The town on the other side of the river, with its numerous temples, was by far the most interesting place, in an architectural point of view, that we had yet seen. Long flights of stone steps lead up from the waters of the sacred Krishna to the paved platform on which the temples are built. Crowds of women and children in blue dresses, and men in white cotton cloths and red turbans, were washing their clothes in the river, or sitting on the steps and gazing into the water, while naked Brahmins employed themselves in scrubbing the copper utensils of the temples. The largest and most imposing temple is that dedicated to Ganesa, or Gunputty as he is called in the Deccan. It is a mass of solid masonry, whence a wide flight of stone steps leads down to the Krishna. The shrine itself is a plain stone building, with a large vestibule in front, consisting of four arched entrances on each side, and three at the end. The ceiling of this porch is very curious. It is formed of square flagstones fitted into each other, and clamped together above, so as to make a flat surface exactly resembling the pavement below. From the porch a square doorway leads into the shrine, which is a small chamber without ornament or decoration, with the colossal figure of Gunputty facing the entrance. The idol, with a huge elephant's head, the trunk of which it holds in one of its four hands, an enormous belly, and cross legs, is hewn out of a solid block of black stone.
The temple of Gunputty is surmounted by a very remarkable spire, consisting of broad concave flutings rising out of a circlet of lotus-leaves, and approaching each other slightly as they ascend, until they finally terminate in another circle of lotus-leaves, out of which a fluted dome rises and crowns the spire. The whole effect is very good, and forms the principal feature in the view of Waee from the right bank of the Krishna.
A little further back there is a small temple dedicated to Siva or Mahadeo, surrounded by a high wall. Within the enclosure, and in front of the shrine, there is a canopy supported on sixteen stone columns, the inner four being under a small dome, and the rest of the roof consisting of a very curious pavement-like ceiling, exactly similar to that in front of Gunputty's temple. Advancing through this vestibule, which is a plain but perfect piece of masonry in very good taste, we came to a large image of Siva's bull, called Nandi, under a mandap or canopy, supported by four pillars. The image, which is in a sitting posture, with its head turned towards the door of the shrine, has numerous ornaments carved about its head and neck, amongst them a necklace of bells. It is hewn out of an immense block of stone. Immediately in front of Nandi is the shrine itself, but the interior was too dark to enable us to discern the god. The lower part of the building is of plain masonry, with two small square windows in fretted stone-work; but the upper part is surmounted by a richly-carved spire and dome, while on the cornice of the roof there are niches containing stone figures. The spire has three tiers of gods round it in niches, and is crowned by a fluted dome, resting on a circlet of lotus-leaves. There is another temple on the platform facing the river, dedicated to Parvati, Siva's wife.
By the time we had completed the examination of these temples, we were surrounded by a great crowd of Brahmins, hamals, girls and boys, who continued to follow us about.
We then went up one of the streets of this most devout little town, and came to a temple dedicated to Vishnu, the enclosure of which is also surrounded by a high wall, with lean-to grain-shops outside. The interior of the enclosure is lined with betel-nut palms, and paved with large flags, on one of which the figure of a tortoise is carved. The temple stands in the centre, with a richly ornamented spire above it. The interior consists of a nave, with aisles on each side, and at the end, opposite the doorway, there is an open grating, within which is the deity. The temple was crowded with nautch-girls, and numbers of people were passing in and out, doing poojah. They first prostrated themselves at the entrance, then before the grating, and finally touched a bell overhead before giving place to other devotees. Nearly opposite Vishnu's temple is another to his wife Lakshmi.
We afterwards walked through the bazar, a busy interesting scene, crowded with people. We saw exposed for sale grains of all kinds in baskets, heaps of red ochre for painting Gods and the sect-marks on the forehead,[488] sweetmeats, cotton cloths, muslins, and chatties of clay and copper. Near the river there are five smaller temples to Siva, each with its Nandi outside the door, and many sacred peepul-trees, surrounded by walls of solid masonry.
At sunset the view of Waee from the opposite side of the river, with the temples reflected in the water, the thickets of trees behind, and the crowds of people in snow-white cotton dresses and red turbans, was enchanting. Waee derives its great sanctity partly from being on the banks of the sacred Krishna, and partly from the tradition that it was the residence of the five Pandus, the favourite mythical heroes of the Hindus, during part of the time of their exile. The people still have many tales respecting their deeds, especially those of Bhima, who was the biggest and strongest of the five. A peak rising above the dried-up barren line of mountains behind the town is called after them Pandughur. The temples of Waee were chiefly built, about a century ago, by the head of a wealthy Mahratta family named Rastia.
From Waee we travelled over dried-up plains, with arid desolate hills in the distance, and reached the village of Shirwul at early dawn. There were a few banyans near the road, and some babool-trees (Acacia Arabica) dotted about over the plain. The babool-tree in the Deccan has the same uses as the carob in Peru. The hard tough wood is extensively used for ploughshares, naves of wheels, and tent-pegs; its necklace-shaped pods are favourite food for sheep and goats, and the bark is used for tanning.[489] It flourishes on dry arid plains, and especially in black cotton-soil, where other trees are rarely met with. The hedges round Shirwul are of prickly pear or milk-bush (Euphorbia tirucalli[490]).
Shirwul is one amongst many of those village communities of the Deccan which have retained their peculiar customs and organization from time immemorial. The Hindu Rajahs have been succeeded by Mohammedan Kings, who in their turn have been followed by Mogul Subadars, Mahratta Peishwas, and English Collectors, but the village communities have continued unchanged through all these revolutions, and thus the great mass of the people still live under institutions which excite veneration from their immense age. The cultivator of the Deccan obeys precisely the same rules and has the same customs as were followed by his ancestor before the period of history commenced; and, as the land-assessment has now been established for thirty years, on remarkably easy terms, his condition may not disadvantageously be compared with that of any other peasantry in the world.
The village-system of the Deccan is so curious in itself, and so interesting from its unknown antiquity, that some account of one of the villages a few miles from Poona, similar in all respects to that of Shirwul, will not be out of place. I have taken it from an article written thirty years ago.[491]