The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c8.63

v1.c8.63

**Granite :** In descriptions of Orissan antiquities, granite is frequently mentioned by European writers, but I have not seen it employed for building purposes either at Puri or at Bhuvaneśvara. According to Dr. Oldham, than whom few can speak with more authority on questions of Indian Geology, "throughout the countıy, south of the Mahānadī, dykes of all kinds are rare, trap is entirely wanting, and granitic veins are seldom seen." It is probable therefore that, as in the infancy of geological science at the end of the last and the beginning of this century all hard grey-looking stones were mistaken for granite, non-professional men in Orissa, as elsewhere, frequently took the one for the other. Between thirty and forty years ago the Aśoka pillars were described by more than one writer as made of granite, but it is now well-known that they are all formed of sandstone. In the same way Bishop Heber called several structures in Agra and Delhi as constructed of granite, which have since turned out to be sandstone or marble. If true granite, however, is wanting, gneiss is common enough, if not abundant, and a granitiferous variety is frequently employed for statuary, particularly on the Ālti and the Nālti Hills : some of the statues of the Black Pagoda are also said to be made of this material ; but the bulk of them are of sandstone.