The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.48

v1.c9.48

**Finials :** Attention has already been drawn to the Rāmārekhās lancet-headed crestor, and in the plates which illustrate this work, many examples will be met with of the various forms which they assume under different treatment, and how they often serve the purposes of finials. They are, however, by no means the only type of finials in use in Orissan temples. Foliated crests of various kinds are frequently introduced, and some of them are remarkably handsome. **[49]** Hip-knobs in English architecture are occasionally met with, and so are little spires, somewhat like the spires of Gothic churches, but of very different designs. Illustration No. 39 exhibits a finial or spire of this description from the temple of Bhagavatī. It is a rich specimen of its kind, though somewhat heavy in appearance. It has a characteristic chaplet of *aśoka* leaves, to a Hindu the most appropriate emblem of the faithful wife,¹⁶ for a pendant, and lotus petals for capitals; the scrolls being formed of a cucurbitaceous vine, very much modified by fancy. On its top, within a small circle, there is a peculiar ornament, apparently a flower-bud, which I can liken to nothing so close as the ball flower of the Gothic architects—a form of floral design not uncommon in Orissa.