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Kalhana. King Jalauka had built at Srinagari his shrine of Jyeṣṭharudra whose original place of worship was at Bhutesvara, below Mount Haramukuta. He then wished to have by the side of the new shrine also the Sodara spring which adjoins the site of Bhūteśvara.1 To fulfil the king's pious desire "there broke forth from a waterless spot a spring which was alike to Sodara in colour, taste and other respects." A golden cup thrown into the original Sodara spring appeared after two and half days in its Avatāra near Srinagari. This miracle removed all doubts as to their identity.

Close to the mosque of Sudarabal and by the lake shore are two pools fed by perennial springs. These according to a local tradition were in old times visited by numerous pilgrims. Now all recollection of this Tirtha has been lost among the Brahmans of Srinagar. But the name of a portion of the village area, Bat! por, points to a former settlement of Baṭṭas or Purohitas. It is curious, too, that we find only half a mile from the village the Ziarat of Ḥazrat Bal, perhaps the most popular of all Muhammadan shrines in the Valley. It is supposed to be built over the remains of the miracle-working Pir Dastagir Ṣāhib. Is it possible that the presence of this rather ubiquitous saint at this particular spot had something to do with the earlier Hindu Tirtha ?

SECTION VI.-NORTHERN DISTRICTS OF MAPAVARAJYA.

105. Our circuit through the Phākh Pargaṇa has brought us back to the purlicus of the capital. We must leave them now once more and start on our tour through the outlying districts. We may direct it first to the upper half of the Valley, the ancient Maḍavarājya. This again is divided by the Vitasta into two portions, one to the north and east, the other to the south and west of the river. We shall begin with the Parganas on the right bank, starting from Srinagar.

The Pargana which adjoins Srinagar from the south-cast, is now known as Vihi. It extends from near PurāṇāDistrict of Khaḍūvī. dhiṣṭhāna to the spur of Vastarvan, near Vantipōr (Avantipura), and comprises a wide semi-circular tract of fertile Karewa lands. In ancient times the district took its name from the village of KHAрŪVI, the present Khruv.2 The Dāmaras of the Khaḍūvi district are repeatedly mentioned by Kalhaņa along with those of Holaḍā, the modern Vular Pargaņa.

1 For Sodara, the present Naran Nag, see notes i. 123; v. 55-59.

2 Compare Rajat, viii. 733 note.

The site of Pandreṭhan or Purāṇādhiṣṭhāna has already been fully noticed. About two miles higher up the river lies Pānd chuk village, with some ancient remains and the traces of a stone bridge-head, probably of late date. The old name of the place is unknown. We pass next by the river the village of Simpōr. This may retain the name of SIMHAPURA, founded by King Jayasimha in Kalhana's time.'

Less than two miles to the north-west of Simpōr lies the village of Zevan, the ancient JAYAVANA. It was correctly identified already by Prof. Bühler on the basis of the happy and exact description given of it by Bilhana. The poet mentions in this "place of high-rising monuments" the "pool filled with pure water, sacred to Takṣaka, lord of snakes." This pool still exists in the Takṣaka Naga which is visited annually by the pilgrims to Harṣeśvara.8

The mention made by Kalhana in his history of Narapura of the pilgrimage to the Takṣaka spring proves that in old times it must have enjoyed great reputation as a separate Tirtha. It is in fact the only Kasmir Naga which is distinctly mentioned in the Tirtha list of the Mahābhārata (iii. lxxxii. 90). Abu-l-Fazl records the interesting fact that this spring was populary held to be the place whence the cultivation of saffron flourishing in this neighbourhood originated. In Akbar's time the cultivators, undoubtedly Muhammadans, still worshipped at this fountain at spring time. It was customary to pour cow's milk into it to secure a good omen for the success of the crop. We see that the Takṣaka Naga long retained his importance with the cultivators as a local divinity.

