Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/285

 272 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARV. [Sktzduicii, l8?5. ARCH^OLOGICAL NOTES. BY M. J UALEOUBE.LATK 3UCJS, (n(ittu«I/riMi fniyr IAS)'. FT, — L'uddkCtl Yutitfu m TrkkiitapaUi, ifadrat, K o 1 i t a I o in t.lio l'<«fttf, or chief town, of a l/iSCikii of Hji- wuue name in the district of TrioiuiupnllL It lies en tliu south, bank of die KAveri river, 20 mile* from Ihu famous old tntrn of Clive and Lawrence, and ii now, I behove, a Lou of thy .South Indian K that skirts the K ii> v e r i* joining the Great Indian Peninsula line willi TuojoTO and Negapatam. About two milea south of the station, on a widu open. pkin + a remark gpa up., snctlBJ in frequently thu exfcefarivo rolling £«#«£ the Booth It may be 200 or 30l> yardu long, of no great height, and strewn with enonnouu boulders, ana of which, situated nt I ho western end of the ridge* is the most remark- able and striking example of the kind I buvu D, being ii colossal rounded mass nearly thirty foot high, poised on its h mailer end, so ue* to rescmblo u pear or top upright when ; iuwed from tliu east, but presenting a different aspect and shape; on each quarter, as exemplified in Uu plate, lta enormous mass and the very small stand it rest* on make it an uidon [Rhine object viewed from any Bide." The eastern and of the ridge term! mites in a precipitous pi Jo crowned with another vast boulder, square and broad, also very striking, but of less interest than the other. Between kihd two the rid covered with an agglomeration of immense masses, some of colossal sin under one of which runs a long deep cave, Tho accompanying plate given a jfeucral view of the ridge and Ixtulder*, but the point of antiquarian, interest consists in tho squm b | i Ulai urc cut on the caa tern face of the first-mentioned boulder, It i» well cut, iu perfect preservation, and rvpr*. sent* B u d d h a seated, with attendants or* cardi side: an enlarged aketclt ia given on tin- plate ] in, lonely memorial of a vanished faith is entirely ignored and imnoraoed bj tllti pn population. No legend oven attaches tn h : the herdemon graxing ti j, ,, r, ttophua • TIm> rock u» fiasitaft Do MemtitA «flh* (tatafal Murrey uf Initio hf T>r. OtdllMJB, lr>], ii 'tWJlw'uJ Pinking rocVj jid« and ton in toe TriduaspalU Dirtrwt. havo no name for I could discover at lea*t ; and it remuitis a mute witness of Buddhist or Juina ascendancy. Though calling it n - Mentation of Buddha,* it m.-»y also be 01t€ or the Jaina Man us or Tirthnn learn*, which does not seem improhahle,consid': Jong the Jaina, railed in the neighbor nivrm kingdom of M u d u r a. The only other relic 1 could hear of in the Trichtanpalli district, is a largo Buddhist or Jaina image, exceeding tee, i hat lies prostrate under a hedgv the VellAr river, not for from the point where it is crossed by the high road from Tt whinapalli to South Arkat; the VulUr ih th« Imnudury between tho two districts, and the imago is covered with tliu blown Band from I he river-bed, having only the head tmd t-houhhrs exposed. At V o 1 k o n d u p u c u m, ten milt* boqI h of tho Vellar, often meui toned by Ormo, onoo a taluk n now a wretched littlo place, there is a small nn>ty-Iogking square tank in a temple. ' r ' ,m t has fi Jaina or Buddhist appearaneo, being snrTnnmled with a curioiiu luw sunken cloiKter, the roof level with the ground. Memo, rials of many creed* and fpoeha are strangely '■■d on this old historic battk-gmnntL At V ol k o n d A p n r u m there ix a minll fort, now almost ofcHtorat^d; an ah«ndo»iod travelharn'- bungalow staui]^ or stood, npon it ; and within the circuit of the wall aro two branpbso, taining tho cloiaterod tank, the other u Siva temple, with a beautiful ekiUnm close by, exhibiting vorj admirable carving, with eta: monolithie pillars in front, two rep. warrior on a waring borne trampling vn ft fallen enemy, tin ^ftm rampant stand- ing on a kneeling elephant, the latter with head thrown np and trunk forming n»md a eort of tkynut whiob tho griffin clasps .ddle with its fore claws, holding the end in its jaws. There ft mnnh other good sculpture, groups of in cnuibluture, Ac, many with fhoca disfigured ..r heads b» by HaJdara man; one GAddi MuduIJAr ifl irmbtiotuJIy said dWMsb* iw lt M t»ni »imad», at* umiilfnuit. both sssds