=The Whirlpools of the Chambal=, _December 3_.—Having halted several
days at Barolli to admire the works of man, we marched to contemplate
the still more stupendous operations of nature—the Chulis, or
‘whirlpools,’ of the Chambal. For three miles we had to hew a path
through the forest for our camels and horses; at the end of which, the
sound of many waters gradually increased, until we stood on the bleak
edge of the river’s rocky bed. Our little camp was pitched upon an
elevated spot, commanding a view over one of the most striking objects
of nature—a scene bold beyond the power of description. Behind us was a
deep wood; in front, the abrupt precipices of the Patar; to the left,
the river expanded into a lake of ample dimensions, fringed with trees,
and a little onward to the right, the majestic and mighty Charmanvati,
one of the sixteen sacred rivers of India, shrunk into such a narrow
compass that even man might bestride it. From the tent, nothing seemed
to disturb the unruffled surface of the lake, until we approached the
point of outlet, and beheld the deep bed the river has excavated in the
rock. This is the commencement of the falls. Proceeding along the
margin, one rapid succeeds another, the gulf increasing in width, and
the noise becoming more terrific, until you arrive at a spot where the
stream is split into four distinct channels; and a little farther, an
isolated rock appears, high over which the whitened spray ascends, the
sunbeams playing on it. Here the separated channels, each terminating in
a cascade, fall into an ample basin, and again unite their waters,
boiling around the masses of black rock, which ever and anon peeps out
and contrasts with the foaming surge rising from the whirlpools
(_chulis_) beneath. From this huge cauldron the waters again divide into
two branches, encircling and isolating the rock, on whose northern face
they reunite, and form another fine fall [715].
A tree is laid across the chasm, by the aid of which the adventurous may
attain the summit of the rock, which is quite flat, and is called ‘the
table of the Thakur of Bhainsror,’ who often, in the summer, holds his
_got_ or feast there, and a fitter spot for such an entertainment can
scarcely be imagined. Here, soothed by the murmur of foaming waters, the
eye dwelling on a variety of picturesque objects, seen through the
prismatic hues of the spray-clouds, the baron of Bhainsror and his
little court may sip their _amrit_, fancying it, all the while, taken
from the churning of the little ocean beneath them.
[Illustration: Whirlpools of the Chambal.]
On issuing from the Chulis, the river continues its course through its
rocky bed, which gradually diminishes to about fifteen feet, and with
greatly increased velocity, until, meeting a softer soil, under
Bhainsror, it would float a man-of-war. The distance from the lake first
described to this rock is about a mile, and the difference of elevation,
under two hundred feet; the main cascade being about sixty feet fall. It
is a curious fact that, after a course of three hundred miles, the bed
of a mighty river like this should be no more than about three yards
broad. The whirlpools are huge perpendicular caverns, thirty and forty
feet in depth, between some of which there is a communication
underground; the orbicular stones, termed roris, are often forced up in
the agitation of these natural cauldrons; one of them represents the
object of worship at Bal-rori. For many miles down the stream, towards
Kotah, the rock is everywhere pierced by incipient Chulis, or
whirlpools, which, according to their size and force, are always filled
with these rounded stones.
From hence the Chambal pursues its course through the plateau (sometimes
six hundred feet high) to Kotah. Here nature is in her grandest attire.
The scene, though wild and rugged, is sublime; and were I offered an
estate in Mewar, I would choose Bhainsror, and should be delighted to
hold my _got_ enveloped in the mists which rise from the whirlpools of
the Chambal [716].
=Gangabheva=, _December 4_.—The carpenters have been at work for some
days hewing a road for us to pass to Gangabheva, another famed retreat
in this wild and now utterly deserted abode. We commenced our march
through a forest, the dog-star nearly south; the river dimly seen on our
right. On our left were the remains of a ruined circumvallation, which
is termed Rana-Kot; probably a _ramna_, or preserve. At daybreak we
arrived at the hamlet of Kherli; and here, our course changing abruptly
to the south-east, we left the river, and continued our journey through
rocks and thickets, until a deep grove of lofty trees, enclosed by a
dilapidated wall, showed that we had reached the object of our search,
Gangabheva.
What a scene burst upon us, as we cleared the ruined wall and forced our
way over the mouldering fragments of ancient grandeur! Gangabheva, or
‘the circle of Ganga,’[11.12.1] appears to have been selected as a
retreat for the votaries of Mahadeva, from its being a little oasis in
this rock-bound valley; for its site was a fine turf, kept in perpetual
verdure by springs.
