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The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17: Chapter II. Bhuvanesvara

The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17

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Contents

Chapter II. Bhuvanesvara

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[56] Bhuvaneśvara—Its situation, boundary and area.—Number and nature of its houses.—Population and present condition.—Early notices—Under Yajāti Keśarī—Capital of Orissa.—Hiouen-Thsang’s notice of the capital of Orissa.—Boundary after the time of Yajāti.—Hindu legendary account.—The Great Tower.—Bhagavatī’s temple.—Other temples within its enclosures.—Story of Gosāgara.—Vindusāgara tank.—The feasts celebrated in honor of the presiding divinity of the Tower.—The Sahasra-liṅgam tank.—Remains of a palace.—Tīrtheśvara Temple.—Anantavāsudeva Temple.—Koṭītīrtheśvara Temple and tank.—Brahmeśvara Temple.—Bhāskareśvara Temple.—Rājārānī Temple.—Kedārćsvara Temple.—Gaurī’s Temple and Kuṇḍa.—Mukteśvara Temple.—Siddheśvara Temple.—Alābukeśvara Temple.—Nākeśvara Temple.—Rāmeśvara Temple.—Vaitāla Deul.—Koṭiliṅga.—Suparṇajaleśvara.—Gokarṇeśvara.—Amratakeśvara.—Jaṭilcśvara.—Bhūmeśvara.—Savarćsvara, Magheśvara.—Someśvara Temple.—Sārideul.—Kapileśvara Temple and tank.—Gandhavatī River.—Pāpanāsana pool.

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Bhuvaneśvara is an inland out-of-the-way town on the right side of the Puri road, at a distance of about twenty miles from Cuttack. According to the district register it is included within the boundary of Killā Khurdā, Pargunnah Daṇḍimal, and is known under the name of Mauzā Gosāgara.¹ Its present boundary may be roughly described to extend from the temple of Rāmeśvara to a little to the west of that of Bhuvaneśvara on the west; from the latter to the temple of Kapileśvara on the south; from the last to the temple of Bhāskareśvara on the east; and from the last to Rāmeśvara on the north. This forms an irregular rhomboid of a little under a mile and a half a side. Its area is reckoned at 2790 *māns*,² 9 *guṇṭhs* and 14 *biśvās*=1253 acres, 1 rood and 22 poles, or nearly two miles and a half. The greater part of this area is covered by arid plains of laterite, waste lands interspersed with patches of paddy-fields, ruins of old buildings, and deserted temples. Of waste land the area is 405 acres and 36 poles, or nearly one-third of the total. The balance comprises 36 a. 3 r. 12 p. of Devottra belonging to Kapileśvara, 9 a. 3 r. to Anantavāsudeva, 4-3 to Paradāreśvara, 3-2-37 to Uttareśvara, 6-2-37 to Gopālinī, and the rest 1196 acres to Bhuvaneśvara.

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¹ The circumstances under which the place obtained this name will be noticed further on.

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² The *mān* varies greatly in different parts of the province. The people reckon a square of 9 feet to be a *biśvā*, 16 such making a *guṇṭh* and 24 *guṇṭhs* a *mān*. The standard one is, however, a square of 20 rods a side, each rod being 10 feet 5 inches and 1 barleycorn long. This square is equal to an English acre. The *mān* current at Bhuvaneśvara is measured by a rod (*padikā*) of 7 feet, and includes a smaller area.

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**Number and nature of its houses :**—For so large an area, the number of houses is small, being only 716, of which 249 belong to Kapileśvara. The bulk of these houses is thatched. The masonry houses, which include five monasteries, the zemindar’s offices, and a very few dwellings, are partly of brick and partly of rubble stones laid in mortar, and plastered. Of the monasteries (*maṭhs*) three belong to Sannyāsis who call themselves Nirākāravādis “or men who deny the corporeal existence of the Deity”, in contradistinction to the Bhāratis and the Yogis, who believe in the corporeality of the Godhead (Sākāravādis), and have large establishments at Puri, owning extensive landed property, the Bhuvaneśvara maṭhs being branches. Both the last two sects are Śaivas. Their houses are kept in good repair, and serve as resting places for the itinerent members of their order. They have here no literary treasures worth the name, but at their head-quarters there are large collections of old Sanskrit MSS. The thatched dwellings are of the type common all over the country, having mud walls with roofs of leaves or straw. Tiles are unknown.

