国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

us also several obscene representations of a man and a woman, and said that it was
always a grand moment, when these pictures were shown to the girls on the occasion of a
Mela. This will serve to show what a religion which worships the creative powers leads
to. The slanting gable beams of the temple had again representations of walking lions,
like those at Sungra.

As regards the houses of the ordinary peasants, here at Urni, and in other places since
we passed the Wangtu bridge, the Tibetan flat roof is becoming prominent. Here at
Urni village most of the roofs exhibit the Tibetan style. But the mandirs still show
the old slanting roof of the Indian hill tribes. The first temple with a flat roof I saw at
Rogi on the 28th. It is of the square tower type and has wood carvings on the beams.

We spent the night of the 28th and the 29th June at Chini, in the Moravian Mis-
sion house. The view from Chini towards the snow mountains on the other side of the
river is one of the grandest imaginable. The local name of these glaciers is Kailāsa
and a certain pinnacle is called Śiva by the people.¹

Looking down from the Mission house, there is a large mound to the left of
the village (Plate VII, a). This is said to be the site of a castle of an ancient Ṭhākur
who came here from the 'Upper Country' (apparently Tibet). Mr. Bruske, who used to
reside here as a Moravian missionary, was told that there exists a song which treats of
the exploits of this Ṭhākur. But it has not yet been reduced to writing. On the site,
many fragments of hand-made pottery can be found, but, people assured me, never any
coins. The site is now occupied by small Lamaist buildings, a square tower and an en-
shrined mchod-rten. The fact that Lamaism has taken possession of the site, speaks in
favour of the alleged Tibetan origin of the Ṭhākur.

Mr. Bruske informs me that there is another mound below the village where many red
bricks can be found. This is held to have been the principal (perhaps winter) residence of
the same Ṭhākur. At both sites excavations might prove successful. The most interest-
ing feature in connection with this ancient chief is, as Mr. Bruske tells me, that traces
of his aqueducts are met with from time to time by people when digging. They consist
of earthenware pipes, and the water was conducted in them for miles.

Above the door over the staircase which leads up to the mound, there is a stone lion,
which looks very old indeed. People told me, however, that it was made only a few years
ago. Older are the carved slabs of stone on the mound, near the Lamaist temple. They
show lines similar to those on a chessboard. On these ancient slabs, the Tibetan game of
mig-mang was probably played.

Mr. Bruske tells me that stories of Ṭhākurs are told also of other ruined sites on the
way from Chini to Poo. These Ṭhākurs, although independent in a way, probably
acknowledged the supremacy of the Tibetan chiefs of Guge, before the country came
under Bashahr.

The Kāli temple of Chini is situated below the village. No stranger is allowed to
enter it. It has been the scene of human sacrifices, and there is a rumour that such