573 ART. XXIII.—The Piprdhwd Stitpa, containing relics of Buddha. By WILLIAM CLAXTON PEPPE, Esq. Com- municated, with a Note, by VINCENT A. SMITH, I.C.S., M.R.A.S. With two Plates. SINCE the discovery of the pillar at the LumbinI Garden commemorating the birthplace of Gautama Buddha con- siderable curiosity has been aroused concerning the diiFerent mounds, or hots as they are locally called, whicli occur dotted over the tract extending from Kapilavastu on the north-west and the LumbinI Garden on the north-east in Nepalese territory to a distance of several miles southwards inside the British frontier. One such mound, more prominent than the rest, owing to its size and conspicuous shape, is situated near the village of Piprahwa in the Birdpur Estate, BastI District, on the TJska-Nepal road, at mile 19'75, and about half a mile south of Pillar No. 44 on the frontier of British territory and Nepal. Last year I excavated a trench across the summit of this mound, ten feet broad and eight feet deep, and found that the structure was built of bricks measuring 16" x 10J" x 3', or 15" x 10" X 3", laid in clay mortar, layer upon layer, in concentric circles. Having thus satisfied myself that the mound was a Buddhist atupa, I desisted from further exploration. In October, 1897, Mr. Vincent Smith inspected it, and pronounced it to be a very ancient stupa, and told me that if anything were to be found inside, it would be found in the centre, and probably at about the ground-level. Sub- sequent events have proved how correct was his surmise. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Warwick, on 21 May 2018 at 03:25:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00025739 574 THE PIPKAHWA STUPA. In the beginning of January, 1898, the excavation was continued, and a well ten feet square was dug down the centre of the stupa. At a distance of ten feet from the summit a small broken soapstone (steatite) vase, similar in shape to the vases found lower down, was discovered. This vase was full of clay, and embedded in this clay were some beads, crystals, gold ornaments, cut stars, etc. Beginning at a depth of ten feet from the summit, a circular pipe, filled with clay, and encircled by brickwork, descended for a distance of two feet with a diameter of one foot. It then narrowed to four inches in diameter. The bricks surrounding this pipe were sometimes moulded, and sometimes roughly cut, into the required shapes. After digging through eighteen feet of solid brickwork set in clay, a huge slab of stone was disclosed, lying due magnetic north and south, and placed 31*5 inches to the east of the centre of the clay pipe above described. On further excavation the slab was perceived to be the cover of a massive sandstone coffer measuring 4' 4" X 2' 8J" X 2' 2i". This cover was broken into four pieces, evidently by the pressure of the brickwork resting directly upon it, but, notwithstanding the fracture, the coffer remained perfectly closed. The lid or cover was provided with a deep groove which fitted perfectly into the flange of the sides of the coffer, and the pieces of the lid were thus firmly held together, and were removed without injury to the contents of the box. On removing the lid the following articles were found :— A soapstone vase 6 inches high and 4 inches in diameter; A similar vase 7 inches high and 4^ inches in diameter; A vessel shaped like a lota or battohi, of the same material, 5J inches high and 5| in diameter. The well-fitting lid of this vessel lay apart; A small soapstone box 3J inches in diameter and lj inch high; Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Warwick, on 21 May 2018 at 03:25:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00025739 THE PIPRAHWA STUPA. 575 A crystal bowl 3J inches in diameter and 3J inches high, including the cover. The bowl lay at the south end of the coffer, and the cover lay in the centre •with its handle downwards. The handle is in the shape of a fish, hollow, and is filled with granulated stars in gold leaf.1 The steatite vases have been beautifully turned in a lathe, and the marks of the chisel are as fresh and distinct as if the articles were new. The crystal bowl, which is of exceptionally large size, is polished to perfection, and has all the appearance of a glass bowl of the present day. There were evidently some wooden vessels also, but these had fallen to pieces. The fragments are clearly recognizable as wood, and the knob forming the handle of One vessel can be distinguished. All the fragments have been preserved. The stone coffer is made of hard, fine sandstone of very superior quality. It is, except for the fracture of the lid, in a state of perfect preservation. It has been hollowed, at the cost of vast labour and expense, from a solid block of rock. The stone cannot, I think, have come from any of the hills to the north in Nepal. The weight of the lid is 408 pounds, and I calculate the weight of the whole coffer, lid included, to be 1,537 pounds. The brickwork continued for two feet below the bottom of the box. At the level of the bottom of the coffer, the clay pipe, which had so far been circular in section, assumed for the depth of a single layer of bricks the form of a rectangle, the edge of which was 21J inches from the coffer. Below this level the pipe resumed its circular form, four inches in diameter, and terminated with the brickwork two feet below the box. I was most careful in searching this pipe all the way down, but nothing whatever was found in it. 1 The fact that the covers of two of the vessels were lying apart from the vessels themselves is probably due to earthquakes. Two earthquakes have been noticed at Gorakhpur within the last four years. (V. A. S.) Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Warwick, on 21 May 2018 at 03:25:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00025739 576 THE PIPEAHWA STUPA. The level of the surface of the ground inside is the same as the level of the ground at the outward circumference of the stiipa. The relic urns contained pieces of bone, which are quite recognizable as such, and might have been picked up a few days ago. The urns also contained ornaments in gold; gold beads; impression of a woman's figure, an inch long, on gold leaf, the upper part of her body being nude and the lower portion clothed ; another smaller figure in gold leaf, nude ; a large circular piece of rather thicker gold leaf, two inches in diameter, with scroll ornament; an elephant stamped on gold leaf; several pieces in gold leaf stamped with the figure of a lion, having a trident over his back and the Buddhist cross (svastika) in front; several pieces with the impression of the Buddhist cross; one piece of solid gold, measuring f" x 5" X |" ; and quantities of stars or flowers both in silver and gold, with six or eight petals each. The silver is tarnished, but the gold is beautifully bright, and was so when the box was opened. Pearls of sizes, many being welded together in sets of two, three, or four, are numerous. The treasure also includes quantities of flowers or stars, leaves serrated and veined, Buddhist tridents, pyramids, pierced and drilled beads of various sizes and shapes, cut in white or red cornelian, amethyst, topaz, garnet, coral, and crystal. Some of these objects seem to be made of shell. There is one bird in red cornelian, and another in metal. I have compared these ornaments with those illustrated in Mr. Rea's work, " South Indian Buddhist Antiquities," 1 and find that almost every form described by him is in my collection, which includes many not in the Bhattiprolu deposit. The only inscription of any kind is scratched on the cover of the smaller urn. The letters are in the Pali character, and are about TV of an inch long. The letters 1 Archaeol. Survey of India, New Imp. Series, vol. xv. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Warwick, on 21 May 2018 at 03:25:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00025739 THE PIPRAHWA STUPA. 577 are so slightly scratched in that I have been unable to obtain an impression, but I have made a very careful pencil rubbing, of which the following is the result:—1 :-JL,-rb-J1-J_L DiDDrWA There is a bridge on the road opposite the stupa, and I have taken the level of the north-west parapet as the datum level. From the base of the brickwork, that is to say, from the surface of the ground inside and outside of the stupa, to the summit, the height is 21'65 feet. The diameter of the stupa at the ground-level is 116 feet.