Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c7.s4.1

c7.s4.1

The oldest remains of a structural building in this part of the country, and, perhaps, coeval with the latest cave-temples of Kanheri in the neighbourhood, are sundry carved stones of one or more Buddhist temples scattered through the fields between the railway station of Borivli and the caves themselves. The site of one building is on a knoll about a mile east by south from the station. Lying about upon it are some small stone dāgobas, whole and in fragments, with remains of brickwork and signs of platforms. These were, probably, votive dāgobas, such as are found near the large tank on the top of Chitorgarh in Rājputānā and other Buddhist sites. They are found cut in the rock at the Bhājā caves in one big group. A slight surface clearing on the spot yielded nothing more than a solitary drilled red cornelian bead, like many of those found in such numbers upon the old site of Brāhmanābād in Sind.¹ About a quarter of a mile further on, is a small temple connected with the hamlet of Devi-ka-Pārā, beside which is the site of some Buddhist building or stūpa. In the centre was a well-laid brick platform, while, around it, on all four sides, ran one or more walls, of which the traces of foundations and some of the masonry remain. There was not sufficient left from which to form any opinion as to what the building was. A few carved stones lie about with Buddhist symbols upon them, showing that a substantial building of some sort once existed here. The bottom portion of a square stone receptacle was unearthed from the debris, which had the appearance of part of a relic box similar to the Kolhāpur one in the museum of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. There are other sites, like the first, hidden away in the jungle in this locality, no doubt once connected with the great Buddhist settlement at the Kaṇheri caves.