DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.614#0124
OD BENABES, PAST AND PBESENT.
of as Dharamo. In the time of Asoka, the common
term employed to denote this religion was Dhammo,
which is found inscribed on Buddhist monuments reared
by him and standing to the present day. In the pas-
sage leading to the court, is a temple dedicated to Dhar-
meswar, or Lord Dharma,—that is, the deity who per-
sonifies dharm. If Dharm be regarded as the Buddhist
creed, then this appellation would refer to the supposed
divine head of such creed, or Buddha. This entire
Mahalla or ward of the city is called Dharm-kup,
thereby showing, that, in all likelihood, the well is as
ancient as the Mahalla itself. The antiquity of the
well, therefore, is placed beyond all doubt; and its con-
nexion with Buddhism, at some period of its history,
is invested with some probability. "We do not forget
that the term dharma, meaning virtue, merit, justice,
duty, piety, and many other things, is in constant use
among Hindus; but still, perhaps, it has hardly that
strong and distinctive signification of a system of re-
ligion, of a national faith, which it had with the Bud-
dhists in India in former times.
Eeturning to the street, a few steps bring us to a
temple inhabited by the goddess Yisalakshi,—literally,
' the large-eyed," an epithet of Parvati, S'iva's wife,—
whose crowned head only is visible, the rest of her per-
son being covered with a yellow cloth. A short distance
from this spot is Mir Ghat, leading down to the river.
The ghat is narrow, but strongly made; and its stairs
are placed at convenient intervals for persons ascending
and descending them, so as to induce as little fatigue as
possible by the exercise. In passing down the ghat, you
of as Dharamo. In the time of Asoka, the common
term employed to denote this religion was Dhammo,
which is found inscribed on Buddhist monuments reared
by him and standing to the present day. In the pas-
sage leading to the court, is a temple dedicated to Dhar-
meswar, or Lord Dharma,—that is, the deity who per-
sonifies dharm. If Dharm be regarded as the Buddhist
creed, then this appellation would refer to the supposed
divine head of such creed, or Buddha. This entire
Mahalla or ward of the city is called Dharm-kup,
thereby showing, that, in all likelihood, the well is as
ancient as the Mahalla itself. The antiquity of the
well, therefore, is placed beyond all doubt; and its con-
nexion with Buddhism, at some period of its history,
is invested with some probability. "We do not forget
that the term dharma, meaning virtue, merit, justice,
duty, piety, and many other things, is in constant use
among Hindus; but still, perhaps, it has hardly that
strong and distinctive signification of a system of re-
ligion, of a national faith, which it had with the Bud-
dhists in India in former times.
Eeturning to the street, a few steps bring us to a
temple inhabited by the goddess Yisalakshi,—literally,
' the large-eyed," an epithet of Parvati, S'iva's wife,—
whose crowned head only is visible, the rest of her per-
son being covered with a yellow cloth. A short distance
from this spot is Mir Ghat, leading down to the river.
The ghat is narrow, but strongly made; and its stairs
are placed at convenient intervals for persons ascending
and descending them, so as to induce as little fatigue as
possible by the exercise. In passing down the ghat, you