Note 211 — Chapter X

See, on this subject, Sonnerat Voyage aux Indes; Vol. II. chap. 4. where engravings are given of the principal pagodas on the coast of Coromandel. As the Brahmans divide themselves into two different sects, one of which worship fire, and the other water, as the principal deity, there are also two different kinds of temples. Tirunamala, Cialembron, and Tiruvalur, belong to the Shivanites: Tirupadi, Ciringam, and Cangipuram, to the Vishnuvites. The pagoda at Cialembron contains some ancient inscriptions with Indian characters: and these serve as a certain proof that the old Indians had characters peculiar to themselves; for the coast of Coromandel was never under the dominion of the Greeks. A.