[Illustration:
TEMPLES OF GANGA BHEVA.
In the Forest of Pachail in Mewar.
_To face page 1766._
]
=The Saiva Temple.=—The chief object is the temple, dedicated to the
creative power; it stands in the centre of a quadrangle of smaller
shrines, which have more the appearance of being the cenotaphs of some
ancient dynasty than domiciles for the inferior divinities. The contrast
between the architecture of the principal temple, and that of the
shrines which surround it, is remarkable. The body of the chief temple
has been destroyed, and with its wrecks a simple, inelegant mandir has
been raised; nor is there aught of the primitive structure, except the
portico, remaining. Its columns are fluted, and the entablature (part of
which lies prostrate and reversed)[11.12.2] exhibits a profusion of rich
sculpture. In front of the temple is a circular basin, always
overflowing, and whence the term _bhevo_ or _bheo_, ‘a circle,’ added to
the name of the spring, which is feigned to be an emanation of _Ganga_.
The surface of its waters is covered with the flower sacred to the
goddess, that particular lotus termed _kamadhan_, which may be rendered
‘the riches of love.’
The chief temple evinces the same skill and taste as the structures of
Barolli, and the embellishments are similar. We here recognize the
groups of Mahadeva and Parbati, with the griffins (_grasda_), the
Naginis, half serpent, half female, etc., though not in so finished a
style as at Barolli. Whatever be the age of this temple (and we found on
the pavement the name of a votary with the date S. 1011, or A.D. 955),
it is many centuries more recent than those which surround it, in whose
massive simplicity we [717] have a fine specimen of the primitive
architecture of the Hindus. Even of these, we can trace varieties. That
of which we present a drawing (_vide_ Plate) shows, in its fluted
columns, a more ambitious, though not a better taste, than the plainer
supporters of the pyramidal roofs, which cover all the ancient temples
of Bal-Siva. Five of these small shrines filled up each face of the
quadrangle, but with the exception of those on the east side, all are in
ruins. The doors of those which possess an enclosed sanctum face inwards
towards the larger shrine: and each has a simple low altar, on which are
ranged the attendant divinities of Mahadeva. The sculpture of all these
is of a much later date than the specimens at Barolli, and of inferior
execution, though far superior to anything that the Hindu sculptor of
modern days can fabricate. They may possibly be of the date found
inscribed (the tenth century), posterior to which no good Hindu
sculpture is to be found. As this spot is now utterly deserted, and the
tiger and wild boar are the only inhabitants that visit the groves of
Gangabheva, I shall be guilty of no sacrilege in removing a few of these
specimens of early art.[11.12.3]
Nature has co-operated with the ruthless Turk in destroying the oldest
specimens of the art. Wherever there is a chink or crevice, vegetation
fixes itself. Of this we had a fine specimen in a gigantic but now
mouldering _kur_, which had implanted itself in the _mandap_ of the
principal temple, and rent it to its foundation. On examining its
immense roots, large slabs were actually encased with the wood, the bark
of which nearly covers a whole regiment of petty gods. This fact alone
attests the longevity of this species of tree, which is said to live a
thousand years. The fountain temple has, in a similar way, been levelled
by another of these kur-trees, the branches of which had gradually
pressed in and overwhelmed it. The Singar-chaori, or nuptial hall, is
also nearly unroofed; and although the portico may yet survive for ages,
time is rapidly consuming the rest.
I should have said that there are two distinct enclosures, an interior
and exterior, and it is the first which is crowded with the noblest
trees, everywhere clustered by the Amarvela, ‘the garland of eternity,’
sacred to Mahadeva, which shades the shrine, overhanging it in festoons.
This is the giant of the parasitic tribe, its main stem being as thick
near the root as my body. I counted sixty joints, each apparently
denoting a year’s growth, yet not half-way up the tree on which it
climbed. That [718] highly-scented shrub, the _ketaki_,[11.12.4] grew in
great profusion near the _kund_, and a bevy of monkeys were gambolling
about them, the sole inhabitants of the grove. The more remote enclosure
contained many altars, sacred to the manes of the faithful wives who
became Satis for the salvation of their lords. On some of these altars
were three and four _putlis_, or images, denoting the number of
devotees. It would require a month’s halt and a company of pioneers to
turn over these ruins, and then we might not be rewarded for our pains.
