Hindu Temples

"Muslims had destroyed and looted the temples. The British did not do that but they took over a good deal of the temple lands as a 'revenue measure'; they did not use the word 'confiscation' and, in fact, converted some of these lands into 'monetary remuneration'. As a result, according to the Government of India's own comprehensive study beginning in 1962 and lasting for over ten years, the ten thousand five hundred and odd temples of Tamilnadu have a total annual income of only rupees twenty-seven million, from all their moveable and immoveable properties. Over 5,000 temples have only an annual income of Rs.500/- each! There is almost no money for the pujas, and the priests also hardly get anything. The only people who get proper remunerations are the Government functionaries employed to overseer the working of the temples. The 14,000 priests in Madhya Pradesh got five naya paisa per month at the time of Independence; now they get six naya paisa according to the Madhya Pradesh Pujaris Mahasangh!"

"A religious minority is a law unto itself. The institutions run by it enjoy protection both from their staff as well as from the Government. Their properties are safe and their management secure from Government intervention, very unlike institutions run by Hindus which enjoy no such protection and which are subject to all kinds of interference from a Government which takes pride in being ‘secular’, and which has developed aversion of secularity informed by anti-Hindu animus. The Indian Express reports ( 28/29 January, ’86 ) that the famous temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh has been ordered to pay rupees twenty crores as tax on the “sales” of prasadam since 1975! The Aurangzebi spirit is very much alive. Favoured treatment and discriminatory taxes have been used by Governments in the past to promote particular culture-groups and destroy others."

"Hindus temples have been under unprecedented attack for a thousand years. They suffered desecration, destruction, confiscation of their property and iniquitous taxation under the Muslim rulers. Under the British, the more physical methods ceased but fiscal methods were adopted for undermining "heathenism". A large part of the land and properties of the temples were taken away under all kinds of pretexts. After independence, the temples have fared no better. Their properties have not been restored to them and they continue to exist in deepening poverty. In the South where there are still many noble structures left, the temples are under the control of a Government which takes pride in being "secular", and whose secularity is thoroughly anti-Hindu in orientation."

"No new temple was allowed to be built nor any old one to be repaired, so that the total disappearance of all places of Hindu worship was to be merely a question of time. But even this delay, this slow operation of Time, was intolerable to many of the more fiery spirits of Islam, who tried to hasten the abolition of “‘infidelity’” by anticipating the destructive hand of Time and forcibly pulling down temples."

"Although King Aurangzeb destroyed numerous temples, there does not thereby fail to be many left at different places... All of them (temples at Hardwar and Ayodhya) are thronged with worshippers, even those that are destroyed are still venerated by the Hindus and visited by the offering of alms."

"[Temples]... which are able to compete in magnificence with the most superb of Ancient Rome."

"Generally speaking, a temple is a 'Place of Worship'. It is also called the 'House of God'. However, for a Hindu, it is both and yet still more. It is the whole cosmos in the miniature form."

"As a result of his (Aurangzeb's) fanaticism, thousands of the temples which had represented or housed the art of India through a millennium were laid in ruins. We can never know, from looking at India today, what grandeur and beauty she once possessed."

"In the choice of the Places [for temples], and manner of building, they follow rather their instinct or pretended inspiration, than any general rule...."

"About the temples of India, Alberuni says that his own people “are unable to describe them, much less to construct anything like them”."

"Why does the present government gloat on constructing temple corridors like the one in Kashi at the cost of 339 crores when it could have relinquished control over Hindu temples and allowed the latter to fund hundreds of such corridors over the length and breadth of this country? As far as I am concerned, a Hindu temple should be publicly listed as a company. After all, it supplies a product that people buy—peace of mind and reassurance— and unlike other companies that need to constantly refine or come up with better products, a temple’s product has not changed in a millennium, and never will. Indians should be able to buy stake in it and make the temple richer. The richer it becomes through public trading, the more it will do for the society—schools, hospitals, roads, orphanages, housing, the list goes on. The more it does for the society, the more it will garner donations. With temples being publicly listed, the ready excuse of the government that, who will control the temple after we relinquish control, becomes untenable. Let the government tax the temple’s wealth— no issues with that. At least, the wealth generated by the temple will belong to the temple. At least, then, the Hindus will not be so blatantly discriminated in their own country."

