The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.23.2

v1.c9.23.2

The builders were no doubt guided by some principles or rules in the distribution of these ornaments, but in the midst of unlimited profusion and variety, it is now difficult, if not impossible, to make them out. The pillars and pilasters range from the most heavy and bulky to the most slender and delicate possible; the intercolumnar spaces vary from one to many diameters of the pillars, and the niches are of various sizes and patterns, though always, rectangular. To describe them all in detail would be tedious and ineffectual. I must refer the reader, therefore, to the accompanying plates for an idea of the different styles in which pilasters and pillars are decorated, and the manner in which the walls are generally diversified. Illustration, No. 2, gives an elevation of the west face of the Kapileśvari Temple, and Illustration, No. 3, of the southern facade of the Jagamohan of Mukteśvara, two of the most beautiful of the minor temples of Bhuvaneśvara. Illustration, No. 4 A, represents an attached pillar, or antis, on the exterior of the Mukteśvara Jagamohan. It has a round lobed pitcher-shaped base, and capital, with a slender shaft, divided into three segments, of which the lower two are four-sided, bearing on the front of the lowermost section a danseuse and on the next, two lions mounted on elephants: the third is rounded, and has a female figure in front, whose nether half is formed of a serpent which coils round the shaft above the head of the figure.