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**Its population and present condition :**—The population of the town, according to the census of 1872, numbered, 3,926 souls, of whom 1,547 were residents of Kapileśvara. The details of the different castes which inhabit the place are shown in the following table :

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| | | B | K | Total |
| Beskārs and Paṇḍās (Priests and dressers of the idols) | … | 66 | 631 | 697 |
| Dakshiṇi Brāhmaṇs (from Dekkan) | … | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Khetrabāsi Brāhmaṇas (non-professional Brāhmaṇs) | … | 38 | 127 | 165 |
| Maliā Sebak (temple servants) | … | 922 | 165 | 1078 |
| Guriyā (sweetmeat-makers) | … | 68 | 34 | 102 |
| Gandhavanik (spice-sellers) | … | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| [57] Sarṇavaṇik (goldsmiths) | … | 12 | 50 | 62 |
| Teli or Kolu (oil-makers and sellers) | … | 32 | 75 | 107 |
| Gowālā (cowherds) | … | 35 | 57 | 92 |
| Kaivarta (fishermen) | … | 69 | 38 | 107 |
| Chhutār (carpenters) | … | 6 | 17 | 23 |
| Nāpit (barbers) | … | 16 | 52 | 68 |
| Chāṣā (cultivators) | … | 53 | 279 | 332 |
| Karaṇa (writer-caste) | … | 24 | 34 | 58 |
| Tāñti (weavers) | … | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Tambuli (betel-sellers) | … | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Rājput | … | 9 | 7 | 16 |
| Dhobā (washermen) | … | 209 | 23 | 232 |
| Bāuri (aboriginal) | … | 118 | 374 | 492 |
| Kāhār (palki-bearers and load-carriers, undefined) | … | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Śūdras | … | 0 | 69 | 69 |
| Sannyāsis | … | 0 | 16 | 16 |
| Teliṅgas | … | 0 | 6 | 6 |

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| | B | K | Total |
| Kāhāliya . . . . . | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Paravaras (up-country Buddhists, Burmahs, &c.) ... | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Kumāra (potters) . . . . . | 0 | 114 | 114 |
| Sāgardapeshā (cross between Bengalis and Uriyas) ... | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Darzi (tailors) . . . . . | 0 | 32 | 32 |
| Kāmāra (blacksmiths) .. ... ... ... | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Samarthā . . . . . | 0 | 59 | 59 |
| Hāḍi (sweepers) . . . . . | 0 | 35 | 35 |
| Jyotiṣi (astrologers) . . . . . | 0 | 41 | 41 |
| Chhatrakhāyi (a new class of out-castes; those who ate rice at Annachhatras during the famine of 1866) ... | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Total | 1,717 | 2,385 | 4,029 |

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A glance at this table at once shows the nature of the population of the city. Out of a total of 4029, no less than 697, or nearly one-sixth are professional priests, and if we add to that 165 of non-professional Brāhmaṇs we get a total of 862 or considerably over one-fifth of the priestly caste. Then the temple servants constitute over one-fourth of the population (1078); and the two together represent nearly one-half of the community to be connected with the religious establishments of the place; and the other half live to minister to their wants and enjoyments. The number of potters may at first sight appear to be too large for so small a population, but if we bear in mind that the offerings in the different temples are all made in fresh earthen pots, and that they are subsequently sold in small quantities in other fresh earthen pots, no pot being allowed by the S'āstras and the custom of the country to be twice used, the demand for pottery, we shall find, must be considerably greater than what would be deemed reasonable for a similar number of men elsewhere. The number of washermen is also large; but such of them as do not get opportunities for carrying on their caste profession, take to agriculture. Most of the goldsmiths are filigrains, and they send the produce of their industry and art for sale to Cuttack. There are no Muhammadans except round about the suburbs.

