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DECEMBER, 1892.) ARCHÆOLOGICAL TOUR THROUGH RAMANNADESA. 381
Terra cotta tablets, inserted in niches in the Dagyapay& (pagoda) within the same enclosure are of considerable interest. Most of them have been destroyed, and the meaning of the representations is not accurately understood. But they appear to indicate that the people, whoever they were, who constracted these tablets, undoubtedly professed Brahmanism or Hinduism, and that they had attained to some degree of civilization. Siva with his trident is the predominant figure; conveyances are drawn by single ponies, and women wear their hair in big knots at the back of the head. The features of the persons represented are of Mongolian cast, and resemble those of the Karens and Taangus of the present day.17
The Dagyap'aya, in common with other sacred edifices built by the Talaings, is constructed of hewn laterite ; and the existence of several tanks in its vicinity indicates the source whence this building material was obtained.
There are three sculptures in bas-relief on stone, representing Vaishnava symbols, lying in the enclosure of the Assistant Commissioner's Court-house. These have been removed to the Phayre Museum at Rangoon.18
Nàt (i.e. spirit) worship is still, as in other parts of Burma, one of the prevailing forms of belief at Thatồn. I visited the temple of the Nat called Pho-pho=Grandfather. Tradition, which is, in this case, prima facie palpably false, says that, when this Nàt was a human being, he was charged by Söņa and Uttara, the Buddhist missionaries who visited Ramaññadesa in the third century B.C., to safeguard Thatôn against the attacks of the biliis or ogres. The image of Phô-phô represents an old man of about 60 years of age, sitting cross-legged, with a white fillet round the head, and a moustache and pointed beard. The forehead is broad and the face bears an intelligent expression. The upper portion of the body is nude, and the lower is dressed in a chék pasó, or loin-cloth, of the zigzag pattern so much prized by the people of Burma. The right hand rests on the right knee, and the left is in the act of counting the beads of a rosary. The height of the figure is about five feet. In the apartment on the left of Phô-phô is an image representing & benign-looking wun, or governor, in full official dress. Facing the second image in a separate apartment is the representation of a wild, fierce-looking 16, or military officer, in uniform. The fourth apartment on the left of the bô is dedicated to a female nat, who is presumably the wife of Phô-phô. But there is no image representing her. It is a noteworthy fact that, as it would be if in India and Ceylon, this temple is held in veneration by various nationalities professing different creeds. The images of the nats are in a good state of preservation, as they are in the custody of a medium, who gains a comfortable livelihood thereby. An annual festival, which is largely attended, is held in their honour. These nåts are to my mind clearly an embodiment of hero-worship, representing some benevolent and sympathetic Burmese governor and his relatives, who left behind them a kindly memory.19
On the 31st December, I visited the Kokbənnayon Hill, which is about eight miles to the west of Bilin. On the top of the hill are two images representing the Buddhist missionaries, sona and Uttara, 'in a recumbent posture and with their hands clasped towards a stone vessel placed between them. The vessel is reputed to contain a hair of Gaatama Buddha. Around Soņa and Uttara are the figures of yahandas, or Buddhist saints, with full, round, and heavy features. The foreheads of these figures are broad and prominent, but retreating; the nose is big and long; and the month large. At the four corners of the platform on the top of the hill, are figures of a strange monster, half man, half beast, called, by a false Palicism, Manussiha.
17 A description of these tablets is given at pages 716 and 717 of the British Burma Gazetteer, Vol. II. [I do not personally quite agree with the statements in the text and will endeavour to show, in paper now preparing for publiontion in this Journal, that all the Thaton soulptures are quite compatible with the Buddhist onlt.--Ep.1
[Though of a most interesting Indian character, it is probably yet premature to state their precise nature.-ED.).
1 [I may note that, when I was in Thaton, I was told that they represent a Portuguese governor and his staff, and that they are consulted before entering on any kind of project. If they smile the project will supoeed. -ED.]
