FIRST and foremost among the wonders of Kashmir stand her idol temples. In and around Kashmir, there are more than one hundred and fifty temples which are built of blocks of hewn stone, fitted so accurately one upon the other, that there is absolutely no cement used. These stones have been so carefully placed in position, without plaster or mortar, that a sheet of paper could not be passed between the joints. The blocks are from three to twenty gaz in length, one gaz in depth, and one to five gaz in breadth. The marvel is how these stones were transported and erected. The temples are nearly all built on the same plan. There is a square enclosure which in some places reaches the height of thirty gaz, while each side is about three hundred gaz long. Inside this enclosure there are pillars, and on the top of the pillars there are square capitals; on the top of these again, are placed supports,* and most of these separate parts are made out of one block of stone. On the pillars are fixed the supports of the arches, and each arch is three or four gaz in width. Under the arch are a hall and a doorway. On the outside and inside of the arch are pillars of forty or fifty gaz* in height, having supports and capitals of one block of stone. On the top of this are placed four pillars of one or two pieces of stone.
The inside and the outside of the halls have the appearance of two porticos, and these are covered with one or two stones. The capitals, the ornamentation in relief, the cornices, the “dog tooth” work, the inside covering and the outside, are all crowded with pictures and paintings, which I am incapable of describing. Some represent laughing and weeping figures, which astound the beholder. In the middle is a lofty throne of hewn stone, and over that, a dome made entirely of stone, which I cannot describe. In the rest of the world there is not to be seen, or heard of, one building like this. How wonderful that there should [here] be a hundred and fifty of them!* Nor can any be brought down below say 1200, which is probably the date of that of Páyech… The style during these six centuries is so uniform that it may be taken as one, for the purposes of general history.”
If we assume Mirza Haidar's description to refer to this, the largest of the temples, it may be interesting to compare Mr. Fergusson's account with it. He says: “The temple itself is a very small building, being only 60 feet in length, by 38 feet in width. The width of the facade, however, is eked out by two wings, or adjuncts, which make it 60 feet.” He then cites General Cunningham, who estimated its height to be also 60 feet when complete, thus making each dimension 60 feet. Mr. Fergusson doubted if the temple ever had a roof. No fragments of a roof have been found in modern times on the floor of the temple, and judging from the tenuity of the walls, and the large voids they include, he doubted if they could have supported a stone roof. If, indeed, there was a roof he believed it must have been of wood. The courtyard that surrounds and encloses the temple, was regarded by Mr. Fergusson as a more remarkable object than the temple itself. Its internal dimensions he gives as 220 feet by 142 feet. On each face is a central cell which, if complete, would have reached to 30 feet in height, at the summit of its roof, while the pillars on each side of the cells are 9 feet high. No inscription has been found on the Martand ruin, and its date has been fixed from historical records only.
Mr. T. G. Vigne who published, in 1842, a narrative of his travels in Kashmir, had measurements made of the Martand temple, and records that the greatest length—that of the side walls—was about 270 feet, while that of the front was 168 feet. The height of the pillars, including foot and capital, he made barely 10 feet, and the huge blocks of limestone of which the temple was built, 6 to 9 feet in length, “of proportionate solidity, and cemented with an excellent mortar.” His measurements of the side walls and front, evidently refer to the outer enclosure, and not to the temple itself. They are somewhat in excess of those given by Mr. Fergusson, but this discrepancy may be accounted for by Mr. Vigne having perhaps measured the outside of the walls, while Mr. Fergusson particularly mentions that his figures relate to the interior of the enclosure. But however this may be, the Brobdingnagian proportions of Mirza Haidar's account have to be considerably pared down in every instance, as is usually the case with statements made in figures by Asiatics. The chief interest that his description possesses is, that it is one of the oldest notices of the Kashmir ruins that have come down to us—perhaps the oldest from the pen of any Musulman, or foreign, writer.
As regards the question of the roof, if our author's account were otherwise exact, his particular mention of the existence of a dome would be important; but judging from the inaccuracy of his other statements, this one can scarcely deserve much consideration. (See Fergusson's Hist. of Indian and Eastern Architecture, 1876, pp. 279 seqq.; Vigne's Travels in Kashmir, i., pp. 385-6; also Moorcroft, ii., pp. 239 seqq.; and an interesting paper by Mr. W. Simpson, in the Journal of the Inst. of Brit. Architects for May, 1862.)
Again, to the east of Kashmir there is a district called Barnág [Virnág]. Here there is a hill on the top of which is a ditch [basti] like a tank, and at the bottom of the tank is a hole. It remains dry throughout the year, except during the season of Taurus, when water issues from it.* Two or three times a day it gushes out [with such force] that the tank is filled, and enough water flows down the side of the hill to drive one or even two mills. After this it subsides, so that no water remains except in the hole. When the season of Taurus is passed, it again becomes dry for a whole year. Though endeavours have been made to stop it up with lime and mortar, yet when the season has come, all this has been washed away, and it has never been found possible to stop its flow.
Further, in Nágám, a notable town of Kashmir,* there is a tree which is so high that if an arrow be shot at the top, it will probably not reach it. If anyone takes hold of one of the twigs and shakes it, the whole of this enormous tree is put in motion.
Again, Div Sar,* which is one of the most important districts of Kashmir, contains a spring twenty gaz square. On the sides of it are pleasant shady trees and soft herbage. One boils some rice, puts it in a bottle, closes up the mouth [of the bottle] tightly, and having written a name on it, throws it into the spring and then sits down [to wait]. Sometimes the bottle remains there five years; on other occasions it comes up again the same day: the time is uncertain. If, when it reappears, the rice is found to be warm, the circumstance is regarded as a good omen. Sometimes the rice has undergone a change, or earth and sand may have got inside it. The more [substances] that find their way into it, the more unfavourable is the omen considered.
Moreover, there is in Kashmir a lake called Ulur, the circumference of which is seven farsákhs. In the middle of this lake Sultán Zain-ul-Abidin, one of the Sultáns of Kashmir, erected a palace. First of all he emptied a quantity of stones into the lake, [at this spot] and on these constructed a foundation [or floor] of closely-fitting stones, measuring two hundred square gaz in extent, and ten gaz in height. Hereupon he built a charming palace and planted pleasant groves of trees, so that there can be but few more agreeable places in the world.* Finally, this same Sultán Zain-ul-Abidin built himself a palace in the town, which in the dialect of Kashmir is called Rájdán. It has twelve stories, some of which contain fifty rooms, halls, and corridors. The whole of this lofty structure is built of wood.*
[Among] the vast kiosks of the world are:—in Tabriz, the Hasht Bihisht Kiosk of Sultán Yakub; in Herat the Bágh-i-Khán, the Bágh-i-Safid, and the Bágh-i-Shahr; and in Samarkand the Kuk Sarái, the Ak Sarái, the Bágh-i-Dilkushái, and the Bágh-i-Buldi. Though [the Rájdán] is more lofty and contains more rooms than all these, yet it has not their elegance and style. It is, nevertheless, a more wonderful structure.
In the Zafar-Náma, Sharaf-ud-Din Ali Yazdi has stated a few facts with regard to Kashmir, but he is not quite consistent with reality. He had never been there himself, but derived his information from travellers, who had not a proper regard for accuracy; hence his statements are not always exact.