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Rh feet above the fields, I observed several level terraces, which proved to be a succession of platforms covered with the ruins of a great number of small stûpas, all crowded together and generally touching one another at the bases. The dome of the largest of these stûpas was only 4 feet 8 inches in diameter. They are all built of stone, and the plaster facing still remains on most of them. I made a rough survey of the site, and traced the remains of not less than eighty of these small stûpas. I found also the remains of a circular wall, 5 feet 9 inches thick, which appeared to form part of the original enclosure on the west side. On another terrace, 20 feet higher up the hill, I found many squared stones, but could not trace any plan of a building. I have no doubt, however, that this was the site of some great stûpa, of which all the existing little stûpas formed part of the votive monuments surrounding it. The position lies to the east of the old town, and seems to me to correspond very well with the site of the great stûpa which was built on the spot where Kunâla, the son of Asoka, had his eyes put out through the treachery of his stepmother. According to Hwen Thsang, this stûpa stood on the north side of a mountain outside the town, on the south-east side. The position to the north of a mountain agrees exactly with that of the eighty small stûpas; but the direction is east instead of south-east.

I have, however, a suspicion that these numerous small stûpas at the north foot of the Meri Hill may be only a part of the large number of one thousand stûpas which most probably once marked the site where Buddha had made an offering of his head one thousand different times. The whole place is covered with ruins, and has evidently been once occupied by some large Buddhistic establishment. The level rocky platform just above the excavated stûpas might easily have held five hundred more; and there is room on the lower slope for a few hundreds more. I left more than half of this platform untouched, as it did not promise to yield anything besides similar small stûpas to those which had already been uncovered. None of the stûpas contained anything; and I conclude that they were only votive buildings erected by pilgrims. The great stûpa of Dhâmek at Sârnâth, near Benares, was similarly surrounded by hundreds of small stûpas; and so are all the great stûpas in Burma at the present day.

On the edge of the cliff, just above the ruined stûpas, I found the plinth of a small square building, 15 feet 9 inches long by 12 feet broad, which I take to be the remains of one