or PAGODA, a name given by the East Indians to the temples where they worship their gods. We shall not in this place enter into a full detail of the several pagodas of different nations, and their peculiar circumstances. These matters seem to come in more properly under the religion, or, as others will call it, the superstition, of the people to whom they belong. We shall therefore content ourselves in the present article with an account of a paper in the Asiatic Researches, concerning the sculptures, &c. at Mavilipuram, a few miles north of Sadras, and known to seamen by the name of the seven pagodas.

The monuments which Mr Chambers (who communicated the paper) describes, appear, he says, to be the ruins of some great city decayed many centuries ago. "They are situated close to the sea, between Covelong and Sadras, somewhat remote from the high road that leads to the different European settlements. And when visited in 1776, there was still a native village adjoining to them which retained the ancient name, and in which a number of brahmins resided that seemed perfectly well acquainted with the subjects of most of the sculptures to be seen there.—The rock, or rather hill of stone, on which great part of these works are executed, is one of the principal marks for mariners as they approach the coast, and to them the place is known by the name of the Seven Pagodas, possibly because the summits of the rock have presented them with that idea as they passed; but it must be confessed, that no aspect which the hill affumes as viewed on the shore, seems at all to authorise this notion; and there are circumstances, which will be mentioned in the sequel, that would lead one to suspect, that this name has arisen from some such number of pagodas that formerly stood here, and in time have been buried in the waves." The rock here mentioned, as it rises abruptly out of a level plain of great extent, naturally engrosses the attention of the eye. It consists chiefly of a single stone; and in its shape (which is singular and romantic), in a distant view, it has the appearance of an antique and lofty edifice. Works of imagery and sculpture crowd thicker upon the eye on a nearer approach, and at first sight at least favours the idea of a petrified town, which, through the credulity of travellers*, has been believed to exist in various parts of the world. "Proceeding on by the foot of Shaw's hill on the side facing the sea, there is a pagoda rising out of the ground of one solid stone, about 16 feet, or 18 feet high, which seems to have been cut upon the spot out of a detached rock that has been found of a proper size for that purpose. The top is arched, and the style of architecture according to which it is formed, different from any now used in those parts." Beyond this a numerous group of human figures in bas relief, considerably larger than life, attract attention. They represent considerable persons, and their exploits, many of which are now very indistinct thro' the injuries of time, assisted by the corroding nature of the sea air; others, while protected from that element, are as fresh as when recently finished.

The hill, which is at first of easy ascent, "is in other parts rendered more so, by very excellent steps cut out in several places, where the communication would be difficult or impracticable without them. A winding stair of this sort leads to a kind of temple cut out of the solid rock, with some figures of idols in high relief upon its walls, very well finished, and perfectly fresh, as it faces the west, and is therefore sheltered from the sea air." This temple our author conjectures to have been a place of worship appertaining to a palace; some remains of which still exist, and to which there is a passage from the temple by another flight of steps. This conjecture (for it is brought forward as merely such) is in some measure favoured by several ruins still remaining, and by the tradition of the brahmins who inhabit the place. This finishes the objects "on that part of the upper surface of the hill, the ascent to which is on the north; but on descending from thence, you are led round the hill to the opposite side, in which there are steps cut from the bottom to a place near the summit, where is an excavation that seems to have been intended for a place of worship, and contains various sculptures of Hindoo deities. The most remarkable of these is a gigantic figure of Vishnou(A), asleep on a kind of bed, with a huge snake wound about in many coils by way of pillow for his head; and these figures, according to the manner of this place, are all of one piece hewn from the body of the rock." These works, however, although they are unquestionably stupendous, are, in our author's opinion, surpassed by others about a mile and a half to the southward of the hill. "They consist of two pagodas of about 30 feet long by 20 feet wide, and about as many in height, cut out of the solid rock, and each consisting originally of one single stone. Near these also stand an elephant full as big as life, and