We have therefore set to work to clear a path, that we may emerge from
these wilds.
[Illustration:
SMALLER GROUP OF TEMPLES AT GANGA BHEVA.
_To face page 1768._
]
=Nauli=, _December 5_; twelve miles.—The road runs through one continued
forest, which would have been utterly impassable but for the hatchet.
Half-way is the boundary between Bhainsror and Bhanpura, also an ancient
appanage of Mewar, but now belonging to Holkar. Nauli is a comfortable
village, having the remains of a fort to the westward.
In the evening I went to visit Takaji-ka-kund, or ‘fountain of the
snake-king.’ It is about two miles east of Nauli; the road, through a
jungle, over the flat highland or Patar, presents no indication of the
object of research, until you suddenly find yourself on the brink of a
precipice nearly two hundred feet in depth, crowded with noble trees, on
which the knotted _kur_ was again conspicuous. The descent to this glen
was over masses of rock; and about half-way down, on a small platform,
are two shrines; one containing the statue of Takshak, the snake-king;
the other of Dhanvantari, the physician, who was produced at the
“churning of the ocean.” The _kund_, or fountain, at the southern
extremity of the abyss, is about two hundred yards in circumference, and
termed _athah_, or ‘unfathomable,’ according to my guide, and if we may
judge from its dark sea-green lustre, it must be of considerable depth.
It is filled by a cascade of full one hundred feet perpendicular height,
under which is a stone seat, sacred to the genius of the spot. At the
west side issues a rivulet, called the Takhaili, or serpentine, which,
after pursuing a winding course for many miles, some hundred feet below
the surface of the Patar, washes the eastern face of Hinglajgarh, and
ultimately joins the Amjar. Ghasi, my native artist, is busy with the
effigy of the snake-king, and Dhanvantari, the Vaidya. From the summit
of the plateau we had a view of the castle of Hinglaj, celebrated in
Lord Lake’s war with the Mahrattas, and which was taken by Captain
Hutchinson with a few men of the Bengal artillery.[11.12.5]
=Bhānpura=, _December 6_, eight miles.—This was a delightful march,
presenting [719] pictures at every step. Two miles, through jungle,
brought us to the abrupt crest of the Patar. For some distance the route
was over a neck or chine, with deep perpendicular dells on each side,
which, at its extremity, the point of descent, termed the ghat or pass,
became a valley, gradually expanding until we reached Bhanpura. At the
ghat are the remains of a very ancient fortress, named Indorgarh, which
must have been one of the strongholds of this region long anterior to
the Chandrawat feudatories of Mewar. Some fragments of sculpture
indicate the presence of the artist of Barolli; but all search for
inscriptions was fruitless. From hence we saw the well-defined skirts of
the plateau stretching westward by Rampura to the Lasaughat, Tarapur,
and Jawad, the point of our ascent last year.
It was pleasing, after a week’s incarceration amidst these ruins and
scenes of natural grandeur, where European foot had never trod, to see
verdant fields and inhabitants of the plains; such alternations make
each delightful in its turn. We had been satiated with the interminable
flats and unvarying cornfields of Haraoti, and it was a relief to quit
that tame tranquillity for the whirlpools of the Chambal, the _kunds_ of
Ganga, and the snake-king in the regions of the inaccessible Durga.
=Mausoleum of Jaswant Rāo Holkar.=—As we approached Bhanpura, we
crossed a small rivulet, called the Rewa, coming from the glen of the
pass; near which is the mausoleum of Jaswant Rao Holkar, adjoining the
scene of his greatest glory, when he drove an English army from his
territory.[11.12.6] The architecture is worthy of the barbarian
Mahratta; it is a vaulted building, erected upon a terrace, all of
hewn stone; its only merit is its solidity. There is a statue of this
intrepid chieftain, of the natural size, in the usual ungraceful
sitting posture, with his little turban; but it gives but a mean idea
of the man who made terms with Lake at the altars of Alexander. It is
enclosed by a miniature and regularly built fortress, with bastions,
the interior of which are hollow and colonnaded, serving as a
Dharmsala, or place of halt for pilgrims or travellers; and on the
terrace are a few _rahaklas_, or swivels. On the right of the temple
destined to receive the effigy of Jaswant, is a smaller cenotaph to
the memory of his sister, who died shortly after him. The gateway
leading into this castellated tomb has apartments at the top, and at
the entrance is a handsome piece of brass ordnance, called Kali, or
‘death.’ There is a temporary building on the right of the gateway,
where prayers are recited all day long for the soul of Jaswant, before
an altar on which were placed twenty-four _dewas_, or lamps, always
burning. A figure dressed in white was on the altar; immediately
behind which, painted on the wall, was Jaswant himself, and as in the
days [720] of his glory, mounted on his favourite war-horse, Mahua.
