Page:Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, Part 1.djvu/501

1838.] escaped notice until the assiduous inquiries of Lieut. Kittoe brought them to light, and once more realized the moral adage of « eyes and no eyes.' — The more credit is due to him, that Colonel Mackenzie with his myrmidons had been at Bhuvaneswar and had ransacked the coun- try round about: — General Stuart and other of the minor class of antiquaries had been there too, and had in their usual fashion stripped and carried off all the images and fragments of old stones they could lay hands on : which would have been enough to explain the shyness of the priests in the neighbourhood at pointing out other remains, but that for those of Buddhism they would have had no repugnance at giving in- formation, and would doubtless have been glad to turn the attention of the invader upon them to save the spoliation of their own temples.

Mr. Kittoe's recent expedition in search of coal gave him an oppor- tunity of revisiting Dhauli and of taking sketches of the various caves in the neighbourhood which he had no time on his former visits, to do more than inspect. I here insert an extract from his Journal on the subject, and make public acknowledgment to him for the numerous lithographs in illustration of it, all of which, drawn by himself, are faithful, and not exaggerated, representations of the venerable and deserted grottos of the Buddhist priesthood.

"The province of Orissa boasts of more ancient temples, sacred spots and relics than any other in Hindustan, and though many of its more noted antiquities are well known to us, yet, there is reason to believe that some, (perhaps even more worthy of notice,) remain hidden. That which forms the subject of this paper, I had the good fortune to discover by the merest accident : a byragi priest, native of Mirzapoor near Be- nares having described it to me ; such, however, is the aversion the Ooriyahs have, to our- going near their places of worship, that I was actually decoyed away from the spot, when within a few yards of it, being assured that there was no such place, and had returned for a mile or more, when I met with a man who led me back to the spot by torch- light. I set fire to the jangal and perceived the inscription which was completely hidden by it. I subsequently returned and copied it.

"The Aswastama is situated on a rocky eminence forming one of a cluster of hills, three in number, on the south bank of the Dyah river, near to the village of Dhauli, and close to the northwest corner of the famous tank called Konsala-gang, said to have been excavated by raja Gangeswara Deva, king of Kalinga in the 12th century in expia-