Meer Hassan Ali, B.: Observations on the Mussulmauns of India: descriptive of their manners, customs, habits, and religious opinions ; made during a twelve years residence in their immediate Society (Band 2) (London, 1832)

13G STONE PILLARS.

are singular piles of stones, erected with great
exactness in the following order:—

A broad block of stone forms the base; on
the centre is raised a pillar of six feet by two
square, on this rests a circular stone, resem-
bling a grindstone, on which is placed another
upright pillar, and again a circular, until five of
each are made to rest on the base to form a
pillar ; the top circulars or caps are much larger
than the rest; and on these the massy stone
beams for the roof are supported. How these
ponderous stones forming the whole roof were
raised, unacquainted as these people ever have
been with machinery, is indeed a mystery suffi-
cient to impress on the weak-minded a current
report amongst the Natives, that the whole
building was erected in one night by superna-
tural agency, from materials which had formerly
been used in the construction of a Hindoo tem-
ple, but destroyed by the zeal of the Mussul-
mauns soon after their invasion of Hindoostaun.

The pillars I examined narrowly, and could
not find any traces of cement or fastening ; yet,
excepting two or three which exhibit a slight