(A) See a figure of Vishnou in the Plate of Indian gods, with its description, under the article Polytheism. and a lion much larger than the natural size, but very well executed, each hewn also out of one stone. None of the pieces that have fallen off in cutting these extraordinary sculptures are now to be found near or anywhere in the neighbourhood of them, so that there is no means of ascertaining the degree of labour and time that has been spent upon them, nor the size of the rock or rocks from which they have been hewn; a circumstance which renders their appearance the more striking and singular. And though their situation is very near the sea-beach, they have not suffered at all by the corrosive air of that element, which has provided them with a defence against itself, by throwing up before them a high bank that completely shelters them. There is also great symmetry in their form, though that of the pagodas is different from the style of architecture according to which idol temples are now built in that country. The latter resembles the Egyptian; for the towers are always pyramidal, and the gates and roofs flat and without arches; but these sculptures approach nearer to the Gothic taste, being surmounted by arched roofs or domes that are not semicircular, but composed of two segments of circles meeting in a point at top." Our author observes, that the lion in this group, as well as one on a stone couch in what he took to be a royal palace, are perfectly just representations of the true lion, and the natives there give them the name which is always understood to mean a lion in the Hindoo language, to wit, sing; but the figure which they have made to represent that animal in their idol temples for centuries past, though it bears the same appellation, is a distorted monster totally unlike the original; insomuch that it has from hence been supposed, that the lion was not anciently known in this country, and that sing was a name given to a monster that existed only in Hindoo romance. But it is plain that that animal was well known to the authors of these works, who in manners as well as arts seem to have differed much from the modern Hindoos.

"There are two circumstances attending these monuments which cannot but excite great curiosity, and on which future inquiries may possibly throw some light. One is, that on one of the pagodas last mentioned, there is an inscription of a single line, in a character at present unknown to the Hindoos. It resembles neither the Devanagre, nor any of the various characters connected with or derived from it, which have come to the writer's knowledge from any part of Hindostan. Nor did it, at the time he viewed it, appear to correspond with any character, Asiatic or European, that is commonly known. He had not then, however, seen the alphabet of the Balic, the learned language of the Siamese, a sight of which has since raised in his mind a suspicion that there is a near affinity between them, if the character be not identically the same. But as these conjectures, after such a lapse of time, are somewhat vague, and the subject of them is perhaps yet within the reach of our researches, it is to be hoped that some method may be fallen upon of procuring an exact copy of this inscription.

"The other circumstance is, that though the outward form of the pagodas is complete, the ultimate design of them has manifestly not been accomplished, but seems to have been defeated by some extraordinary convulsion of nature. For the western side of the most northerly one is excavated to the depth of four or five feet, and a row of pillars left on the outside to support the roof; but here the work has been stopped, and an uniform rent of about four inches breadth has been made throughout the solid rock, and appears to extend to its foundations, which are probably at a prodigious depth below the surface of the ground. That this rent has happened since the work began, or while it was carrying on, cannot be doubted; for the marks of the mason's tools are perfectly visible in the excavated part on both sides of the rent, in such a manner as to show plainly that they have been divided by it. Nor is it reasonable to suppose, that such a work would ever have been designed or begun upon a rock that had previously been rent in two. Nothing less than an earthquake, and that a violent one, could apparently have produced such a fissure in the solid rock; and that this has been the case in point of fact, may be gathered from other circumstances, which it is necessary to mention in an account of this curious place. The great rock above described is at some small distance from the sea, perhaps 50 or 100 yards, and in that space the Hindoo village before mentioned stood in 1776. But close to the sea are the remains of a pagoda built of brick, and dedicated to Sib, the greatest part of which has evidently been swallowed up by that element; for the door of the innermost apartment, in which the idol is placed, and before which there are always two or three spacious courts surrounded with walls, is now walked by the wave, and the pillar used to discover the meridian at the time of founding the pagoda is seen standing at some distance in the sea. In the neighbourhood of this building there are some detached rocks, washed also by the waves, on which there appear sculptures, though now much worn and defaced. And the natives of the place declared to the writer of this account, that the more aged people among them remembered to have seen the tops of several pagodas far out in the sea, which being covered with copper (probably gilt) were particularly visible at sun-rise, as their shining surface used then to reflect the sun's rays, but that now that effect was no longer produced, as the copper had since become incrusted with mould and verdigris."