"Almost every form of Hindu faith is represented here."

"In this year also Sulaiman Kirrãnî, ruler of Bengal, who gave himself the tide of Hazrati Ãla, and had conquered die city of Katak-u-Banãras, that mine of heathenism, and having made the stronghold of Jagannãth into the home of Islãm, held sway from Kãmru to Orissa, attained the mercy of God."

"After Tãj Khãn, his brother Sulaimãn Karrãni took possession of the province of Gaur and proclaimed his independence' He also made up his mind to demolish all the temples and idol-houses of the infidels. As the biggest temple of the Hindûs was in Orissa and known as Jagannãth, he decided to destroy it and set out in that direction with a well-equipped force. Reaching there, he demolished the idol-house and laid it waste. There was an idol in it known as that of Kishan' Sulaimãn ordered that it be broken into pieces and thrown into the drain. In like manner, he took out seven hundred golden idols from idol-temples in the neighbouring areas' and broke them.... When the armies of Islãm entered that city, the women of the Brahmans, dressed in costly robes, wearing necklaces, covering their heads with colourful scarves and beautifying themselves in every way, took shelter at the back of the temple of Jagannãth. They were told again and again that a Muslim army that had entered the city would capture and take them away, and that those people would desecrate the temple after laying it waste. But the women did not believe it at all. They kept on saying. 'How could it happen? How could the soldiers of the Muslim army cause any injury to the idols? When the army of Islãm arrived near the temple, it made prisoners of those Hindû women. That is what surprised them most."

"The Sultan left Banarasi [Cuttack] with the intention of pursuing the Rai of Jajnagar, who had fled to an island in the river News was then brought that in the jangal were seven elephants, and one old she-elephant, which was very fierce. The Sultan resolved upon endeavouring to capture these elephants before continuing the pursuit of the Rai.... After the hunt was over, the Sultan directed his attention to the Rai of Jajnagar, and entering the palace where he dwelt he found many fine buildings. It is reported that inside the Rais fort, there was a stone idol which the infidels called Jagannath, and to which they paid their devotions. Sultan Firoz, in emulation of Mahmud Subuktigin, having rooted up the idol, carried it away to Delhi where he placed it in an ignominious position."

"Allah, who is the only true God and has no other emanation, endowed the king of Islam with the strength to destroy this ancient shrine on the eastern sea-coast and to plunge it into the sea, and after its destruction, he ordered the nose of the image of Jagannath to be perforated and disgraced it by casting it down on the ground. They dug out other idols, which were worshipped by the polytheists in the kingdom of Jajnagar, and overthrew them as they did the image of Jagannath, for being laid in front of the mosques along the path of the Sunnis and way of the musallis (the multitude who offer prayers) and stretched them in front of the portals of every mosque, so that the body and sides of the images may be trampled at the time of ascent and descent, entrance and exit, by the shoes on the feet of the Muslims."

"The present temple of Jagannath at Puri was constructed by Anantavarman Codagangadeva of the Eastern Gangas (r. 1078-1147) (Panda 2013: 55-57). A devotee of Shiva Gokarnesvara, he also built the Jagannath temple, exalting a popular local cult. An inscription eulogized his achievement, ... What king can be named that could erect a temple to such a god as Purusottama. Whose feet are the three worlds, whose navel is the entire sky, whose ears the Cardinal points, whose eyes the sun and moon and whose head the heaven (above)? This task which had hitherto been neglected by previous kings was fulfilled by Gangesvara (Mubayi 2005: 18)."

