Indian Antiquary Vol 05

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 11

JANUARY, 1876.]
in a series of little niches about two feet high, which donbtless once held images. As I have above referred to the supposition of Drs. Wilson and Gibson that this and some other structural buildings may be Buddhist and coeval with caves, I may observe once for all that in several years' wanderings in the Western Dekhan and Konkan I have found only three relics which I would even conjecture to be of that character. The first is the Dickinson Stone, now in the possession of Government at Junnar, in the Punâ district. It has evidently formed part of the frieze of a large building, and has on one side five squatting figures in low relief, representing, apparently, ascetics in the attitude of contemplation. What is curious about it is that the artist appears to have had some idea of caricature. The second is a stone in the ruins of a small temple just at the head of the Nana Ghât, about fifty yards from the Dharms âlâ cave, which bears a suggestive resemblance to a dahgoba. The third is an old temple of Sangamesvara Mahadeva near Pârner, in the district of Ahmadnagar, in the external decoration of which occurs something like a dahgoba. The temples of Ankolê and Harichandragaḍh, which I have presently to describe, are both mentioned by Dr. Gibson in the paper referred to as belonging to this class of remains, and Dr. Wilson (who never saw them, I fancy) appears to endorse his opinion. What I have said above will save me from the necessity of frequent quotation.
Sangamner is a pretty and thriving town of 7,000 souls, upon the Prâvara river, (called by Grant Duff the Paira), an affluent of the Gangâ. It is not remarkable for anything except the beauty of the wood-carving on some of the houses. There is a small but pretty domed tomb over a Muhammadan saint, who has some hazy connection with the emperor Alamgir. I procured indifferent copies of some inscriptions on it. Near the Assistant Collector's bungalow are some of the finest
NOTES ON THE AHMADNAGAR COLLECTORATE.
§ If the reader will turn to No. XV. of the Ambarnath plates in vol. III. of the Antiquary, he will find a drawing of a similar niche containing a shattered figure of Ganapati, the ornamentation of which is identical with that at Ranja ngâm.
Mentioned by me in Ind. Ant. vol. II. p. 43, and by Mr. Burgess at p. 11 of his Memorandum on Junnar, addressed to the Government of Bombay on the 21st of November 1374.
The cave is full of Pali inscriptions-vide Ind. Ant. vol. II. pp. 11, 12, and Jour. Bomb. Br. R. As. Soc. vol. III.
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tamarind trees in the Dekhan, and an old Muhammadan cemetery, one of the headstones in which is a pillar apparently taken from the door of some Hindu temple of the class of those already described. No other remains of this temple exist, but there are plenty of modern ones; and a Muhammadan shrine in a queer place,the hammam-khána, or hot-bath room, of the old town fort. At some period,-probably under the Marâthâs, whose constant immersion in metaphorical hot water is consistent with a great contempt for the use of that fluid in the concrete,-a fakir turned this bathroom from a temple of cleanliness to one of godliness,qualities which, however closely connected in our proverbial philosophy, are highly antipathetic in Sangamner. His memory is still kept up there by a green flag, and an everburning light, which is attended to by the kacheri peons as ex-officio ministrants, and allowed for out of the petty supply fund of the Mâmledâr's office.‡
A few years ago Sangamner was honoured by the presence of a curious person,-a sainted Mâmledir. Indian readers, accustomed to look upon our native officials as very useful and industrious, but seldom particularly pious, will probably be surprised to hear that such a post was occupied by a man who might easily, had he chosen, have become the leader of a numerous sect, and occupied a place in religious history like that of Kabir Pantor Svåmi Narayana. This gentleman (he is still alive, though retired from the servico) early distinguished himself by a great respect for human and animal suffering. Like the bishop of Blois
"A pitiful man was he :
He wept and he pined for the woes of mankind, And of beasts in their degree;
He would rescue a rat from the claws of the cat, And set the poor captive free; Though his cassock was swarming with various
vermin,
He'd not take the life of a flea."
pt. ii. p. 64.
I shall have occasion to describe it more particularly iu a later part of these notes.
† Published in Ind. Ant. vol. IV. p. 349.
For the benefit of readers in Europe I should explain that a Mamledar (properly M & m latdar) is the native official in charge of a talaka or sub-division of a district. He has considerable power as head of the local revenue administration, and is generally a magistrate of the second class,-.e. can inflict fine, whipping, and imprisonment up to the limit of six months.