The _chamar_ was waving over his head, and silver-mace bearers were
attending, while the officiating priests, seated on carpets,
pronounced their incantations.
[Illustration:
IMAGE OF THE SNAKE KING AT THE FOUNTAIN OF THE AMJAR.
_To face page 1770._
]
I left the master to visit Mahua, whose stall is close to the mausoleum
of Holkar, whom he bore in many a desperate strife. The noble animal
seemed to possess all his master’s aversion to a Farangi, and when,
having requested his body-clothes to be removed, I went up to examine
him, he at first backed his ears and showed fight; but at last permitted
me to rub his fine forehead. Mahua is a chestnut of the famed
Bhimthadi[11.12.7] breed; like his master, a genuine native of
Maharashtra, he exhibits the framework of a perfect horse, though under
14-3; his forelegs show what he has gone through. His head is a model,
exhibiting the highest quality of blood; ears small and pointed, eye
full and protruding, and a mouth that could drink out of a tea-cup. He
is in very good condition; but I put in my _arzi_ that they would
provide more ample and sweeter bedding, which was readily promised. The
favourite elephant is a pensioner as well as Mahua. Even in these simple
incidents we see that the mind is influenced by similar associations all
over the world.
Bhanpura is a town of five thousand houses, surrounded by a wall in good
order; the inhabitants apparently well contented with the mild
administration of Tantia Jog,[11.12.8] the present Diwan of Holkar’s
court; but they are all alive to the conviction that this tranquillity
is due to the supervising power alone. I was greatly gratified by a
visit from the respectable community of Bhanpura, merchants, bankers,
and artisans, headed by the Hakim in person, nor could the inhabitants
of my own country, Mewar, evince more kind and courteous feeling. In
fact, they have not forgotten the old tie; that the Rao of Bhanpura,
though now holding but a small portion of his inheritance, was one of
the chief nobles of Mewar, and even still receives the tilak of
accession for Amad from the hands of his ancient lord, though nearly a
century has elapsed since Holkar became his sovereign _de facto_: but
associations here are all-powerful.
=Garot=, _December 7_; distance, thirteen miles; direction, S.S.E.—It
was delightful to range over the expansive plains of Malwa, and not to
be reminded at every step by the exclamation “_thokar!_” of the
attendant, that there was some stony impediment ready to trip one up,
the moment one’s vision was raised above the earth. A singular contrast
was presented between the moral aspect of these plains and of Haraoti.
Here, though the seat of perpetual war, still visible in sterile fields,
we [721] observe comfort displayed in the huts and in the persons of the
peasantry; there, amidst all the gifts of Annapurna, the miserable
condition of the ryot provokes one to ask, “Whence this difference?” The
reason is elsewhere explained.
Garot is a thriving town of twelve hundred houses, the chief of a
_tappa_ or subdivision of Rampura, whence a deputy Hakim is sent as
resident manager. It is walled in; but the inhabitants seemed to feel
they had now a better security than walls. Here there is nothing
antique; but Moli, with its old castle, about midway in this morning’s
journey, might furnish something for the _porte-feuille_, especially a
fine sculptured _toran_ yet standing, and fragments strewed in every
direction. Tradition is almost mute, and all I could learn was, that it
was the abode of a king, called Satal-Patal, whom they carried back to
the era of the Pandus.
I was much surprised to find the plain strewed with agates and
cornelians, of every variety of tint and shape, both veined and plain,
semi-transparent and opaque, many stalactitic, in various degrees of
hardness, still containing the fibre of grass or root, serving as a
nucleus for the concretion. There are no hills to account for these
products in the black loam of the plains, unless the Chambal should have
burst his bed and inundated them. Nor are there any _nalas_ which could
have carried them down, or any appearance of calcareous deposit in the
soil, which when penetrated to any depth, was found to rest upon blue
slate.
