Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c9.72

c9.72

The place of chief interest at this holy site is the shrine of Gorakhnāth. This is a rectangular building with a veranda all around it. The parapet, both around the veranda and around the flat roof (before the alterations were made) of the main structure, is finished in open work. The veranda supports are rounded, double pillars with rounded arches, scalloped. The whole building is whitewashed and is decorated in colours. The plinth, which rises about two feet above the ground, has a front of fifty-one and one-half feet and a depth of thirty-eight feet. The veranda is about eight and one-half feet wide. The shrine faces east. It is not a tomb. It contains the gaddi of Gorakhnāth on which rests his caran. This is covered with flowers daily. Beside the gaddi are peacock-feathered staves wound with red and white cloth, and hand bells. There is generally a group of Ṭhākurs at the right of the gaddi. The lamp at the right has been burning for a long time, they say since Gorakhnāth’s day. There is no liṅga in the shrine. In the veranda are the usual temple bells.