From these circumstances our author conjectures, and we think reasonably, that the magnificent city of which these appear to be part of the ruins, has been destroyed partly by an earthquake by which the rock was rent, and partly by a sudden inundation of the sea occasioned by this commotion of the earth. The bramins give an account of this matter peculiar to themselves, filled with extravagance, fable, and folly; from which, however, with the assistance of ancient monuments, coins, and inscriptions, some probable conjectures at least, if not important discoveries, may, it is hoped, be made on these subjects, which are far from being uninteresting to us either as men, philosophers, or Christians. Our author thinks, therefore, that the inscription on the pagoda mentioned above is an object which merits considerable attention; and he defends, by very reputable authorities, the conjecture which places it among the languages of Siamese; but which it is unnecessary for us either to abridge or to transcribe. In the course of this inquiry, inquiry, our author remarks a very near resemblance between Summonacodon, the idol of the Siamese, and the great idol Buddha, held sacred by the Chingelays; and this resemblance extends also to their priests. But from the detail of circumstances which our author brings forward, and to which we refer, he thinks this a system of religion different from that of the Vedas, and some of them totally inconsistent with the principles and practice of the brahmans; none of whom, as far as we can collect from Mr Knox†, exist among the Chingelays, whose religion is totally different from that of the present Hindoos. The only part in which there seems to be any agreement is in the worship of the Devas, which has probably crept in among them from their Tamilian neighbours, but that is carried on in a manner very different from the brahmical system, and appears to be held by the nation at large in very great contempt, if not abhorrence. Knox's account of it is this: "Their temples (i.e., those of the Devas) are called covuls," which is the Tamilic word for pagoda. He then goes on to say, "a man piously disposed builds a small house at his own charge, which is the temple, and himself becomes priest thereof. This house is seldom called God's House, but most usually Jacco the Devil's." But of the prevailing religion he speaks in very different terms, and describes it as carried on with much parade and splendour, and attended with marks of great antiquity. "The pagodas or temples of their gods (says he) are so many, that I cannot number them. Many of them are of rare and exquisite work built of hewn stone, engraven with images and figures, but by whom and when I could not attain to know, the inhabitants themselves being ignorant therein. But sure I am they were built by far more ingenious artificers than the Chingelays that now are on the land. For the Portuguese in their invasions have defaced some of them, which there is none found that hath skill enough to repair to this day." In another place, he says, "here are some ancient writings engraven upon rocks which puzzle all that see them. There are divers great rocks in divers parts in Cande Uda, and in the northern parts. These rocks are cut deep with great letters for the space of some yards, so deep that they may last to the world's end. Nobody can read them, or make anything of them. I have asked Mahars and Gentoos, as well as Chingelays and Moors, but none of them understood them. There is an ancient temple, Goddiladenni in Yattanour, stands by a place where there are of these letters." From all which the antiquity of the nation and their religion is sufficiently evident, and from other passages it is plain, that the worship of Buddha, in particular, has been from remote times a very eminent part of their religion; for the same author, speaking of the tree at Anurodgurro, in the northern part of the island, which is sacred to Buddha, says, "the due performance of this worship they reckon not a little meritorious: inasmuch that, as they report, 90 kings have reigned there successively, where, by the ruins that still remain, it appears they spared not for pains and labour, to build temples and high monuments to the honour of this god, as if they had been born to hew rocks and great stones, and lay them up in heaps. These kings are now happy spirits having merited it by these labours." And again he says, "For this god, above all others, they seem to have an high respect and devotion," &c.

Such is the nature of Mr Chambers's communication, as far as it respects pagodas; a subject to which the Asiatic Society will doubtless again direct their attention; and from the penetration and assiduity of its members we have much to expect. Other parts of this paper shall be brought forward under other articles, to which we refer. Few researches are of more service to true religion, than those which give us a correct view of the false and superstitious modes of worship practised by men who have had no light but reason, or weak and corrupted traditions. They are useful likewise to the philosopher, as they always tend to give us a minute view of the real nature of man as he is in himself, and show with sufficient strength the imbecility of the human intellect without some supernatural aid. The external pomp of all Pagan religions seems to have been their essence; a circumstance which alone shows the necessity of that, the intention of which is to reform the heart. See Siam, Summonacodon, Temple, &c.

Pagoda, is also the name of a gold and silver coin, current in several parts of the East Indies.