About two miles to the north-east of Zevan we come on gently rising ground to the village of Khun moh. It Khonamusa. is, as already stated above, the ancient KHONAMUSA, famous as the birthplace of Bilhana. The latter in the Vikramankadevacarita gives an enthusiastic description of the charms of his rural home. The saffron fields which Bilhana mentions extend close to the lower of the two separate hamlets which form the village. In the upper hamlet is a sacred spring called Damodaranaga with some sculptured funeral Stêlês and a few fragmentary inscriptions.

On the hill-side above the village issues another Naga which under

1 See Rajat. viii. 2443 note.

Compare Report, pp. 5 sq.; Rajat. vii. 607 note; Vikram. xviii. 70.

8 See Rajat. i. 220 note.

See Ain-i-Akb., ii. p. 358.

For a detailed and accurate account of the position and remains of Khonamusa, see Prof. BÜLLER's Report, pp. 5 sq. The identity of Khun moh with the Khonamuşa of Rajat. i. 90, was first pointed out by Gen. CUNNINGHAM, Anc, Geogr., p. 98.

the name of Bhuvanesvari is visited on the pilgrimage to HARṢESVARA. The latter Tirtha lies on the summit of the high ridge which rises to the north of the village. It consists of a 'Svayambhu' Linga situated in a small cave and enjoys considerable popularity. I have not been able to trace its name except in the local Māhātmya and the Tirthasamgraha.

The chief place of the Vihi Pargana is now the town of Pampar, the ancient PADMAPURA, about four miles southPadmapura. west of Khun?moh. It was founded in the beginning of the 9th century by Padma, the powerful uncle of the puppet king Cippaṭa-Jayapida. Padma is said by the Chronicle to have also built a temple of Visnu Padmasrāmin. To this may possibly belong the scanty remains of an ancient temple which have been described by General Cunningham. Close by is the Ziarat of Mir Muḥammad Hamadānī, with some fine ancient columns and ornamented slabs which are likely to have been taken from this temple. Also the other Ziarats of the town show similar remains. Padmapura, owing to its central position in a fertile tract, seems to have always been a place of importance and is often mentioned by Kalhana and the later Chroniclers.

Proceeding north-eastwards of Padmapura we pass first Bālahōm, a large village, which in the Lokaprakāśa and Tirthasaṁgraha figures as Bālāsrama. Under a large Deodar near it Bālādevi is now worshipped in the form of an old stone-image. Numerous ancient Stêlês, showing miniature reproductions of temples, are found in the neighbouring rivulets and canals; they were apparently used in recent times as stepping-stones which would account for their preservation. At the foot of a rocky spur which descends from the mountain-range to the north, lies the picturesque village of Uyan, once mentioned by Kalhana under the name of OVANA. It has a large sulphurous spring visited by the sick.

About two miles further east we reach the large village of Khruv, the ancient KHADŪVI which, as we have seen, gave to the district its former name. There is an abundance of fine springs in and about Khruv; Abu-l-Fazl mentions them as objects of worship and estimates their number at 360. Above the village a so-called Svayambhu-cakra or mystical diagram is shown on a rock. It is held sacred to Jvālā

1 For a detailed notice see Rajat. iv. 695 note. The old name of the place is well-known to Srinagar Pandits; VIGNE too, Travels, ii. p. 31, recognized it correctly. 2 See J. A. S. B., 1848, p. 274.

3 See Rajat. vii. 295.

4 Ain-i-Akb., ii. p. 358.

5 Compare for such diagrams, also designated Devicakra or Matṛcakra, Rājat. i.

122 note.

mukhi-Durgā and largely visited by pilgrims. I am, however, unable to trace any old reference to this Tirtha.

Śanāra.

Only a mile to the south-east of Khruv is the village of Sār, until recently the seat of a flourishing iron-industry. Kalhana mentions it by the name of SANARA as an Agrahāra founded by King Sacinara.1 Whatever the historical value of this notice may be, which Kalhana took from Padmamibira, the evidence detailed in my note on the passage proves that the present Sar is intended. An intermediate form of the name is preserved in the Snar of an old gloss. The Ziarat of Khwaja Khizr which stands here near several small springs, is built with remains of a Hindu temple; among them is a Linga-base some six feet square.

