35 
1877.] Chandrasekhara Banurji —The Kaimur Range. 
skirts hanging down to within two inches of the knee, a pair of boots or 
buskins, a girdle, and a sword-belt hanging towards the left. 
The chief interest of the place is, however, centered in the temple on 
the highest point of the hill. The spire of the temple has fallen, and its 
sides are partly buried in debris. But its cornice is visible, and it is 
supported on a frieze, consisting of a nice range of tiger-heads. The fierce 
eyes of these faces rather ill-assort with the moustaches twisted up 
to a point over stretched and slender lips which give them altogether a 
grotesque appearance. The front paws are also visible, contracted to the 
point of a start. 
All the doors of the temple, except the northern one, have been blocked 
up by the debris of the fallen porch. The square at this door is nicely carved, 
and entering through it we come to the shrine. The shrine is an octagonal 
spire, supported in the middle by four pillars with the same number of 
sides. The roof above consists of big stone slabs. Within the four pillars 
there is a standing block representing the phallus or Siva, but it has the 
peculiarity of having four faces carved on its four sides, looking towards the 
four doors of the temple. The temple itself appears square outside, but the 
walls have been thickened to an octagon inside. The eastern recess of this 
thick wall is occupied by a handsome equestrian statue of the goddess 
Mundalesvari. She rides triumphant on a buffalo, in the attitude of a man, 
and holds fast with her left hand one of its horns, to restrain the brute. Her 
ornaments are rich—richer is her hair, which is turned up in the shape of 
a nice chignon. Altogether the sculptor has succeeded in imparting to her 
face a vigour which is not usually observed in figures in old Hindu temples. 
Indeed, the great peculiarity of the images on the Mundesvari hill is the 
elongated oval cut of the face, which contrasts with the square flats of the 
Orissan artists. 
There are different slabs on the slopes in which inscriptions may be 
found. The letters are peculiar, neither resembling the Devanagari, nor the 
Pali. But the most remarkable among them is to be found on a tongue of 
the hill, appropriately known to the natives as the Jibh Devi. Westward 
from the summit, the descent to this tongue lies over precipitous boulders, 
the crevices having thorny plants and poor grass. Going down the 
hill we came to this projecting rock, the so-called Jibh Devi, about 16 feet 
broad, protruding like a tongue about 30 feet from the hill. There is a 
broad crack at the point of projection over which one has to leap. It 
overhangs a wild country, bounded on all sides with wilder hills, and 
overlooking the plains some 300 to 350 feet deep. Over this narrow 
slice there are devices of plants and leaves. Inscriptions run across 
these plants, and they may well deserve the patience of the antiquarian. 
The letters are, however, so few and detached, that the information 
