It may be observed, generally, that these temples, for the sake of ablution, are usually placed on the banks of the Ganges, Vistnu, or some sacred river; or where that is not the case, artficial tanks or reservoirs are con structed, generally of a quadrangular form, lined with freestone or marble, and having steps to descend into them. Crawford mentions several tanks from 300 to 400 feet in breadth. (Crawford's Sketches, vol. i. p. 106.) Sonic of these tanks cover 8 or 10 acres, have steps of masonry 50 or 60 feet long, are faced with brick-work, and plastered substantially and neatly. The corners of the tank are generally ornamented with round or octago nal pavilions. (Oriental Sports, vol. ii. p. 116.) In the Birman empire, which, for situation and vari ous circumstances connected with its history, is one of the most interesting districts of the East, the temples of Godama are of a pyramidal form, of solid brick-work, placed upon an elevated terrace; and the base of the great pyramid is frequently encompassed by a double row of small ones, having its summit terminated by an umbrella made of iron bars into a sort of filigree work, and adorned with bells ; many of these pyramids are from 300 to 500 feet high. In the larger temples, the umbrella, with at least the upper part, sometimes the whole, of the pyramid, is entirely gilded. Other temples, of similar shape, are hollow, and have images of Godama within them; but the images are more frequently placed in chapels, which encompass the pyramid. Dr Buchanan saw at Ava an image of one block of pure alabaster, of so large a size, that one of its fingers appeared about the length and thickness of a large man's thigh and leg. The whole statue must therefore have been above fifty feet high.
At one village, Colonel Symes saw 30 or 40 yards full of statuaries, all employed in making images of the god Godama, and all in the same position, that is, sitting cross-legged upon a pedestal ; the smallest exceeded the human stature. The price of this size was 100 tackals, or 12 or 13 pounds sterling. They work the mar ble with a chisel and mallet, and polish with three stones of different fineness ; and, lastly, by rubbing with the hand, which gives a great degree of brightness and smoothness.
At Umapoora, were spires, turrets, and lofty obelisks. The fort is an exact square, with public granaries and storerooms, and a gilded temple at each angle, upwards of 100 feet high. In the centre of the front stands the royal palace, with a wide court in the front., beyond which is the council-hall, supported by eighty pillars, on eleven roods. The royal library is a brick building, raised on a terrace, and covered with a roof of a very compound structure ; it consists of one square room, with an inclosed veranda or gallery round it. (See Colonel Syme's Em bassy to .11va, 1795.) With regard to the present practice of Hindu archi tecture, we Iearn, that in Benares, their holy city, situ atcd on the north bank of the Ganges, 460 miles N. NV. of Calcutta, the streets arc so narrow as not to admit of two carriages to pass one another. The houses are built with large stones, accurately joined. Some of them arc six stories high, with terraces on the summits; a band or string course, decorated with sculpture, tolerably well executed, serves to mark externally the division of each story. The windows are very small. The houses on the opposite side of the streets sometimes communicate by galleries. The number of houses built of stone and brick are reckoned at 12,000; those with mud walls 16,000. In this city there is a stupendous observatory, a great number of IIindu temples, and a spacious mosque, built by Aurengzebc, from the minarets of which, the whole city may be seen.
By the kindness of a gentleman, whose opportunities and disposition for accurate observation have qualified him to afford the most authentic information, we arc ena bled to give the following account of the modes pursued by the Hindoos in the construction of their dwelling houses : " The houses of the opulent are substantially built of stone and brick, with lime mortar, generally ter raced with small bricks, about four inches square, and one inch in thickness; the beams are laid about 12 feet apart, and the joints ten inches. The masons begin to form the terrace at one angle of the building, sitting upon a plank, which is supported on the brick-work as they proceed, until they finish at the angle opposite to that at which they commenced. They have no planks upon the beams or joists to support the work below; but as the middle of the terrace (generally about 18 feet wide) is from five to six inches higher than the sides, an arch is thereby formed and supported by the surrounding walls, which are 20 inches in thickness, and have a parapet placed upon them, both for ornament and adding to the security. Over this brick arch is laid a coat or layer of jelly or gravel, or broken bricks, about the size of a large pea, mixed with quicklime and jaggury water; this is beat down hard with small hand mallets. Over this first coat is laid a second, composed of rough lime mortar, which is scored across. The third and last coat is a fine chunars; and this, altogether, forms so strong and firm a body, that a whole terrace sometimes falls down entire and unbroken. Many houses arc built with pointed roofs, covered with flat tyles, four inches square, and three quarters of an inch in thickness ; others have a slight coat of lime, with pantyles, which are seldom above seven inches by four ; they are semicircular nearly. The houses of the middling class arc usually built in a square, and covered with tylcs, with a scat round the inside of the square, about three feet high, and,three feet in width, protected by a viranda ; it is here the inhabitants sit to receive their guests. There are no windows in the ex ternal walls, but to each house there is a small door, and frequently a window ; the latter placed as high as the viranda Ni ill admit. In the open square there is generally a wall, with a water-course below the house for domestic purposes. The houses of the poor are miserable; a few bamboos stuck in the ground, in a circular form, are col lected, bent, and tied at the top, so as to represent an egg with the end cut off. They are seldom ten feet diameter, with a hole about three feet high to creep in at; this is shut with a leaf, tied on a simple wicker frame. The towns are generally a long street, with others at right angles, hut seldom built with much regularity ; some are large, sonic small ; some arc thatched and others tylcd. Those in the interior parts of the country are inferior to those near the sea-coast towns where Euro• pcans are settled." From the account of Colonel Syme's embassy to Ava, we learn, that in the Birman empire, in private houses, the use of brick and stone are prohibited, and they are therefore all constructed of wood. They are all raised from the ground by wooden posts or bamboos, according to the size of the building, and made tolerably conve nient. The roofs arc slightly covered, and at every door stands a long bamboo, with an iron hook at the end, to pull off the thatch, and another with an iron grating, to stifle the flame by pressure. Firemen constantly patrole the streets at night.