=Caves of Dhamnār=,[11.12.9] _December 8_; direction, south 10° west;
distance, twelve miles.—The country reminded us of Mewar, having the
same agreeable undulations of surface and a rich soil, which was strewed
throughout, as yesterday, with agates. As we approached the object of
our search, the caves of Dhamnar, we crossed a rocky ridge covered with
the _dhak_ jungle, through which we travelled until we arrived at the
mount. We found our camp pitched at the northern base, near a fine tank
of water; but our curiosity was too great to think of breakfast until
the mental appetite was satiated.
The hill is between two and three miles in circumference; to the north
it is bluff, of gradual ascent, and about one hundred and forty feet in
height, the summit presenting a bold perpendicular scarp, about thirty
feet high. The top is flat, and covered with _bar_ trees. On the south
side it has the form of a horse-shoe, or irregular crescent, the horns
of which are turned to the south, having the same bold natural rampart
running round its crest, pierced throughout with caves, of which I
counted one hundred and seventy;[11.12.10] I should rather say that
these were merely the entrances to the [722] temples and extensive
habitations of these ancient Troglodytes. The rock is a cellular
iron-clay, so indurated and compact as to take a polish. There are
traces of a city, external as well as internal, but whether they were
cotemporaneous we cannot conjecture. If we judge from the remains of a
wall about nine feet thick, of Cyclopean formation, being composed of
large oblong masses without cement, we might incline to that opinion,
and suppose that the caves were for the monastic inhabitants, did they
not afford to the contrary in their extent and appropriation.
On reaching the scarp, we wound round its base until we arrived at an
opening cut through it from top to bottom, which proved to be the
entrance to a gallery of about one hundred yards in length and nearly
four in breadth, terminating in a quadrangular court, measuring about
one hundred feet by seventy, and about thirty-five feet in height; in
short, an immense square cavity, hollowed out of the rock, in the centre
of which, cut in like manner out of one single mass of stone, is the
temple of the four-armed divinity, Chaturbhuja. Exclusive of this
gallery, there is a staircase cut in the north-west angle of the
excavation, by which there is an ascent to the summit of the rock, on a
level with which is the pinnacle of the temple. Apparently without any
soil, some of the finest trees I ever saw, chiefly the sacred pipal,
bar, and tamarind, are to be found here.
The ground-plan of the temple is of the usual form, having a mandir,
mandap, and portico, to which the well-known term pagoda is given, and
there is simplicity as well as solidity both in the design and
execution. The columns, entablatures, with a good show of ornament, are
distinct in their details; and there are many statutes, besides flowers,
not in bad taste, especially the carved ceilings. It would be regarded
as a curiosity if found on a plain, and put together in the ordinary
manner; but when it is considered that all is from one block, and that
the material is so little calculated to display the artist’s skill, the
work is stupendous.
Vishnu, who is here adored as the ‘four-armed,’ was placed upon an
altar, clad in robes of his favourite colour (_pandu_, or yellow ochre),
whence one of his titles, Pandurang. The principal shrine is surrounded
by the inferior divinities in the following order: First, on entering
are the Poliyas or ‘Porters’; Ganesa is upon the right, close to whom is
Sarasvati, “whose throne is on the tongue”; and on the left are the twin
sons of Kali, the Bhairavas, distinguished as Kala (black), and Gora
(fair); a little in advance of these is a shrine containing five of the
ten Mahavidyas,[11.12.11] or ministering agents of Kali, each known by
her symbol, or vahan, as the bull, man, elephant [723], buffalo, and
peacock. The Mahavidyas are all evil genii, invoked in jap, or
incantations against an enemy, and phylacteries, containing formulas
addressed to them, are bound round the arms of warriors in
battle.[11.12.12]
At the back of the chief temple are three shrines; the central one
contains a statue of Narayana, upon his hydra-couch, with Lakshmi at his
feet. Two Daityas, or evil spirits, appear in conflict close to her; and
a second figure represents her in a running posture, looking back, in
great alarm, at the combatants. Smaller figures about Narayana represent
the heavenly choristers administering to his repose, playing on various
instruments, the _murali_, or flute, the _vina_, or lyre, the _mayura_,
or tabor, and the _mridang_ and _thal_, or cymbals, at the sound of
which a serpent appears, rearing his crest with delight. The minor
temples, like the larger one, are also hewn out of the rock; but the
statues they contain are from the quartz rock of the Patar and they,
therefore, appear incongruous with the other parts. In fact, from an
emblem of Mahadeva, which rises out of the threshold, and upon which the
‘four-armed’ Vishnu looks down, I infer that these temples were
originally dedicated to the creative power.