"India has had a spiritual freedom never known until lately to the West. Christianity when it came offering its spiritual philosophy of life imposed an iron dogma upon the European peoples. Those who could not accept this dogma, whatever it happened to be at the moment, paid so heavy a penalty that the legend of the Car of Juggernaut (Jagannath) is far truer of Europe than Asia.""

"It was formerly believed that devotees had offered themselves as sacrifices, as in the case of fanatics supposed to have thrown themselves under the wheels of the Juggernaut (Indian Jagannath) car; but it is now held that the rare cases of such apparent self-sacrifice may have been accidents."

"This girl, this child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen who says its prayers to Brahma and kneels before Juggernaut--this girl is--a liar!"

"The Riyazu-s-Salatin recorded that the wooden image (images?) of Jagannath (and Balabhadra and Subhadra?) were taken to Bengal and publicly burnt on the banks of the Hooghly. ...... As the Riyazu-s-Salatin stated, In consequence of the removal of the idol, there was a fallingoff to the tune of nine laks of rupees in the Imperial revenue, accruing from pilgrims ...Establishing friendly relations [with the new Governor, the] Rajah ... brought back Jagannath the Hindu God to Parsutam [Puri], and reestablished the worship of Jagannath at Puri ("

"Cakoda Pothi, a local Oriya chronicle stated, “there was a complete anarchy (arajaka) and nobody was there to care of gods and Brahmanas” (Kulke 2013: 69). ... The Riyazu-s-Salatin recorded, “During the commotion in Muhammad Taqi Khan’s time, the Rajah of Parsutam had removed Jagannath, the Hindu God, from the limits of the Subah of Odisah, and had guarded it on the summit of a hill across the Chilka lake” (Riyazu-s-Salatin 1902: 302-303)."

"Every Afghãn, who took part in the campaign, obtained as booty one or two gold images. Kãlã Pahãr destroyed the temple of Jagannãth in Puri which contained 700 idols made of gold, the biggest of which weighed 30 mãns."

"An example will serve to illustrate the spiteful spirit of the Christian missionaries at that time. They spread a canard in India and abroad that many Hindus voluntarily rushed under the wheels of the great chariot during the annual rathayãtrã at Puri, and got themselves crushed to death in order to attain salvation. The great chariot, according to them, was always accompanied by droves of dancing girls who sang lascivious songs and made obscene gestures towards crowds on both sides of the broad street. The “great” William Wilberforce, who ruled the circle of Christian crusaders in Britain and who adamantly advocated the Christianization of India by an unstinted use of state power, demanded immediately that the temple of Jagannath be demolished to stop this “devil-dance” for good. The British Commissioner of Puri at that time saved the situation by writing a long letter to a liberal British M.P. in which he stated that he along with many other British civilians in the district had been a regular witness of the rathayãtrã for twenty years but had never witnessed a single victim under the wheels nor found anything immodest in the songs and symbolic gestures of the dancing girls. The English word “Juggernaut”, which according to the Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary means “any relentless destroying force”, is a living witness to the inventive imagination of the early Christian missionaries."

"The Lingaraja temple in Bhubaneswar, built in the eleventh century, has two classes of priests: Brahmins and a class called Badus who are ranked as Sudras and are said to be of tribal origin. Not only are Badus priests of this important temple; they also remain in the most intimate contact with the deity whose personal attendants they are. Only they are allowed to bathe the Lingaraja and adorn him and at festival time (...) only Badus may carry this movable image (...) the deity was originally under a mango tree (...) The Badus are described by the legend as tribals (sabaras) who originally inhabited the place and worshipped the linga under the tree.'"

"The archaic iconography of the cult images on the one hand and their highest Hindu iconology on the other as well as the existence of former tribals (daitas) and Vedic Brahmins amongst its priests are by no means an antithesis, but a splendid regional synthesis of the local and the all-Indian tradition.' (...) 'The uninterrupted tribal-Hindu continuum finds its lasting manifestation in the Jagannath cult of Puri.'"