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The houses are generally straggling, and scattered wide apart from each other; and most of them being intended as resting-places for pilgrims, are ordinarily left unoccupied. The shops are of the poorest description, designed only for the supply of the necessaries of life to the small population and the pilgrims, who visiting the place on their return from Puri, are generally too weak in purse to be able to offer any substantial encouragement to trade. The Brāhmaṇs, who form the bulk of the people, are all priests; they engage in no occupation or trade, and live mainly on what they can get from the pilgrims. Once the proud capital of a large and flourishing kingdom, the city stands now as only a monument of departed greatness. Its lands are no longer the dwelling-places of multitudes of princes, ministers, and of statesmen;

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merchants, traders, artizans and labourers from distant parts of India come for purposes of gain by ministering to the pleasures of a luxurious court. Its streets are deserted. Its ancient palaces and lordly mansions [58] are roofless, and reduced to shapeless ruins buried under tangled veils of impervious vegetation. Its temples, once resonant with the hum of thousands of zealous and devout worshippers, now stand concealed by trees whose roots are struggling not unsuccessfully to displace the stones of their massive walls, and knock them down into amorphous heaps. Its squares and markets, once the resort of merchants and traders from all the leading seats of Indian commerce, and perhaps from distant countries beyond India, are now deserted, and form the abode of jackals, wolves, and noxious reptiles. Its very soil, once covered by many a magnificent dwelling, is now buried amidst ruins and rubble-stones, or forced by the plough of a poverty-stricken community to yield a scanty return of corn. In short, the whole place has a cheerless. woe-begone, lifeless look about it, which loudly proclaims that the sun of its glory has long since set. The only exception to this remark is afforded by that portion of the town which is knowm by the name of Kapileśvara. It stands in remarkable contrast to Bhuvaneśvara proper. With an area of scarce three hundred acres, and a population of 1717 souls, its houses, 249 in number, are fresh-plastered, well-thatched, closely set along a well-kept good street, and on the whole cheerful-looking and lively. To sum up, while the one appears the abode of living man, the other is a smouldering monument of extinguished grandeur.

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**Its antiquarian importance :—**Thus Bhuvaneśvara in the present day is a small, insignificant, uninviting place with no wealth, no commerce, and no manufactory, peopled by hungry priests, and desolate in every respect. It is, nevertheless, a most interesting field for the antiquarian, abounding as it does in architectural remains of the highest value, and connected as it is with historical associations of rare importance. To quote the language of the late Lord Canning used with reference to the plains round Delhi, it is “studded with ruins more thickly than even the Campagna of Rome”,³ and its history affords remarkable illustrations of the vicissitudes in the existence of an Indian town for five and twenty centuries.

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³ *Archaeological Survey Report*, Vol. I, p. 11.

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**Earliest mention in the Temple Records :—**The earliest mention of Bhuvaneśvara in the Temple Records of Puri occurs in connexion with the reign of Yajāti, the first of the Cæsars⁴ of Orissa, who held the sceptre of that country for fifty-two years, from 474 to 526 of the Christian era. He was a sovereign of great renown, and rose to power by expelling the so-called *Jabans* who are said to have occupied Orissa for one hundred and forty-three years before him. Sterling⁵ and Dr. Hunter⁶ are of opinion that by *Jabans* the Records mean Buddhists, and I have no hesitation in subscribing to the conclusion. The fact, however, is that the Buddhists, instead of occupying Orissa for one hundred and forty-three years before the accession of Yajāti Keśarī, had maintained their sovereignty in that province for several centuries anterior to that period; but it not being to the interest of the Brāhmaṇical writers of the Temple Records to make the admission, the time has been limited to a short period only and a long period prior to it, filled up with imaginary names. "Before the accession of the family called the Keśari Vaṅsa, (473 A.D.)," says Sterling, "the accounts are so replete with obvious falsehood, contradiction, inconsistency, and anachronism as to be equally unintelligible and unworthy of notice. The memory of a few great names and events, only, has been preserved up to the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era, and to adapt these to their favourite system of chronology, the Brāhmaṇs, who will never admit want of information on any subject, have been obliged to give an expansion to the reigns of their traditionary Rājās, in some cases of five and six hundred years, and in all far beyond the natural or possible term of human life."⁷

