The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.76.4

v1.c9.76.4

The ornaments on the infant may be “foolish” according to European notions regarding such things, but there exist such excessive differences of opinion and so much local prejudice even among Europeans regarding the propriety and beauty of particular personal ornaments, that a very good plea, I fancy, may be urged in their favour, founded on the spirit of the age when the sculpture was first designed, and on the attachment of the people of this country to ornaments. The issue of an umbilical cord from the navel of such an infant, and the presence of a human figure,²⁷ Brahmā, on the top of it, however unpoetical, are, on the whole, not quite so revolting as the Eve of Wells Cathedral.