The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.11

v1.c9.11

**Height:** But to turn from the adventitious to the innate: “the first and most obvious element of architectural grandeur,” says Fergusson, “is size,—a large edifice being always more imposing than a small one; and when the art displayed in two buildings is equal, their effect is almost in the direct ratio of their dimensions.”⁶ This size or magnitude affects human feelings according to the direction from which it is seen. “Magnitude in height is expressive to us of elevation, and magnanimity; in depth of danger or terror, and, from our constant experience, of images of terror; in length, of vastness; and in breadth, of stability, and when apparently unbounded, of infinity.”⁷ Orissan architects, were fully aware of the importance of these principles, and tried to utilise them in the erection of their sacred edifices; but, owing to the peculiarity of the style they adopted, they never acquired the same success, which their neighbours, the Tamulians, achieved. A single square chamber for obvious engineering reasons, can never be of any extraordinary magnitude, either in height, or in its length and breadth; the utmost limit is soon attained, and as the height must be proportioned to the base, the edifice must, to a certain extent, be wanting in such majesty and grandeur as are attainable by large dimensions. To remedy this evil, secondary buildings were attached to the principal temple, so as to cover a large area, and overcome the eye by a great expanse; but as they were never blended into one, they failed to fulfil their object. They look detached and separate, and, instead of heightening the effect of the principal structure, mar it by their incongruity.