"A number of people including William Wilberforce, sought to refute these arguments by painting in black colors the horrible customs of the Hindus such as sati, infanticide, throwing the children into the Ganga, religious suicides, and above all idolatry. Vivid descriptions were given of the massacre of the innocent resulting from the car procession of Lord Jagannath at Puri, and the Baptists put down the number of annual victims at not less than 120,000. When challenged they had to admit that they did not actually count the dead bodies but arrived at the figure by an ingenious calculation."

"When Firuz Tughluq invaded Orissa in 1359 and learned that the region's most important temple was that of Jagannath located inside the raja's fortress in Puri, he carried off the stone image of the god and installed it in Delhi 'in an ignominious position'."

"Muslim power again suffered a setback after the death of Alauddin Khalji in 1316 AD. But it was soon revived by the Tughlaqs. By now most of the famous temples over the length and breadth of the Islamic empire in India had been demolished, except in Orissa and Rajasthan which had retained their independence. By now most of the rich treasuries had been plundered and shared between the Islamic state and its swordsmen. Firuz Shah Tughlaq led an expedition to Orissa in 1360 AD. He destroyed the temple of Jagannath at Puri, and desecrated many other Hindu shrines.... After the sack of the temples in Orissa, Firuz Shah Tughlaq attacked an island on the sea-coast where 'nearly 100,000 men of Jajnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations'. The swordsmen of Islam turned 'the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers'. A worse fate overtook the Hindu women. Sirat-i-Firuz Shahi records: 'Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier.' Still more horrible scenes were enacted by Firuz Shah Tughlaq at Nagarkot (Kangra) where he sacked the shrine of Jvalamukhi. Firishta records that the Sultan 'broke the idols of Jvalamukhi, mixed their fragments with the flesh of cows and hung them in nosebags round the necks of Brahmins. He sent the principal idol as trophy to Medina.'"

"[D]id they not at the same time forbid Christianity to be propagated in India, and did they not, in order to make money out of the pilgrims streaming to the temples of Orissa and Bengal, take up the trade in the murder and prostitution perpetrated in the temple of Juggernaut?"

"By any standard, Ranjit Singh was a Hindu ruler: 'He worshipped as much in Hindu temples as he did in gurudwaras. When he was sick and about to die, he gave away cows for charity. What did he do with the diamond Kohi-noor? He did not want to give it to the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar which he built in marble and gold, but to Jagannath Puri as his farewell gift.... Why should he be making all these Hindu demands? Whatever the breakaway that had been achieved from Hinduism, this greatest of our monarchs bridged in 40 years."

"Andrew Stirling (1793?-1830), Private Secretary to Acting Governor General W.B. Bayley, who authored a valuable work on Orissa, described this episode, The adventures of the great Idol form a curious episode in the history of this important period. According to the Mandala Panji, when the priests at Pooree saw the turn which matters were taking, they again for the third time in their annals, hurried away the helpless god in a covered cart, and buried him in a pit at Parikud, on the Chilka Lake. Kalapahar was not however to be defrauded of so rich a prize, and having traced out the place of concealment, he dug up Juggernaut and carried him off on an elephant, as far as the Ganges, after breaking in pieces every image in the Khetr. He then collected a large pile of wood, and setting fire to it, threw the idol on the burning heap. A bystander snatching the image from the flames threw it into the river. The whole proceeding had been watched by Besar Mainti, a faithful votary of Juggernaut, who followed the half burnt image as it floated down the stream, and at last when unperceived, managed to extract from it the sacred part (Brahm or spirit in the original), and brought it back secretly to Orissa, where it was carefully deposited in charge of the Khandait of Kujang (Stirling 1846: 102)."