About two miles south-west of Sar are found the well-preserved ruins of a temple near the village of Ladu (not marked on Survey map). They have been described by Bishop Cowie, but I am unable to trace any old reference to this shrine in the texts I have examined. It is remarkable for having a circular cella, the only one known to me in Kaśmir. A small square cella to the east of this temple has been annexed to a neighbouring Ziārat.

Near the south end of the Vihi Pargana and on the river lies the village of Latpōr. An old gloss of the Rajatarangini identifies it with LALITAPURA, a place founded in honour of King Lalitäditya by his architect. The King according to the Chronicle was not pleased with the attention; in any case no importance seems to have attached to this place. There are no old remains above ground, but the local tradition still tells of King Lalitādit' as the founder of a large town on the neighbouring Uḍar.

District of Holaḍā;

Avantipura.

106. Passing round the foot of Mount Vastarvan we enter the Pargana of Vular, the ancient HOLAPĀ. This identification is supported, apart from the clear phonetic evidence, by all passages of the Rājatarangiņi which mention Holaḍā. Its feudal barons played a great part in the troubled times of the later Hindu reigns.

Its most important place in old times was undoubtedly the town of AVANTIPURA, founded by King Avantivarman (A.D. 855-883). Its position is marked by the present village of Vantipōr on the Vitasta. The

1 See note i. 100.

2 See J. A. S. B., 1866, pp. 97 sqq.

3 See Rajat. iv. 186.

See Rajat. i. 306 note.

5 See Rajat. v. 45 sq. note. Its identity with Vantipōr was first pointed out by Dr. WILSON in his note on Moorcroft, Travels, ii. p. 244.

conspicuous ruins of this place attracted already the attention of the early European visitors. General Cunningham did not fail to recognize in them the remains of the two great temples of Avantisvāmin and Avantiśvara which Avantivarman had built here. Of the two great ruins one is at Vantipōr itself, the other and larger one half a mile further down the river close to the hamlet of Jaubrar (map 'Jabair.') Owing to the complete destruction of the central shrines it is impossible to ascertain now which was dedicated to Visņu and which to Siva. The fine enclosing quadrangles of the temples have also suffered badly. That of Avantisvāmin was used as a temporary fortification in Kalhana's own time and underwent a severe siege."

The site on which Avantivarman's town was built, had apparently enjoyed some sanctity before these temples were founded, and bore the old name Viśvaikasāra. The great extent of the town is indicated by the traces of ruined buildings which cover the foot of the hills east of Vant pōr for a considerable distance. The frequent references to Avantipura in the Chronicles show that the town retained some importance long after the death of its founder,

We hear but little of other old sites in Holaḍā. The great town of Mihirapura which King Mihirakula is said to have founded in it, can no longer be traced. Khuli, a village situated a short distance to the south-west of Tral, the modern headquarters of the district, may possibly be the Khola of the Chronicle, one of Gopaditya's Agrahāras.* Of Tral I am unable to trace any old notice.

The identification of the village of Būts, about two miles south of Khuli, with the old BHAVACCHEDA is also uncertain. It is based on a gloss of Rājānaka Ratnakantha, the writer of the Codex Archetypus of the Rajatarangini. Still further south lies the village of Kai, probably the old KATIKA named by Kalhaņa as a foundation of Tuñjina 1.6 This identification is made in the old gloss on the passage and supported by the phonetic evidence of the modern name.

Of old remains in Vular the interesting temple of Narastān at the northern extremity of the district (34° 3′ lat. 75° 10′ long.) deserves notice. Unfortunately I am unable to find any clue as to its old name

1 See for a full description J. A. S. B., 1843, pp. 275 sqq. ; also ib., 1866, 121 sqq. 8 See Rajat. viii. 1429 sq., 1474 sqq.

8 See Rajat. i. 306.

See Rajat. i. 340.

5 Compare iii. 381 note.

6 Rajat. ii. 14.

1 See Mr. LAWRENCE's notice, Valley, p. 172. The attached photograph shows the site after my excavations. Regarding the result of the latter, see Vienna Oriental Journal, 1891, p. 345 sqq.

J. 1. 22

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