#include<algorithm>
#include<iostream>
#include<map>
#include<set>
#include<vector>

using namespace std;
using ll = long long;

int main() {

	int N;
	cin >> N;

	vector<vector<char>> c(N, vector<char>(N));
	for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) for (int j = 0; j < N; j++) cin >> c[i][j];

	vector<map<string, int>> S(N);

	auto DFS1 = [&](auto dfs, int x, int y, string s) -> void{

		if (x + y == N - 1) {
			S[x][s]++;
			return;
		}

		if (x + 1 != N)
			dfs(dfs, x + 1, y, s + c[x][y]);

		if (y + 1 != N)
			dfs(dfs, x, y + 1, s + c[x][y]);
	};

	DFS1(DFS1, 0, 0, "");

	ll ans = 0;
	const ll MOD = 998244353;

	auto DFS2 = [&](auto dfs, int x, int y, string s) {

		if (x + y == N - 1) {
			ans += S[x][s];
			ans %= MOD;
			return;
		}

		if (x != 0)
			dfs(dfs, x - 1, y, s + c[x][y]);

		if (y != 0)
			dfs(dfs, x, y - 1, s + c[x][y]);
	};

	DFS2(DFS2, N - 1, N - 1, "");

	cout << ans << endl;

	return 0;
}