SOS ON ORISSA PROPER 



Ganesa, Hanuman, and various forms of Siva and Parvati, Durga, or Ka- 

 li, Carticeya the god of war with his peacock, the female or energy of the 

 same called Caumari, and the Narasinha and Baman Avatars. The mors 

 finished temples have frequently large well polished slabs of the grey chlo- 

 rite slate, or pot stone, let into three of their sides, on which are sculptured, 

 in alto relievo, nearly as large as life, some of the above personages, executed 

 with no mean degree of skill and symmetry. Carved in the coarser stone 

 of which the walls are constructed, one observes figures of Apsarasas or 

 dancing nymphs in groups or solitary ; forms of Mahadeo and Parvati sit- 

 ting or standing together, generally in the most obscene attitudes ; repre- 

 sentations of warriors, horses, and elephants, engaged in combat or arranged 

 in state processions : monsters resembling lions, with grim grotesque coun- 

 tenances, in various attitudes; and groups of a peaceful character exhibit- 

 ing a Muni, or philosopher, imparting instruction to his pupils. The archi- 

 trave of the door-way of every temple in Orissa is ornamented with the 

 nine figures in a sitting posture, called the Nava Graha or nine planets, of 

 - which seven represent the divinities presiding over the days of the week, and 

 the two remaining ones the brahminical ascending and descending nodes, 

 Rahu and Ketu. 



The forms and character of all the principal temples at Bhobuneser, and 

 indeed throughout the province, being exactly similar, a more particular 

 account of the plan and distribution of the great Pagoda will answer the 

 purpose of a general description. The edifices which compose it, stand 

 within a square area, enclosed by a substantial wall of stone, measuring 

 six hundred feet on a side ; which has its principal gateway guarded by two 

 monstrous griffins, or winged lions, in a sitting posture, on the eastern face. 

 About the centre, the great tower, Bara Dewal, or sanctuary, in which the 

 images are always lodged, rises majestically to a height of one hundred 

 and eighty feet. It is composed of a cluster of stone ribs, alternately flat 

 and semicircular, eight principal and eight inferior ones, springing from 

 a square ground plan, which towards the summit curve inwards, without,- 



