Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c28.49

c28.49

Owing largely to the dismantled condition of much of this building some idea of its construction, as well as that of other examples of the style may be readily obtained. Most of the masonry is composed of blocks of laterite, but certain portions such as the doorways, and also some of the larger and more important images, as for instance those of the god Surya himself, are minutely carved in chlorite. The courses of laterite are not bonded with mortar, as the masonry is of the dry order, but they are held together mainly by a system of counterpoise, the weight of one stone acting against the pressure of another, much of the stability being a matter of balance or equilibrium. In the case of the deul or tower, to counteract any lateral thrust the entire structure was weighted at the summit by means of the massive melon-shaped disc or *amla* To raise these great blocks into position, they appear to have been ramped up inclined planes of earth as is the usual practice in the East, and it is believed that to provide a centering for the roof of the jagamohan at Konarak the whole of the interior was filled with a core of earth or sand, which was afterwards removed through the doorways. The ceiling of this hall, which followed the pyramidal shape of the exterior, was a remarkable effort of construction, as it was corbelled out by means of oversailing courses of masonry, each course projecting beyond the one below, thus enabling the sides to converge gradually towards the crown This system was not however sufficient in itself, and stone lintels were introduced carried on four solid piers. But even this arrangement was not considered adequate support for such an immense superstructure, and, accordingly, a very ingenious plan was devised to supplement it. Each laterite lintel was reinforced by a number of wrought iron beams, while many others, like girders, were disposed about the ceiling, the whole forming an iron grid, or framework, of great strength Some of the metal beams are as much as thirty-five feet in length and over seven inches thick, one fragment measuring eleven inches in section. These beams were not cast but obviously forged, and the larger ones were evidently produced by welding together a number of "blooms" of wrought iron by means of a hammer. In no other part of India was such a process employed, but it appears to have been the usual method in Orissa, as most of the larger temples were constructed on the same principle, the jagamohan of the Lingaraja at Bhubaneswar, being clearly of this type. The method may be readily studied in the interior of the Gundichabari Garden temple at Puri, which unlike many of the others, is accessible to the general public.