178

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.

against each other for the amusement of the court. This is the account given by tradition, and, judg ing from the character of the sculptures surround ing the place, it is probably the true one. The animals fought on the ground, and the king and his suite watched them from elevated platforms of stone. The buildings in which these beasts were confined cannot now be distinguished, but the stone trough at which they were watered still remains. The trough is a monolith, which has unfortunately been slightly cracked in turning it over to look for treasure.

Its dimensions are

41} x 3 x 2 feet.

Leaving these, the road passes through a few paddy-fields towards the river. There are fine stone buildings all round and the débris of count less houses of stone and brick.

On the left is a

mutilated monolith representing Siva with a cobra with outstretched hood over his head. Siva is represented seated, and the statue is about 35 feet high. It has been much damaged by Tipú's troops, who have broken off the nose and one of the arms. Close by are two fine temples between which the road passes, but which are remarkable for nothing but the enormous size of the stones which have been used in their construction.

Mass

es of cut granite, many of them 30 feet in length by 4 in depth, are seen high up in the wall, and no explanation can be given of the mode in which they were placed in their present position. About 100 yards beyond this place, the crest of

the hill is reached, and from it a magnificent pano ramic view is obtained. Immediately below, the river Túngabadră flows through a gorge between

the rocks, and on the opposite bank are high rugged granite hills. Parallel with the river is the main street, lined with temples and palaces and some

modern houses. Small patches of paddy and sugar-cane cultivation serve to give colour to the SCCne.

At one end of this street, which is about

half a mile long and fifty yards in breadth, is a large pagoda in good repair, which is the only one in which service is still kept up. A channel from the river runs through the centre of it, and is led through the room used for cooking, so that at all times there is a supply of fresh running water. At the other end of the street is a large

[JUNE, 1873.

all are about half a mile lower down the river.

One dedicated to Vithal, a form of Vishnu, is said to be equal in its architectural detail to anything at Elora.

The roof is formed of immense slabs

of granite supported by monolithic columns of the

same material richly carved, and twenty feet high. Close by are similar buildings dedicated to Vira bhadra and Ganeśa.

In the centre of the Vithala

temple is the stone-car of the god, supported by stone elephants, and about 30 feet high.* Tilpatri (population 7,869) is built on the right bank of the Pennér river, which flows close under

neath its walls. According to tradition, it was founded by Rāmalingam Nayudu, a subordinate of the Vijayanagar kings, about 400 years ago. The village was first called “Tälepalli,” having been built in a grove of palmyra trees, and this was afterwards corrupted into Tādpatri, He also built the fine temple dedicated to Rāma Iswara. The other

temple, on

the river-bank, called that of

Chintarāya, was built by his grandson Timma Nayudu, who also founded several other villages

in the neighbourhood. These two temples are “elaborately decorated with sculptures represent ing the adventures of Krishna, Rāma, and other mythological events. Among the bas-reliefs is a figure holding a Grecian bow, rarely seen among Hindu sculpture.” . The temple on the river-bank is by far the finest, but was never finished. The Gopuram of the other temple was struck by light ing about 30 years ago and split in half. After the battle of Talikota, the country round Tādpatri was subdued by the forces of the Kutb Shahi dynasty, and a Muhammadan Governor was appointed. Afterwards the town was captured by Morari Rao, and still later by Haldar Ali. The situation of Tādpatri is low, and in the rains and when the river is in fresh the worst parts of the town are under water. The main street, though narrow, is straight, and the houses on each side of it well and substantially built. Another good street

might be made along the bank of the river, and the embankment necessary would have the effect

of preventing the river from undermining the Rāma Iswara temple, as it now does. The streets in the rest of the town are small and crooked, and lined with squalid mud houses, built without

figure of Hanuman, the monkey-god, while the whole is commanded by a high hill composed of irregular granite boulders, on the summit of which a large temple has been erected. The view from the top well repays the trouble of the ascent.

Nandelpäd, about 2% miles off. Tádpatri has al ways been a great trading centre, and on this

Parallel with this main street, but a little further

account, and also on account of its peculiar sanc

from the river, is another, equal in size, but with fewer fine buildings in it. The finest temples of

tity (one authority reckoning it next to Benares), it has always been a thriving and populous town.f

• pp. 290-293,

+ Ibid. pp. 48, 49.

any attempt at regularity. The road from Kad dapah to Belári passes at the rear of the town, as does also the railway, though the station is at