________________ 386 Homage to Vaisali above the water level was unfortunately beyond our reach and could not be studied. One of the recesses is the door of a subterranean tuunel which leads from the well to the courtyard of the big house nearby. It was used by maid servants who observed so much pardah that they could not go out in the open to draw water from the well. When the building near the well was under construction one cowrie was deducted from the daily wages of the labourers and it was from the proceed, of that tithe that the well was constructed. While the building is a beap of the ruins the well still continues to quench the thirst of the people in its neighbourhood. On the banks of the Gandaka lies the famous Nepali Temple, a double storied building built by one Hira Lal about more than a century ago. Hira lal was an offical of the Nepal Raj. It is a temple of Shiva aud great prominence is given to phallic worship. The friezes of the walls and the wood-work carvings show some obscene and indecent figures. Besides this, there is nothing remarkable in the edifice. Relics of minor importance are the temple of Ramchandra, Idgah, Chisti Ki Hauz, Kale Khan Ki Masjid and the tomb of Sarmast Khan Ghazi, probably an Afghan who died fighting for Shah Shuja against Aurangzeb. In short, we may say that Hajipur abounds in antiquity. Itsis essentially a city of Mosques and Mausoleums and as far as the latter is concerned it is the Muslim 'Mohenjo Daro,' the city of the dead.
