Shri Giri also recalled that the ground water level in the river was very high earlier, and that water could be found only by slight digging. He remembered that he himself was used to drinking water obtained after small digging of the riverbed in earlier years. But since last few decades, the water levels had gone down, and the river was now practically dry for most periods of the year.

I took a round of the Math where several ancient statues were seen well preserved within the premises. Those statues carved in granite, which related to the well known Hindu deities, were found to be placed within a chamber, where worship was continued; while several other statues related to the Buddhist fold are placed in the pavilion ahead of the main courtyard along with other Hindu statues. The following observations of Buchanan seemed to have stood the testimony of time.

“Towards the river is a Dharmsaleh, consisting of a large cloister, but not quite finished. The principal building is a large square, with towers at the corners like a castle, and very few windows outwards. It contains several courts and many apartments totally destitute of neatness, elegance, or convenience. Within the wall is also a graden, a plantation of turmeric, and a burial ground where several Sannyasis are deposited in temples of Siva. The buildings have been erected at very different times, each Mahant having made various additions, so that there is no uniformity nor symmetry of parts. The materials have been taken almost entirely from the ruins, and the Mahants seem to have been at particular pains to have rescued the images although all Nastik, and to have placed them where they might be saved from injury."

To be continued....