The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.21

v1.c9.21

Over this, the wall rises straight upwards, from two to four or five depths of the plinth, and forms the dado, the *kaṇṭhā* of the Sanskrit writers In some highly decorated temples the surface of this member is divided into panels, and filled with carvings; but generally it is left bare. At Benares it is reduced to a narrow neck (*galā*) from a half to one-fourth of the thickness of the plinth. But whether reduced or not, it is followed by, first, a projecting flat band and then a cyma in exact correspondence with the lower moulding of the dado. The builders of Benares omit the tiles or bands above and below the dado, and, counting the dado the two cymas, with them become almost straight sloping surfaces, and the bands above and below them, make a *pañcthurā* or a course of five mouldings; and this is repeated two or three times with a few intervening bands to complete the stereobate. This produces a very jagged appearance, with interminable narrow lines, highly offensive to all sense of elegance and beauty. The Orissans did not approve of it, and when they repeated the fivefold course, they brought back the projecting plinth, and carved its face in various designs, or paring off its edges, converted it into a torus, either plain, or ornamented. The plan, however, which pleased them most, was to convert the stereobate into a number of stylobates, corresponding with the projections of the wall, and to carve them into solid, rounded, lobed figures like dumpy pitchers, which are called *kumbhas*. The base of the Great Tower at Bhuvaneśvara is carved in this way, each stylobate having a double set of *kumbhas*. Over these the fivefold moulding is produced in two or three courses until the necessary height of the basement is completed.