The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.31

v1.c9.31

In the ornamentation of the detached internal pillars, as already stated, the simplest mouldings were all that were resorted to, and no carving was ever thought of. But in the case of outer pillars, or pilasters, the architects followed a very different principle. Avowedly introduced as ornaments, the pilasters could be effectual only when they were carved and ornamented, and hence great pains were taken to make them as sumptuous as possible. Their length was broken by repeated bands, contractions and mouldings, and their surfaces were covered with a lavish profusion of carving of various kinds, including floral bands, lions, elephants and human figures in various attitudes. The lions were invariably placed in an unnatural erect posture to make room for them on the surface of a narrow pillar, and the elephants crouching under them, were so reduced in size as to bear no relation to the lions. Human figures are usually introduced as mere ornaments, but not as an integral part of the pilasters. They are mostly females, standing in conventional graceful attitudes, adorned most sumptuously with jewelry but very insufficiently clad. Sometimes thick stout dwarfs are put on the capitals, and made to represent as supports of architraves; they serve also as supports of abacuses, ledges of domes, edges of roofs, and other projections; but they are so placed as to appear distinct, and to some extent detached from the actual prop of the member. Nowhere in Orissa has the gross enormity of converting an entire pillar into the shape of a human being, like the caryatedes and telamones of Grecce and Egypt, been attempted,¹³ and this respect the Uriyās have displayed a better appreciation of the true principles of taste in architecture, than their more advanced brethren in other parts of the world.