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⁴ The word *Keśari* has a close resemblance to the proud title of the Kaisars of Persia and the Cæsars of Rome. and knowing that the history of the Kaisars was well-known to the Uriyās, that the coins of some of the Cæsars of Rome have frequently been met with in Southern India, (*Journal As. Soc.*) and that the commercial intercourse of the Romans with India was intimate in the early part of the Christian era, (Vincent's *Periplus of the Erythrian Sea* and Heeren's *Historical Researches*), it would not be presumptuous to suppose that the title was a borrowed one. It is interpreted by the Uriyās of the present day to be “lion”, and said to be the counterpart of the title *siṁha* so universal in India ; but that is of no importance, inasmuch as the practice of interpreting foreign words by reference to Sanskrit roots is universal in this country, and it would not by any means subserve the cause of truth to rely on it. Dr. Hunter gives the alternative meaning of "long-haired" from *Keśara* "mane", *Kesarī* "the maned"; but such an epithet would scarcely be worth adoption by a great sovereign and his descendants for many generations. Epithets like "long-shanks" or "red-haired" in English history were nick-names and not titles.

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⁵ "Possibly the tradition which I have described above, may have some connexion with the fierce religious disputes which raged between the worshippers of Brahmā and Buddha about the period in which the invasion of foreigners and the flight of Jagannāth is placed, and which, as is well known, terminated in the expulsion of the latter from the Continent of India." Sterling, *Asiatic Researches*, XV, p. 264.

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⁶ *Orissa*, Vol. I. Chap. V.

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⁷ *Asiatic Researches*, XV, p 256.

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**Yajati Kesari:**—The family history of Yajāti is unknown. In a copper-plate grant lately found in the Cuttack Collectorate, Yajāti calls himself the son of Rājā Janamejaya, and assigns to himself the higher title of Mahārājā, and to Bhava Gupta of Magadha the imperial title of Mahārājādhirāja. He also acknowledges vassalage to the sovereign of Magadha in whose name he makes grants of land to Brāhmaṇs. He was probably a Hindu of the north,⁸ perhaps of Oudh, who, either as a free lance, or as a lieutenant of the Gupta king, heading a Brāhmaṇical [59] revival, first established himself at Jājapura which was for a time his capital, and where, according to the local legends, he settled ten thousand Brāhmaṇs brought from Oudh, and endowed them with rent-free lands for their support⁹. Starting from this base, he gradually pushed on, overthrowing the Buddhists everywhere, and gave permanency to Hindu rule and Hindu institutions by reviving or establishing the worship of Viṣṇu on the ashes of Buddhism at Puri, and that of Śiva at Bhuvaneśvara. The last-named place he must have secured about the close of his long and prosperous reign, for the Records mention that he made preparations for the erection of the great temple there, but did not live long enough to complete it. A heap of ruins is now shown near the Temple of Rāmeśvara, which is said to be the remains of his palace; but it is doubtful if he ever established his capital there. His successors, however, for twenty-four generations held their court in the great city of the Lord of the Universe (*Bhuvana*, "World" and *Iśvara* "lord") until Nṛpati Keśarī, in 940-950, founded Cuttack, and removed the seat of Government to the new capital.

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⁸ Three copper-plates have lately been discovered at Cuttack, in two of which Yajāti gives land to Northern Brāhmaṇs a locality near Cuttack; he names "Dakṣiṇa Kośala" or the Kośala of the South, obviously in contradistinction to the Kośala of the North.

