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| 0297 |
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 |
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now occupies the crest of the conglomerate cliff rising almost
perpendicularly above the right river-bank, has inherited the
religious merit of the old Buddhist shrine. It forms a
favourite place of pilgrimage for the faithful of Khotan, who
believe that the intercession of the saint is most efficacious
when the low state of the rivers makes the cultivators fear a
failure of their crops. On this account official recognition, in
the form of a liberal offering from Amban Pan-Darin, was said
to have recently been accorded to the shrine.
The cave which the Chinese pilgrim saw still exists in the
side of the cliff some fifty feet below the crest. It is approached
along a ledge of rock which contains the semi-troglodyte
dwelling of the Sheikhs attending the Mazar. The cave itself,
which is about 40 feet deep and from 8 to 10 feet high, is
believed to have been the refuge of the saint whom the infidels
killed here with smoke. Thus the legend accounts for the
black soot that covers the rock walls. Pious pilgrims are wont
to sit and pray in the cave, and the fires they light to keep
themselves warm in winter time have naturally left their traces
on the rock. A small upper chamber, approached from below
by a ladder, shows above a narrow fissure running into the
rock. The legend heard by the Chinese pilgrim represented
this fissure as a passage which had been miraculously blocked
by fallen rocks to hide the Arhat.
Apart from its association with Hiuen-Tsiang's visit, the
Kohmari cave possessed for me a special interest. From it
the fragmentary birch-bark leaves of the ancient Indian manu-
script in Kharoshthi characters, now known as the Dutreuil de
Rhins MS., were alleged to have been obtained. M. Grenard's
account shows that the leaves were delivered to him and his
companion on two successive visits to Kohmari by natives
who professed to have found them with other remains inside
the grotto. But it is equally clear that neither of them was
present on the occasion or was shown the exact spot of dis-
covery. The men who sold those precious leaves to the
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