About fifty-five miles south of Patna, in Lat. 24° 49´ N., and Long. 85° 5´ E., in the Province of Bahar, lies the city of Gaya, or Gyah. This ancient city is one of the most holy places of Hindoo pilgrimage, being held by tradition to have been the residence of Buddha, the great prophet and legislator of the nations east of the Ganges; and it is usually termed "Buddha Gyah." The temple is of course had in great veneration. The following extract from an inscription on one of the stones, will shew the estimation in which it was held: "This place is renowned, and it is celebrated by the name of Bhood Gaya. The forefathers of him who shall perform the ceremony of the Sraddha at this place, shall obtain salvation. A crime of a hundred-fold shall undoubtedly be expiated from a sight thereof; of a thousand-fold from a touch thereof; and of a hundred thousand-fold from worshipping thereof." The frightful image of the idol is placed in the temple, and is open to the worship of all pilgrims. A vow of sanctity is often taken here by women, and especially by widows, not unlike the Roman Catholic vow of celibacy; for they shave their heads, and promise to renounce the world. The Bengal government was wont to derive a net annual revenue of £15,000, collected from the pilgrims, a sum even exceeding that gathered from the pilgrims at the famous Juggernauth, being levied at a fixed ratio according to the magnitude of the sins which the individual had come to expiate, and, therefore, of the ceremonies which he was to perform. The town is divided into two parts, one of which, more holy than the other, is the residence of the Brahmins and their families, called "Gyah Proper"; the other inhabited by the merchants and tradesmen, is called "Sahibgunge." The town lies inland at some distance from the river.