Page:Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 29.djvu/368

346 The ruins of the ancient city of Pu-gân are situated, as is well known, on the left hank of the river Irrawaddy, about three hundred and fifty miles above Rangoon.

In the southern portion of the ruined city, I discovered the remains of an ancient monastery. This was the first building of the kind that I had met with in Burmah, and it is probably in better preservation than any of the ancient Viharas built for Buddhist monks. The nature of the masonry, as compared with that of Pagodas at Pu-gân, the date of building which is known, leads me to believe that the monastery in question was built five or six hundred years ago. The building is constructed entirely of brick.

It is somewhat dilapidated. Still enough remains to show distinctly the nature of the building and its several divisions. The ground plan is shown in the sketch accompanying, and a rough front elevation is added. There was evidently no upper story.

The building consisted of a square of about 80 feet, the outer wall up to the top of its battlemented parapet being about 18 feet above the ground. Each corner had a pilaster supporting a deep cornice which ran all round the outer wall. The outer wall had been plastered, but this protection has now nearly disappeared. The corner pilasters rested on basement mouldings, which appear to have been placed nearly two feet above the ground; the chief entrance was on the eastern face of the building, and here there was a projection of about 15 feet from the main wall, forming a part of the outer room or vestibule. There was a corresponding projection on the opposite face where there was an elevated domed-structure, for the reception of an image of Gautama. This was apparently, from what remains, some twelve or fourteen feet higher than the outer wall. Over the entrance door on the eastern side, there had been an ornamental canopy of flamboyant rays in plaster, such as is seen over most of the doors and windows of the temples of Pu-gân. This,