We proceeded by the steps, cut laterally in the rock, to the south side,
where we enjoyed, through the opening, an unlimited range of vision over
the plains beyond the Chambal, even to Mandasor and Sondwara. Descending
some rude steps, and turning to the left, we entered a cavern, the roof
of which was supported by one of those singularly shaped columns, named
after the sacred mounts of the Jains; and here it is necessary to
mention a curious fact, that while everything on one side is Buddhist or
Jain, on the other all is Saiva or Vaishnava. At the entrance to the
cave adjoining this are various colossal figures, standing or sitting,
too characteristic of the Buddhists or Jains to be mistaken; but on
this, the south side, everything is ascribed to the Pandus, and a
recumbent figure, ten feet in length, with his hand under his head, as
if asleep, is termed “the son of Bhim,” and as the local tradition goes,
“only one hour old”: a circumstance which called forth my conductor, who
gravely swallowed the tale, the exclamation—“What would he have been if
_nau mahine ka balak_, 'a nine months’ child'!”[11.12.13] The chief
group is called the Five Pandus, who, according to tradition, took up
their abode here during their exile from the Jumna; and the other
figures are performing menial offices to the heroes.[11.12.14]
Fortunately, I had my Jain Guru with me, who gave me more correct
notions of these groups than the local _cicerone_. All these figures are
representations of the [724] deified pontiffs of the Jains,[11.12.15]
and the group of five are the most celebrated of the twenty-four, and
distinctively called the Panch-Tirathi, namely, Rishabhadeva, the first;
Santinath, the sixteenth; Neminath, the twenty-second; Parsvanath, the
twenty-third; and Mahavira, the twenty-fourth. Each has his sacred
mount, or place of pilgrimage (_tirath_), and each is recognized by his
symbol, namely, the bull, black antelope, conch-shell, hooded serpent,
and tiger; and it is quite sufficient to find one of these symbols upon
the plinth to ascertain the particular pontiff to which it belongs.
There was also, in a sitting posture, Chandraprabha, known by his sign,
the crescent.[11.12.16] All the figures are from ten to eleven feet
high. That in a recumbent position, my friend said was one of the
pontiffs, about to “shuffle off this mortal coil,” preparatory to
apotheosis. “When such an event took place, the throne of Indra shook,
and he sent a deputation to convey the deceased through the Kshira
Samudra (sea of curds), to the great temple of deification, whither the
whole heavenly host advanced to conduct him.”
Next to, and communicating by a passage with, this hall of the Jain
pontiffs, is the most extensive excavation of Dhamnar, locally
designated as “Bhim’s Bazar.”[11.12.17] The extreme length of this
excavation is about a hundred feet, and the breadth eighty. Although the
name of this leader of the Pandus designates every subdivision of this
cave, yet everything is Buddhist. The main apartment is that called
Bhim’s armoury or treasury, the entrance to which is through a
vestibule, about twenty feet square, supported by two columns, and
having four lateral semicircular niches, now empty, but probably
intended for statues: this opens to the armoury, which is a vaulted
apartment, about thirty feet by fifteen, having at the further end a
dagoba, supporting the roof. These singularly formed columns, if we may
so term them, are named after their sacred mounts; and this is called
Sumeru, which being sacred to Adinath, the first pontiff, we may
conclude he was here adored. An extensive piazza, full twenty feet wide,
evidently a Dharamsala for the pilgrims, runs round this apartment,
supported by rows of massive square columns, all cut out of the rock;
and again, on the exterior, are numerous square cells, called the
apartments of the Srawaks, or Jain laity; in one of which there is a
supporting dagoba, and in another two statues of the twenty-third
pontiff, Parsva. A part of the vaulted roof of Bhim’s treasury, as it is
called, has fallen in so that the vault of heaven is seen through the
aperture of the mountain. This is also attributed to Kaurava Chor
(thief), whose statue appears on the pinnacle of the temple of Barolli,
indicating the old enemy of [725] the Pandus, who robbed them of their
kingdom. Close to the armoury is an apartment called the Rajloka, or for
the ladies; but here tradition is at fault, since with the exception of
Kunti, the mother, Draupadi alone shared the exile of the Pandavas.
[Illustration:
CAVE TEMPLES OF DHAMNAR.