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⁹ cf. Hunter, *Orissa*, I, pp. 238-241.

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**Capital of Orissa at the time of Hiouen Thsang** :—Hiouen Thsang visited Orissa between 634 and 640, during the reign of Lalāṭendra Keśarī, who flourished from 623 to 677 in Bhuvaneśvara, where the remains of his palace are still shown; but it does not seem that the pilgrim ever came to that town. The circumference of the capital at the time, he says, was 20 *li*,¹⁰ which would give a square of about a mile a side, or somewhat less than half the present area of Bhuvaneśvara and it is very unlikely that that place was smaller when it was a capital than what it is now. The distance and direction of the capital from Tāmralipti as given in the biography of the pilgrim are also against the assumption. The former was 700 *li*, and the latter southwest, which would bring him to Jājapura and not to Bhuvaneśvara, and as that was the capital of Yajāti Keśarī and possibly of his son for at least a time, General Cunningham very correctly assumes it to have been the place meant.¹¹ After describing the general character of the kingdom as quoted in a preceding part of this work (*Vol. I* p. [7]) Hiouen Thsang says : "Au milieu d'une, grande montagne, qui est situee sur les frontieres sud-ouest du royaume, śéléve un couvent appelé *Pou-se po-k'i li-seng-kia-lan* (Pouchpāgiri sanghārāma). Il renferme un *Stoupa* en pierre ou éclatant beaucoup de prodiges. Quelquefois, aux jours de jeune, il répand une lueur éclatante. C'est pourquoi les hommes qu'anime une foi pure y accourent de tous cotés. Ils tiennent de parasols ornés de plus belles fleurs, et présentant á l'envi leurs offrandes. Si, au bas di bassin qui recoit la rosée, et sur la coupole, qui a la forme dun vase renversé, ils placent la hampe dun parasol orné de fleurs, elle y reste fixée comme une aiguille attirée par l'aimant. Dans un couvent situé sur une montagne, au nord-ouest de cet endroit, il y a un *Stoupa* qui offre les memes merveilles que le pré cédent. Ces deux *Stoupas* ont été batis par les démons, et de lá viennent ces miracles extraordinaires.”¹² General Cunningham takes the two mountains here referred to to be the Udayagiri and the Khaṇḍagiri; but as the pilgrim or his translator uses the words “frontieres de royaume,” the proper locale for the first mountain should be somewhere in Daspālā, or Nayāghar, and the second in Maurbhanj near Kiraṇa Suvarṇa. If we could assume the *royaume* to be a mistranslation of *capital*, and that capital to have been Bhuvaneśvara, the first would be Dhauli, which is situated to the south-west and the second Khaṇḍagiri and Udayagiri, both of which are to the north-west of that city. The distance and direction given being, however, in favour of Jājapura, this assumption cannot be adopted.

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¹⁰ *Ante*, I, p. [7].

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¹¹ "By a reference to the *Biography of Hiouen Thsang* (St. Julien I, 184) it would appear that the capital of Oḍra was 700 li to the south-west of Tāmpralipti, and as this bearing and distance agree with the position of *Jajipura*, I think that the pilgrim must have returned to *Tāmluk* from Kiraṇa Suvarṇa before proceeding to Oḍra. In the travels of the pilgrim (Julien III, 88) the bearing and distance are taken for Kiraṇa Suvarṇa, but this is perhaps a mistake as they are usually referred to the capital, which whether we place it at Jajipur or at Kaṭak, is due south of Kiraṇa Suvarṇa." *Ancient Geography of India*, p. 510.

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¹² *Voyages des Pélerins Bouddhistes*, III, pp. 89 f.

