The Thugs themselves believed that the operations of their trade were
depicted in the carvings of the Ellora caves, and a noted leader,
Feringia, and other Thugs spoke of these carvings as follows: "Every
one of the operations is to be seen there: in one place you see men
strangling; in another burying the bodies; in another carrying them
off to the graves. Whenever we passed near we used to go and see
these caves. Every man will there find his trade described and they
were all made in one night.
"Everybody there can see the secret operations of his trade; but he
does not tell others of them; and no other person can understand what
they mean. They are the works of God. No human hands were employed
on them. That everybody admits."
Another Thug: "I have seen there the Sotha (inveigler) sitting upon
the same carpet as the traveller, and in close conversation with
him, just as we are when we worm out their secrets. In another place
the strangler has got his _rumal_ (handkerchief) over his neck and
is strangling him; while another, the Chamochi, is holding him by
the legs." I do not think there is any reason to suppose that these
carvings really have anything to do with the Thugs.