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/212

188 tank. This chhátri is built of stone, in what was once perhaps the middle of the tank; the superstructure consists of a couple of stout pillars, supporting a round slab, ornamented in the usual way, and surmounted by smaller ones in the usual way. This chhátri is traditionally said to be the spat where Vikramâditya used to perform puja before going to bathe. He used, it is said, to rub oil on his body at Telkupi, and perform his puja here; the manifestly absurd story is firmly believed by the people.

The stone used for the sculpture is the soft, dark-colored slate, masses of which crop up in picturesque confusion in the bed of the river. The stone is easily water and weather-worn, and the sculpture has suffered greatly in consequence. A more active agent of destruction is the trade of the place, which consists chiefly of cut-stone cups, plates, &c., cut out of the blocks lying among the ruins; the stone-cutters select such pieces as will give them the least trouble to cut into shape, without any scruple as to whether the piece be a sculpture or not; to this I ascribe the total disappearance of all inscriptions, inscribed slabs answering capitally for large plates.

There are ruins south of the hill on which the temple still existing stands, and they extend to a distance of nearly one mile south, so that a length of four miles must, in all probability, be taken as the length of the city, which, however, was not wide; the extreme width could not have been more than half a mile, as I have seen no ruins further than half a mile from the river banks.

There are numerous kistvaens in the village; these are the graves of the Bhumiyas; they are formed mostly of large slabs of rough stone, set on four rude pieces of stone set upright in the ground. Some of the slabs forming the roof are very large, nearly 15 feet square, and have most probably been used more than once; the bodies are not buried, but burned, and the ashes and bones put into an earthen (or other) vessel, buried, and a slab set up as a roof over the spot; some may even be called family vaults, as the ashes of more than one man are buried in them; the custom is in force among the Bhumiyas, or aborigines; special spots in particular villages are set apart for this sole purpose; they are not to be found in every village, but in most villages of importance.  

About ten miles west by a little south of Dulmi is the large village of Ichâgarh or Patkum; there are ruins of one 