬ 
taneously used by Brahmans. It seems also to be the title of village- 
headman in the adjoining Garo hills. The dalai of this temple is a 
married man, but the office is not hereditary. He is elected by the local 
priests from amongst their number, and holds office till death. He 
resides at the foot of the hill, below the 'temple, in a large house, the 
exterior of which is profusely decorated with the skulls of wild buffalo, 
wild pig, deer, and other big game, &c., like the house of an Indo- 
Chinese chieftain. 
* <3WV ? 5W 5W || 
■f Dancing girls appear to figure to some extent in certain Lamaic ceremonies in 
Bhotan, vide Turner’s ‘Embassy to Tibet’, p. 32. 
f He writes his title vfcr. 