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According to General Cunningham “the ancient metropolis of the country was Kaṭak on the Mahānadi river,” whence it was removed by Yajāti Keśarī to Yajātipur in the early part of the sixth century, and Bhuvaneśvara was founded by Lalāṭendra Keśarī.¹³ There is nothing, however, to show that Kaṭak was the ancient capital, or that Bhuvaneśvara was founded by Lalāṭendra Keśarī. On the contrary, the Temple Records distinctly state that Kaṭak, the oldest of the three towns which have borne that name was founded by Nṛpati Keśarī in 940, nearly three centuries after the death of Lalāṭendra, and as the Records in question for that period are authentic and most probably contemporary, there is no reason to doubt them; and I shall presently show on evidence which I think is quite unimpeachable that Bhuvaneśvara existed many centuries before the age of that king.

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¹³ *Ancient Geography of India*, p. 512.

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**Boundary after the time of Yajati, and ancient name and site:—**According to the *Kapila Saṃhitā*, quoted in the *Ekāmra-candrākā*, Bhuvaneśvarā or, as it is there named, Ekāmra Kānana, the “mango forest,” within a century or two of the reign of Lalāṭendra, comprised a circular area extending from Khaṇḍagiri on the west to the temple of Kuṇḍaleśvara near the village of Taṅkapāni near the Puri road, and from that to Balahā or Vārāhī Devī close by the village of [60] Miyāpalli on the north, to that of Vahiraṅgeśvara on the Dhauli hill to the south, including altogether an area of three *yojanas* or 12 miles, which now bears on it no less than forty-five different villages¹⁴ as shown in the diagram in Fig. 1. The relative distances shown in the diagram are merely approximate, the plan being the work of a paṇḍit, and not of a surveyor. The inner circle shows the land elect of the presiding divinity of the place, and the outer the extreme boundary of the sacred city, or the circuit which a pilgrim has to go over in his circumambulation. In reality the boundary in either case is anything but an exact circle.

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¹⁴ 1. Bhuvaneśvara. 2. Pokharipūṭa. 3. Kochilāpūṭa. 4. Bāhādalpur. 5. Purokna. 6. Boṭaṇḍā. 7. Kaṇṭilo. 8. Kuhpa. 9. Bāpkāṭi. 10. Rathijamā. 11. Hirāpur. 12. Karṇāṭaniyā. 13. Gaḍ Śrīrāmpur. 14. Durgādāsapur. 15. Śisupāla. 16. ?. 17. Taṅkapānī. 18. Bānkūāl. 19. Jhārgaḍ. 20. Lakṣmīsāgar. 21. Barāgaḍ. 22. ?. 23. Pokhriput. 24. ?. 25. ?. 26. Sundarāpadā. 27. Kopilaprasād. 28. Palāsapur. 29. Kumāradihā. 30. Iṭipur. 31. Jayapur. 32. Gaḍ Dnauli. 33. Nayā Gaon. 34. Nāthpur. 35. Siṅgāpur. 36. Saradaipur. 37. Kushpadā. 38. Bālkatī. 39. Jamamārā. 40. Dumdumā. 41. Jadupur. 42. Sarkantār. 43. Kalthiyāpātrā. 44. ?. 45. ?

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Fig 1

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All the places named are still extant and form the boundary marks of the circuit which a pious pilgrim is expected to go round when visiting this holy spot. This circumambulation is called “going round of the city,” (*Kṣetra parikramaṇa*) and takes several days to accomplish. The *Ekāmra Purāṇa*, however, does not insist upon this large circuit; it assigns the inner circle formed by a radius of one mile round the Great Tower as the proper boundary of the circumambulation; but it recommends the operation to be repeated three times, and gives directions how it is to be performed, and what mantras should be repeated when starting on the journey.¹⁵ The religious merit of the operation is even greater than the performance of ten thousand horse sacrifices. All sins that might be contracted in other sacred places are wiped away by visiting Svarnakūṭa (Khaṇḍagiri), but what are contracted in the last-named place can be destroyed only by making the circumambulation of the sacred city.

