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/218

194 front, and must, therefore, have been of a larger size than any that are now standing there.

A large brick temple, the only one now standing, of brick; faces east, and has its doorway of the usual overlapping type, and without the stone sill cutting up its height into a doorway proper and an illuminating window; the temple, externally and internally, is remarkably plain, the only ornamental projections, &c., being at the corners; the bricks are all set in mud; the interior was once plastered, but it is now bare; probably the exterior was also plastered; there is no interior roof to the cell, the pyramidal hollow of the tower being open to the sanctum; there is no object of worship inside.

To the north of this stands a line of four stone temples, three still standing, one broken; these are of the usual single cell-pattern, and the doorway is not cut up into two portions; these then, as well as the brick oue just noticed, were single-cell temples, but at some subsequent period mandapas were added to them; they have, however, all got broken, leaving the façades of the temples complete, so that not only is it evident that they were simply added on afterwards, but it is further evident that they were not even bonded into the walls of the original temples; the junctions, where any exist, are quite plain; all these temples face north.

North of this is another, but irregular, line of temples, five in number; of these, two are of stone and three of brick, the latter all ruined; of the stone ones, one is standing.

North of this is another line of four temples, three of stone and one of brick, all in ruins.

Due east of the brick temple, which has been noticed as still standing, are two mounds, evidently the remains of two other brick temples. To the south of this line of temples is another line of three stone temples, all in ruins.

The ornamentation of the stone temples is confined to plain mouldings in the lower part; the façade is quite plain, but entire, showing that they were originally intended for single-cell temples without mandapas in front. A photograph, showing the façade, has been taken; it is probable the temples all stood on a large stone-paved platform, as on excavating near the foot of one I came upon a stone pavement; the whole group occupies the surface of a piece of rising ground 300 to 350 feet square.

There are some tanks close to the temples; one, a large one, had stone ghats and revetments once, now in ruins; there are in the vicinity some few mounds of no special interest.