,§B@ ON" ORIS S A PROPER 



distinguishing marks and attributes of the goddess Kali. She is seated 

 on a car, or vahana, supported by a kneeling diminutive figure of Maha- 

 deva. The second has a boar's head, and a huge pot belly, like that of Ga- 

 nesa, and rests on a buffalo. The third is a well proportioned female figure, 

 seated on an elephant, the animal consecrated by the Hindu Mythology 

 to Indra, the lord of the Deotas. 



On the banks of the river, one meets with a sort of raised gallery, filled, 

 with mythological sculptures, amongst which, seven large colossal figures 

 of the female divinities called the Matris, are particularly remarkable. They 

 are said to have been recovered, lately, out of the sand of the river — where 

 they were tossed by the Moguls on their shrines being destroyed — by a 

 mah a j an of Cuttack, who built the edifice in which they are now deposited. 

 They differ little in style and dimensions, from those above described, but 

 appear to be cut out of blocks of basalt, or greenstone, instead of chlorite 



12 3 4 



sliist. They are styled respectively Kali, lndrani, Caumari, Rudrani, 



5 6 7 



Varahini, Vaishnavi, and Yama Matri. The figure of Kali is sculp- 

 tured in a very spirited manner ; she is represented with an axe in one 

 hand, and a cup full of blood in the other, dancing in an infuriated attitude, 

 after the destruction of the giant Rakta Vija, and trampling unconsciously 

 on her husband Mahadeo, who, as the fable runs, had thrown himself at her 

 feet, to solicit her to desist from those violent movements, which were shak- 

 ingthe whole world. That of Jam Matri, the " mother of Yama," is also a 

 very striking and remarkable piece of sculpture. Her form is that of a hi- 

 deous decrepid old woman, seated on a pedestal, quite naked, with a coun- 

 tenance alike expressive of extreme age, and that sourness of disposition 

 which has rendered her proverbial as a scold. There are likewise fine re- 

 presentations in this mythological gallery, of the Narasinha Avatar, and the 

 Giant Ravana, with his hundred heads and arms. 



Bridges. Under the head of Civil Architecture I shall, in conclusion mention the 

 Bridges of Orissa, which are certainly the most creditable, though not the 