"There were many legends about the twelfth century Sanskrit poet, Jayadeva (Miller 1984: 39-40). His Gita Govinda, which exalted Radha, was written in the precincts of the Jagannath temple. The work was regularly recited in the temple and inspired many generations of poets. Chaitanya (1486-1534) lived the last decades of his life there. The Chaitanya- Chandrodaya recorded his experience on first beholding the deity, “T rushed to embrace Jagannatha. What happened afterwards, I do not remember... In future, I shall behold Jagannatha from outside. I shall not enter the sanctum but stand near the Garuda column.” Several visitors to India in the sixteenth century wrote detailed accounts of the temple, among them Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, “Jagannath is the name of one of the mouths of the Ganges, upon which the great pagoda is built, where the Great Brahman, that is to say the High Priest of the idolaters, resides... The great idol on the altar of the choir has two diamonds for his eyes and a pendant from his neck which reaches to the waist, and the smallest of these diamonds weighs about 40 carats; he has bracelets on his arms, some being of pearls and some of rubies, and this magnificent idol is called Kesora [Kesava Rail... Francois Bernier described the annual rath yatra, “In the town of Jagannat, situated on the Gulf of Bengale, and containing the famous temple of the idol of that name, a certain annual festival is held, which continues, if my memory fail not, for the space of eight or nine days. At this festival is collected an incredible concourse of people..."

"'The victorious standards set out from Jaunpur for the destruction of idols, slaughter of the enemies of Islam and hunt for elephants near Padamtalav. The Sultan saw Jajnagar which had been praised by all travellers'...'The troops which had been appointed for the destruction of places around Jajnagar, ended the conceit of the infidels by means of the sword and the spear. Wherever there were temples and idols in that area, they were trampled under the hoofs of the horses of Musalmans... After obtaining victory and sailing on the sea and destroying the temple of Jagannath and slaughtering the idolaters, the victorious standards started towards Delhi..."

"Only one Hindu temple is left out of many; for the Musulmans have completely destroyed all except the pyramids. Huge crowds come from all over India to this temple, which is situated on the high bank of the Jomains."

"Based on scientific studies/survey carried out, study of architectural remains, exposed features and artefacts, inscriptions, art and sculptures, it can be said that there existed a Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing structure. (137)"

"During the survey, a number of inscriptions were noticed on the existing and pre-existing structures. A total of 34 inscriptions were recorded during the present survey and 32 estampages were taken. These are, in fact, inscriptions on the stones of the pre-existing Hindu temples, which have bееп re-used during the construction! repair of the existing structure, They include inscriptions in Devanagari, Grantha, Telugu and Kannada scripts. Reuse of earlier inscriptions in the structure, suggest that the earlier structures were destroyed and their parts were reused in construction repair of the existing structure."

"During the scientific investigations/ survey of existing structure a number of Sanskrit and Dravidian inscriptions were noticed on the pre-existing structure and existing structure. Most of these inscriptions which сап be dated from 12th to 17th century have been reused in the structure, suggesting that the earlier structures were destroyed and their parts were reused in construction / repair later."

"Comparison of the inscription found in the lower room inside the existing structure, with a copy which was made by the ASI in 1965-66, establishes that attempt was made to erase last two lines of the inscription mentioning about the construction and expansion of the mosque."

"From Prayag the Marathas moved along the southern bank of the Ganga to the town of Mirzapur and camped there on 1 June 1743. The proximity to the holy city of Kashi, and the desire to rebuild the temple of Kashi Vishwanath at its original site, moved Malharji Holkar to make preparations to take over the city. A letter dated 27 June 1743 gives a summary of the events: It is Malharji’s wish to demolish the mosque at Jnanvapi and build a temple. However, the panch-dravidi? Brahmins worry that the mosque is well-known. The patil will make the temple without an order from the Emperor. Once the Emperor comes to evil ways, the Brahmins will die. He will take their lives. In this province, the yavanas are in strength. They will not all accept this. It is better to build it at another place. The Brahmins are worried. They will be in a bad state. The Ganga is omnipotent! In Kashi, the Brahmins are worried. However, to do what will not endanger the Brahmins, will be pious. Even so, what the Vishveshwar thinks proper, he will do. What is the point of worrying? If they begin to demolish the temple, the Brahmins will come and send a letter of request to the Shrimant — that is the thought now."

