The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c8.52

v1.c8.52

**Direction** : All the principal temples face the East, so that the image of the deity within may face the rising god of day, the natural visible emblem of the invisible Godhead. A similar feeling in Greece led, according to Vitruvius, to the entrance to the temples being turned towards the West, so that those who came to worship might behold the statues of the gods towards the East; but it has also resulted in all its principal temples on the Acropolis and those in Attica, Ionia and Sicily, as also those consecrated to the goddess Athéné—the Hellenic dawn, or Uṣā,—having an easterly direction, and it may fairly be asked if such an idea has had anything to do with the orientation of many Christian churches. It is worthy of remark that Burmese palaces are always so built as to face the East. The word *jhé* in Burmese means both east and front,¹⁴ and many of the chief Buddhist and Jain fanes also face the East; but the principle which guided their position is unknown. In the case of minor shrines of the Hindus, this rule has not been very strictly observed, and many fanes may be seen that have fronts towards the West, South, or North. They never, however, have departed from one of the cardinal points of the compass, which was, according to the *Śilpa-Śāstra*, invariably ascertained with a gnomon before a building was commenced. The mode of doing it, is thus described by Rām Rāz : ' “On a smooth level piece of ground is erected a gnomon,” which, according to some, should be sixteen *angulas* in height, and of the same diameter at the bottom; the whole should be shaped like the leaf of an opening bud, tapering gradually from the bottom to the top'. Around this a circle is drawn with a cord of twice the height of the gnomon, by fixing one end of it to its base, and carrying the other round it. Points are marked in the circumference where the shadow of the gnomon projects, both in the forenoon and afternoon, that is, at any given hour after sunrise, and at the same time before sunset; and between these points a right line is drawn so as to join them; the point marked by the morning shadow will show the East, and that marked by the evening shadow the West. Then from each of these two points, and with a radius equal to the distance between them, describe two more circles cutting each other, and resembling (in their points of intersection) the head and tail of a fish, between which draw a right line, which will point to the South and North. Again, from the southern and northern points, which touch the circumference of the inner circle respectively, and with the same radius, describe two more circles, and the points of intersection on the two other sides will indicate the East and West.¹⁵