The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c8.22

v1.c8.22

**Various kinds of temple compared:** Two specimens of this form of temples are shown on the margin, (woodcuts, Nos. 9 and 10). The first (No. 9) has been copied from an original in the neighbourhood of Viśveśvara's temple at Benares. It is the simplest of its kind, and has a perfectly plain spire. The second (No. 10) has the surfaces of its walls and spire broken by light projections, and its corners set off by partially attached turrets, but without any attempt at ornamentation. The most perfect specimens of this style are seen in the temples of Viśveśvara and Kedāra at Benares.¹⁰ If they be compared with the Orissan form as delineated in woodcut No. 11, it will at once be perceived that the latter had supplied the model on which the former has been built, but that the builders have greatly improved upon the original plan. The thick heavy tower of the primitive design has been replaced by a slender steeple, the projections thereon by more or less attached turrets, the crowning ornaments reduced in bulk and improved in appearance, the walls of the body divested of heavy projections, and embellished with a number of delicate pilasters, and the whole set off on a well-raised and elegant plinth. All the improvements, additions and alterations are, however, strictly Indian and original,—nothing borrowed from people beyond the boundary of this country. In No. 12, the case is, however, entirely altered. In it the body of a pure Hindu edifice is embellished with foiled arches and decorated battlements in the true Saracenic style, and capped with a ribbed dome [30] of the same order,—a combination which destroys the peculiarities of both, and results in a hybrid entirely devoid of majesty, elegance and beauty. Specimens of this mixed, or transitional, style of construction may be found in Benares, Allahabad, Mathurā, and in the Western Presidency generally.