XIV. An Account of the Sculptures and Inscriptions at Mahámalaipur; illustrated by Plates

Abstract

The remains of ancient sculpture, called by Europeans the Seven Pagodas, on the Coromandel Coast, thirty-five miles south of Madras, have long attracted the attention of those who feel an interest in Hindu Archæology; and, so long ago as the year 1788, formed the subject of a paper in the first volume of the Asiatic Researches. The author, Mr. William Chambers, wrote from memory, after an interval of twelve years from the period at which he had visited the scene which he described, His account, unaccompanied as it was by drawings or fac similes of the inscriptions, could therefore scarcely be expected to be sufficiently minute to answer any further purpose than that avowed by himself, of exciting public attention, and “giving rise to more accurate observations, and more complete discoveries on the same subject.” In the fifth volume of the Asiatic Researches, published in 1798, there is a more descriptive account of these temples and excavations, written by Mr. Goldingham, a gentleman of well-known talent, on whose observations, as they were recorded on the spot, we may with confidence rely. Mrs. Graham is indeed a later writer on the subject: but her remarks are desultory, and her information imperfect, as might be expected from the opportunities presenting themselves to a casual and hasty visitor. In Bishop Heber's narrative three pages are devoted to a notice of Maha-Bali-poor. (Pages 216–218, vol. iii.) But the author merely follows the legends of the place, and evidently aims at nothing more than a record in his journal of his impressions on a cursory visit. The testimony, however, which this lamented prelate bears to the degree of skill displayed in these sculptures must, from his acknowledged taste, be looked upon as peculiarly valuable; and it is gratifying to one who has taken much interest in them to find, that he considered “some of the porticoes, temples and bas-reliefs as very beautifully executed,” and pronounced “the general merit of the work as superior to that of Elephanta.”