"Though here the linga of Visvesvara is removed and another is brought in its place by human beings, owing to the times, the pilgrims must worship whatever linga is in this place. Sometimes, owing to the action of tyrannical Mleccha rulers, there may be no linga in that place. In that case circumambulation, namaskara and other forms of salutation must be made to the spot only. By that action the fruit of the pilgrimage is attained. The abhiseka, etc., which can only be done (to the linga) can of course not be done."

"I visited the Viswanath temple last evening and as I was walking through those lanes, these were the thoughts that touched me. If a stranger dropped from above on to this great temple and he had to consider what we as Hindus were, would he not be justified in condemning us? Is not this great temple a reflection of our character? I speak feelingly as a Hindu. Is it right that the lanes of our sacred temple should be as dirty as they are? The houses round about are built anyhow. The lanes are tortuous and narrow. If even our temples are not models of roominess and cleanliness, what can our self-government be? Shall our temples be abodes of holiness, cleanliness and peace as soon as the English have retired from India, either of their own pleasure or by compulsion, bag and baggage?"

"‘It would be doing violence to the soul of Aurangzeb to use this land for any purpose other than that intended by him, that is to keep it intact either for the humiliation of Hindus or to show the previous history of the property.’"

"The most interesting of the ruined buildings of ancient Benares now existing are those which have been appropriated by the Muhammadans. At the back of the mosque of Aurangzib, near the Golden Temple [Vishwanath], is a fragment of what must have been a very imposing Brahminical or Jain temple. The south wall of the mosque is built into it. Tradition points to this as being part of the original temple of Vishweshwar destroyed by Aurangzib. From the style it would appear to belong to the time of Akbar, or about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The raised terrace in front of the mosque is built upon some very much older structure, which Sherring suggests might have been a Buddhist vihara or temple monastery. This, however, is mere conjecture … it is quite possible that the whole quadrangle in which the mosque stands, originally contained a number of Brahminical, or perhaps Jain temples and monasteries of many different periods, such are as often found grouped together in places considered especially sacred by any sect of Hindus."

"It so happens that sometime the ling of Vishweshwar is removed and is again brought back according to the existences of the situation. It often happens that on account of the action of the intolerant Muslim government there may be no ling there at all. Even the circumambulation etc. should be made round the place on account of its sanctity. That is quite sufficient for the pilgrimage. As for a ceremonial bathing of the God with Mantras etc. that would not be possible."

"The reputed sanctity of the spot in the eyes of the Hindus would not be lost by its exclusive appropriation to Musalman devotion, while the everlasting rancour of the Hindus would be kept alive by a sense of profanation to which their holy place was exposed, and a regret at being denied access to it. With the Musalmans, on the contrary, no particular sanctity [is] attached to the spot. An Eedgah in any other situation would be equally an object of resort, and it is only held by the Musalmans in peculiar estimation here as it marks the former ascendancy of one religion over the other [emphasis mine]. When all collision of the two sects is obviated at the Bisheshwar mosque and Kapalmochan by the seclusion of the Musalmans at the one and their exclusion from the other, I anticipate no ground of dispute from the Musalmans retaining entire possession of the minaret mosque called by the Hindus, Beynee Madhoo [Beni Madhav] and of that at Sheikh Katun Allees (or the Hindu Kurrut Baseysur [Krittivaseshawar]). The Hindus have long since appropriated another temple to the idol to which the former place was originally dedicated, and the foundation at the latter which the Hindus esteem sacred is an object of devotion to them only one day in the year."

