The walls are eight feet thick, which I consider one of the
strongest proofs of the great antiquity of the building.
Pandrethan.
This name means the old capital, or ancient chief town. The name
has, however, been spelt by different travellers in many different
ways. "Moorcroft" calls it Pandenthan, "Vigne" Pandrenton, and
"Hugel" Pandriton.
The building of this temple is recorded between A.D. 913 and 921;
and it is afterwards mentioned between the years 958 and 972, as
having escaped destruction when the King Abhimanyu - Nero-like -
set fire to his own capital.
As this is the only temple situated in the old capital, there can be
very little, if any, doubt that it is the very same building which
now exists. For as it is surrounded by water, it was, of course,
quite safe amid the fire, which reduced the other buildings to mere
masses of quicklime.
Baron Hugel calls the Pandrethan edifice a "Buddhist temple," and
states that there are some well-preserved Buddhist figures in the
interior. But he is doubly mistaken, for the temple was dedicated to
Vishnu, and the figures in the inside have no connexion with Buddhism.
Trebeck swam into the interior, and could discover no figures of any
kind; but as the whole ceiling was formerly hidden by a coating of
plaster, his statement was, at that time, perfectly correct.