_To face page 1776._
]
Still further to the right, or south-west, is another vaulted and
roof-ribbed apartment, thirty feet by fourteen, and about sixteen in
central height, supported by another image of Sumeru. The sacred _bar_,
or fig-tree (_Ficus religiosa_), had taken root in the very heart of
this cavern, and having expanded until checked by the roof, it found the
line of least resistance to be the cave’s mouth, whence it issued
horizontally, and is now a goodly tree overshadowing the cave (_vide_
Plate). Around this there are many Pausiddhsalas, or halls for the
Yatis, or initiated disciples, who stand in the same upright meditative
posture as the pontiffs.
But it is impossible, and the attempt would be tedious, to give, by any
written description, an adequate idea of the subterranean town of
Dhamnar. It is an object, however, which will assist in illustrating the
subject of cave-worship in India; and though in grandeur these caves
cannot compare with those of Ellora, Karli, or Salsette, yet in point of
antiquity they evidently surpass them. The temple dedicated to the
Tirthakaras, or deified Jineswars (lords of the Jains), is a rude
specimen of a rude age, when the art of sculpture was in its very
infancy; yet is there a boldness of delineation, as well as great
originality of design, which distinguishes them from everything else in
India. In vain we hunted for inscriptions; but a few isolated letters of
that ancient and yet undeciphered kind, which occurs on every monument
attributed to the Pandavas, were here and there observed. There were
fragments of sculpture about the base of the hill, differing both in
design and material from those of the mountain. Altogether, Dhamnar is
highly worthy of a visit, being one of the most curious spots in this
part, which abounds with curiosities [726].
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Footnote 11.12.1:
[The name may mean ‘Ganges fissure.’ The place is not mentioned by
Erskine.]
Footnote 11.12.2:
It will be requisite to view this fragment in a reversed position to
see the intended effort of the artist.
Footnote 11.12.3:
Of the style of these specimens the curious are enabled to judge, as
several are deposited in the museum of the Royal Asiatic Society.
These mark the decline of the arts; as do those of Barolli its perhaps
highest point of excellence.
Footnote 11.12.4:
[_Pandanus odoratissimus._]
Footnote 11.12.5:
[The fort was captured in July 1804 (Mill, _Hist. British India_, ed.
1817, iii. 674).]
Footnote 11.12.6:
[He became Chief of Indor about 1802; was defeated by Lord Lake;
became insane in 1806, and died October 20, 1811.]
Footnote 11.12.7:
[See Vol. II. p. 1045.]
Footnote 11.12.8:
[Tāntia Jog was a Karhāda Brāhman from Khāndesh, who attached himself
to one of Holkar’s European officers, and by managing the districts
assigned for the support of the troops, provided funds for their pay.
He was with Holkar till the murder of the European officers, before
Jaswant Rāo invaded Hindustān. He then returned to Ujjain, and carried
on the business of a Sahukār or banker. See Malcolm, _Memoir of
Central India_, 2nd ed. i. 286.]
Footnote 11.12.9:
[In Indor State, Central India. For accounts of them see
Fergusson-Burgess, _Cave Temples of India_, 392 ff.; Cunningham,
_ASR_, ii. 270 ff.; _IGI_, xi. 283.]
Footnote 11.12.10:
[There are not more than seventy actual caves (_ASR_, ii. 275;
Fergusson-Burgess, _op. cit._ 392).]
Footnote 11.12.11:
[According to the Tantras, there are ten Mahāvidyas, or female
incarnations of Sakti, the principle of productiveness.]
Footnote 11.12.12:
[For a plan of this temple see Fergusson, _Hist. Ind. Arch._ ed. 1910,
ii. 129.]
Footnote 11.12.13:
[The figure is fifteen feet in length, and represents Buddha entering
Nirvāna (Fergusson-Burgess, 395).]
Footnote 11.12.14:
[The figures are Buddha and Dwārpālas or door-keepers (_ibid._ 394
f.).]
Footnote 11.12.15:
[The Guru was mistaken in supposing these figures to be Jain.]
Footnote 11.12.16:
[The Author was misled by his Guru. The figures are Buddhist
(Fergusson-Burgess, _op. cit._ 392, note 2).]
Footnote 11.12.17:
[This is a Buddhist Chaitya cave surrounded by a Vihāra. These caves
are probably the last constructed Buddhist caves in India, and can
hardly be dated before the eighth century A.D. (_ibid._ 393; _ASR_,
ii. 272 f.).]
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