The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.160

v1.c9.160

**Carving in situ :** In carving the ornaments, the Orissan artists followed the Assyrian plan of working *in situ*, and not the Egyptian one of preparing the sculptures in their *ateliers*, and then fixing them in their proper places. The temples were first built with a casing of carefully dressed ashlars, the largest blocks being placed where large statues were to be carved, and the sculptures traced and cut after the buildings were completed. This is evident from the number of tracings existing on temples which circumstances afterwards prevented the artists from cutting and finishing; this plan was also followed in the ornamentation of the Sārnāth Tower and the Bhilsā Tope. This doubtless must have entailed stupendous labour, but it minimised the risk of injury to finished works. Three lions on the shaft of the Koṇārak Temple measure eighteen feet in length each, and were originally placed at a height of over sixty feet above the level of the surrounding country. In rough block each of them must have weighed over ninety tons, and when being lifted to their places they must have been subjected to an amount of rough usage, which could never have spared the integrity of any carved work. In the case of ornamental bands and small bas-reliefs, the risk of injury, it is true, was not great ; but in the absence of cement, it was necessary for the sake of strength and solidity in the temples to adopt the course under notice. The rule, however, did not apply to the images of gods in the sanctuaries, and also to some of the more finished statues in niches, which were evidently first carved in the shops of the artists, and afterwards removed to the places designed for them.