DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.635#0139
126 BENARES, THE SACRED CITY
of clay, on which are placed for worship sprigs of the
sacred basil (pcymum sanctum), or tulasi, Vishnu's
plant, as it is Vishnu in his Krishna incarnation who
is specially worshipped in Kartik. The tulasi was,
says the legend, a woman of Brindaban, who loved
Krishna so passionately, that at last she threw herself
into the flames of a suttee's pyre. Krishna then
transformed her into the sacred plant, and directed
that it should always be worshipped as part of his
own puja. At Asi Sangam we reach the southern
limit of Benares. From the other side of the little
stream from which the ghat takes its name, the
Panch-kosi road begins to wind through the corn-
fields.
We will now return downstream to Man Mandil
Ghat, just below Dasasamedh. The great building
fronting this ghat is the oldest of the palaces in
Benares, having been built by Man Singh, Raja of
Amber, and ancestor of the present Maharaja of
Jaipur, about the year 1600 a.d. It was a very fine
specimen of the architecture of that period, and the
beautiful stone balcony, which is the chief feature of
the present facade, is part of the original work. Un-
fortunately, the greater part of the building fell into
ruin, and about the middle of the last century was
restored with brick and plaster of a very inferior style.
A picture by Daniell, now in the rooms of the Asiatic
Society, Calcutta, shows the original facade as built by
Man Singh.
The palace was converted into an observatory in
1693 by the great Hindu astronomer, Raja Jai Singh,
a descendant of Man Singh, who was employed by
the Mogul emperor, Muhammad Shah, to correct the
of clay, on which are placed for worship sprigs of the
sacred basil (pcymum sanctum), or tulasi, Vishnu's
plant, as it is Vishnu in his Krishna incarnation who
is specially worshipped in Kartik. The tulasi was,
says the legend, a woman of Brindaban, who loved
Krishna so passionately, that at last she threw herself
into the flames of a suttee's pyre. Krishna then
transformed her into the sacred plant, and directed
that it should always be worshipped as part of his
own puja. At Asi Sangam we reach the southern
limit of Benares. From the other side of the little
stream from which the ghat takes its name, the
Panch-kosi road begins to wind through the corn-
fields.
We will now return downstream to Man Mandil
Ghat, just below Dasasamedh. The great building
fronting this ghat is the oldest of the palaces in
Benares, having been built by Man Singh, Raja of
Amber, and ancestor of the present Maharaja of
Jaipur, about the year 1600 a.d. It was a very fine
specimen of the architecture of that period, and the
beautiful stone balcony, which is the chief feature of
the present facade, is part of the original work. Un-
fortunately, the greater part of the building fell into
ruin, and about the middle of the last century was
restored with brick and plaster of a very inferior style.
A picture by Daniell, now in the rooms of the Asiatic
Society, Calcutta, shows the original facade as built by
Man Singh.
The palace was converted into an observatory in
1693 by the great Hindu astronomer, Raja Jai Singh,
a descendant of Man Singh, who was employed by
the Mogul emperor, Muhammad Shah, to correct the