Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c28.47

c28.47

But nowhere are its observances more blatantly exploited than on the walls of the temple of the Sun at Konarak, the figure sculptures of which are very largely representations of sexual perversion. In Orissa at this period the *maithuna* movement appears to have obtained a firm hold on a considerable section of the community, while it is worthy of remark that the carvings reproduce an ethnological type, very distinctive in apearance, which is now never seen It is not improbable that this temple was erected on such a remote site in order that the practices so wantonly illustrated might be ceremoniously conducted by its addicts in an underworld of their own. The ultimate result was the same as that which has overtaken other races who have abandoned themselves to such unnatural pursuits. Konarak is deserted, the hierarchy and its following have died out, and even in the distant towns where this debased thought also appears to have prevailed, the people show symptoms of its deplorable effects. Whether this form of worship was so deep and widespread that its consequences caused much of the original Orissan stock to disappear and its place to be taken by others, is outside the present subject, but it is significant that the raising of such stupendous monuments as were then produced seems beyond the capacity of the present populace.