Page:The Ancient Geography of India.djvu/484
434 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
the south of Kahaon, and 7 miles below the confluence
of the two rivers. From Kasia to the Mahili Ghat
the route would have passed through the ancient
towns of Khuhkundo and KaJiaon^ both of which still
possess many remains of antiquity. But the former
is only 28 miles from Kasia, while the latter is 35
miles. Both are undoubtedly Brahmanical ; but while
the ruins at Khukhundo are nearly all of middle age,
those at Kahaon are at least as old as the time of
Skanda Gupta, who lived several centuries before the
time of Hwen Thsang. I am inclined, therefore, to
prefer the claim of Kahaon as the representative of
Hwen Thsang' s ancient city, partly on account of its
undoubted antiquity, and partly because its distance
from Kasia agrees better with the pilgrim's estimate
than that of the larger town of Khukhundo.[1]
Pawa, or Padraona.
In the Ceylonese chronicles the town of Padwa is mentioned as the last halting-place of Buddha before reaching Kusinagara, where he died. After his death it is again mentioned in the account of Kasyapa's journey to Kusinagara to attend at the cremation of Buddha's corpse. Padaa was also famous as one of the eight cities which obtained a share of the relics of Buddha. In the Ceylonese chronicles it is noted as being only 12 miles from Kusinagara,[2] towards the Gandak river. Now 12 miles to the north-north-east of Kasia there is a considerable village named Pada- raona, or Padara-vana, with a large mound covered with broken bricks, in which several statues of