1838.] Rittoes illustrations of Cuttack sculpture. 661 



tion ; the " bent" or ratan plant is the most conspicuous ; the country in 

 this respect resembles the terai of the Himalayas. It would appear from 

 the numerous topes and mounds of earth strewed with pottery, hewn 

 stones and bricks, which mounds rise above the surrounding- low lands, 

 that the country had been thickly inhabited in former years, as was 

 likewise the terai in Upper India. When and why, all these valleys have 

 been forsaken, is a matter which it would be difficult to attribute a cause 

 to ; there are however less bricks and stones on the mounds or " Tan- 

 ghees" (as they are here called) than on those of the Upper Provinces ; 

 from this I should infer that the huts of former times were just the same 

 as those now constructed ; namely, of a timber framework to support 

 what is known in Europe by the name of " wattle and dab," which, from 

 the swarms of white ants that (I may say) infest these regions, cannot 

 be very durable : some however are more substantial, being built with 

 mud and unhewn stones. 



But to return to our route : for near a mile at the commencement of 

 the march, the road winds through the narrow lanes of the villages men- 

 tioned yesterday, beyond the furthermost of which and on the banks of 

 the river running 100 yards from the road, stand the ruins of a small 

 and once highly elegant temple dedicated to Maha'deo by name Gram- 

 eswar ; it is of white sandstone of a very fine grain ; what remains of the 

 sculpture is truly elegant, the figures and idols are very graceful ; they 

 are in the style of the temple of Anrung Vdsudeba and others of the same 

 era at the famous Bhuvaneswar*. It is said to have been built by raja 

 Parsuttem Deo who reigned from A. D. 1478 to 1503 A. D., and that 

 it was destroyed by the apostate and spoiler, Kala Pahar, who invaded 

 Orissa from Gaur in A. D. 1609. This person waged a war of de- 

 struction against all the temples that came in his way; the natives believe 

 him to have been a " rakshas" or demon, that he possessed a magic 

 kettle drum at the sound of which the noses and arms of all the idols 

 dropped off, as well as the tops of the temples ; it was in vain I attempt- 

 ed to persuade the ignorant brahmans of the different temples I visited, 

 that Kala Pahar was but a man like themselves. 



The superstition and timidity of the people of these provinces exceeds 

 any thing I have ever witnessed in any part of our presidency from 

 Ludiana downwards. 



A quarter of a mile above the villagef , is an island separated from the 

 rocks on the main land by a broad and exceedingly deep channel of the 

 river flowing between. On this island (which is well wooded) are the 

 remains of a very ancient temple dedicated to Mahadeo by the name of 

 " Pachameswar" also " Manji thakur\ or the Steersman Lord. 

 The style of the temple is that of those in the Carnatic (if I mistake not), 

 and like a few of the more ancient temples of Bhuvaneswar ; it has 

 evidently never been completed, the stones are laid without mortar and 

 are fixed with iron clamps, which have aided in no small degree to destroy 

 the edifice. It is much to be regretted that the Indian architects of olden 



* Vide PI. XXXII. f The Village of KAandhurptr . 



