Page:Report of a Tour Through the Bengal Provinces of Patna, Gaya, Mongir and Bhagalpur; The Santal Parganas, Manbhum, Singhbhum and Birbhum; Bankura, Raniganj, Bardwan and Hughli in 1872-73.djvu/186

162 pillars which supported the roof of the mahamandapa were plain octagonal, somewhat like the octagonal pillars at Baijnâth.

Half a mile to the east of Chandra is a square pillar, carved at the end into the fore part of an elephant, and having a lingam carved on one side; the latter, evidently after its original purpose had been forgotten, and it had become a pillar; it is set up apparently as a boundary mark; it is interesting, as it is clearly a stone from the basement of a richly sculptured temple, where it was inserted in a horizontal position, with the end projecting out of the face of the building and cut into the shape of the forepart of an elephant, as in the examples at Khajurâha; the temple, therefore, to which it belonged must have had at least a row of boldly projecting elephants' heads as one of the ornamental lines of the basement. I could, however, neither see nor hear of any temple in the vicinity from which the stone could have been brought.

At the first village beyond Chandan Kyári is a statue of one of the Jain heriarchs in black basalt; he is represented seated cross-legged in the usual fashion, and on his pedestal is the bull symbol. It is on the banks of a large, now dry, tank, near the old road from Midnapùr to Benares, which passes through Chás and Párá.  

Close to Párá, about half mile to the west of the present village, in a field, is a small inscribed statue of a female on a lion; she is six-armed, of which four are now missing; on two sides of the lion are two pigs, and over them two elephants on each side, one large and one small; the inscription reads, "Sri Venábásini Sri Char" * * * * * &c.; the inscription is in bad order; it evidently records the name of the donor, a private individual apparently, and a worshipper of the charana (sacred feet) of the goddess: the fish emblem occupies the centre of the canopy over the head of the statue; I infer it, therefore, to be Vaishnavic; she is dressed in a short boddice and the sári, with the loose end gathered up and left hanging in folds in front, like the dhotis of the better class of people in Bengal at this day.

Párá contains several temples, most of which are comparatively recent; the one at the extreme west end is a curious and not inelegant building; it is clearly post-Muhammadan, 