"The Kashi Khanda has Shiva himself declaring: There is no linga equal to that of Vishwanatha. There is no tirtha other than Manikarnika. There is no splendid penance grove anywhere else on a par with my Anandavana. The whole of Varanasi is full of tirthas. Its very name is Tirtha of all Tirthas. There itself is the highly sacred Manikarnika, the very ground of my happiness. From the site which is my royal palace [the main temple], the city extends in between the north and the east, to the left is 300 hands (up to Harischandreshwara) and to the right it is 200 hands (up to Ganga Keshava). In Ganga, Manikarnika extends to five hundred hands north to south. It is the very essence of the three worlds. It is the basic support of the great soul. Those who resort to it lie in my heart."

"Visiting in 1868, Sherring documented this Adi Vishweshwara temple and the adjacent Raziya mosque as well. This was in a north-westerly direction from the Gyan Vapi mosque. He writes: Looking beyond in a north-westerly direction, the eye falls on a temple about sixty feet in height, situated one hundred and fifty yards distant from the mosque. This is Ad-Bisheshwar [sic: Adi Vishweshwara], that is the temple of the ‘Primeval Lord of All.’ The natives in the neighbourhood all regard this shrine as of an epoch anterior to that of the old Bisheshwar [sic], the ruins of which, as already stated, form a constituent portion of Aurunguzeb’s [sic] mosque. Hence the name attached to it. This temple is surmounted by a large dome, the decaying condition of which is visible in the gaps on its outer surface … there is really nothing in this temple of an ancient character; but, on the eastern side of the enclosure, the ground becomes considerably elevated, and upon it stands a mosque [Raziya?] built of very old materials, the pillars of which date as far back as the Gupta period, and possibly earlier. May not these old stones and pillars be remains of the original Bisheshwar?"

"The temple of Bisheshwar [sic] is situated in the midst of a quadrangle, covered in with a roof, above which the tower of the temple is seen. At each corner is a dome, and at the south-east corner, a temple sacred to Shiva. When observed in the distance, from the elevation of the roof, the building presents three distinct divisions. The first is the spire of a temple of Mahadeva, whose base is in the quadrangle below; the second is a large gilded dome; and the third is the gilded tower of the temple of Bisheshwar [sic] itself. These three objects are all in a row, in the centre of the quadrangle, filling up most of the space from one side to the other. The carving upon them is not particularly striking; but the dome and tower glittering in the sun look like vast masses of burnished gold … the expense of gilding them was borne by the late Maharaja Runjeet Sinh [sic] of Lahore. The tower, dome and spire terminate, severally, in a sharp point. Attached to the first is a high pole bearing a small flag and tipped with a trident. The temple of Bisheshwar, including the tower is fifty-one feet in height … outside the enclosure, to the north is a large collection of deities, raised upon a platform, called by the natives ‘the court of Mahadeva’ … these are evidently not of modern manufacture … the probability is, that they were taken from the ruins of the old temple of Bishshwar, which stood to the north-west of the present structure, and was demolished by the Emperor Aurangzeb … extensive remains of this ancient temple are still visible. They form a large portion of the western wall of the Mohammedan Mosque, which was built up in its site by this bigoted oppressor of the Hindus. Judging from the proportions of these ruins, it is manifest that the former temple of Bisheshwar must have been both loftier and more capacious than the existing structure; and the courtyard is four or five times more spacious than the entire area occupied by the modern temple … the mosque though not small, is by no means an imposing object. It is plain and uninteresting, and displays scarcely any carving or ornament. Within and without, its walls are besmeared with a dirty whitewash with a little colouring matter."

"Oh mind! Do undertake a pilgrimage to Kashi to have the vision of lord Vishweshwara. If you pray to him with love, he, the compassionate one, will surely cut asunder the cycle of birth and death for you. The river Ganga flows through the city like pure milk. On the banks of the river, a host of sages reside. The lord smears his form with holy ash, holds a trident in his hands. A serpent adorns his neck. He shares his form with Girija, the daughter of mountains. All the people of the three worlds are at his feet. Oh mind! Do worship the lotus-eyed Lord Padmanabha and the three-eyed Maheswara and become immortal."