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This is obviously a counterpart of the practice observed at Benares where no pilgrim can fulfil all his religious obligations without traversing the boundary of the city or performing what is there called *pañcakoṣi yātrā* or “five *koṣ* pilgrimage,” i.e., circumambulating the boundary road.¹⁶ And this is borne out by the fact that *Ekāmra Purāṇa* is satisfied with a circuit formed by a radius of one mile round the Great Tower or the inner circle which is nowhere beyond [61] five *koṣ* or ten miles from the temple of Viśveśvara. This shows that the boundary described is no fiction, and the road, or foot-path,—for in some places there is no distinct road now perceptible,—is the landmark of the ancient boundary. The area, however, is too large for any ancient city proper, and I am disposed to believe that it includes what formerly constituted a considerable portion of its suburbs. Anyhow this much is certain that Dhauli at one time was a part of the suburbs of Bhuvaneśvara. Now, the low hill at Dhauli, as already stated (ante p.

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[46]), bears the Orissa edition of the celebrated edicts of Aśoka, and, as it would be absurd to suppose that edicts, intended for the good and guidance of mankind at large, had been put up in a desert place, it must follow that the place round or near Dhauli was not only largely inhabited, but was the provincial capital, or a place of such considerable importance as would justify the selection of it as the locale where the publication of the mandates of a distant suzerain would suffice for the whole province. The edicts were widely disseminated, but not very numerously. As yet only five complete sets have been met with on living rocks ; 1st, at Dhauli, on the eastern coast of India ; 2nd, at Girnār in Guzerat, on the western coast ; 3rd, at Shābhāzgheri in the Yusafzai country, on the extreme north-western frontier ; 4th, at Khālsi ; 5th, at Ganjām. Of solitary edicts on rocks there are : 1st, found at Bhābrā, which has been transferred to the Asiatic Society at Calcutta ; 2nd, at Bairāt ; 3rd, at Rūpanāth ; 4th, at Saserām ; of which the first has been translated by Major Kittoe, and the other three by Dr. G. Bühler in the *Indian Antiquary*. The edicts on the Pillars are also not numerous ; we have two at Delhi, one at Allahabad, one ar Arirāj, and one at Lauriyā. If we assume one set of edicts for every provincial capital, it would be much more than what available evidence at present would justify ;

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nor could we under any circumstance assume that a provincial capital would anywhere be postponed in favour of a village or town of secondary importance. Thus, we must conclude that the neighbourhood of Dhauli was the site of the Orissan capital, whose countenance and support were sought in favour of the edicts, and, as on the other three sides of it there is no vestige of any ancient town, it must follow that the side where Bhuvaneśvara stands was the site. This inference is considerably strengthened by the fact that, a century before the time of Aśoka when the cave dwellings of Udayagiri were occupied by Buddhist monks, there was absolute necessity for a large town in their neighbourhood, whence the monks, pledged to life-long mendicancy, could obtain their daily supplies of food by itinerant begging, and that town would be too far away if it existed beyond Dhauli, whereas Bhuvaneśvara is most centrically and conveniently situated both for Dhauli and Udayagiri. As in the case of Dhauli so in that of Udayagiri, there is no vestige of any ancient town to its north-east or west. Dhauli itself was a place of some note as the site of a tope (ante p. [53]), and its present name Gar Dhauli shows that it was also the site of a small fort ; it is too far from the caves of Khaṇḍagiri to be the likely locale of the capital. It is also not large enough in area for such a purpose.

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Again, the inscriptions of Udayagiri repeatedly refer to the kings of Kaliṅga, and sometimes to Kaliṅga-nagarī, 'the city of Kaliṅga,' but the word Orissa does not occur in any one of them ; and this would suggest the idea that the kings then were known by the name of their capital, as many other Indian kings have since been known in the same way, and that the Oḍs, who still prevail in Khurdā in the neighbourhood of Bauvaneśvara, had not then risen to sufficient importance to give their name to a city, though they unquestionably have since given it to the province. Of course there is nothing tangible to show that the Kaliṅga-nagarī of the inscriptions is the modern Bhuvanes'vara; but as it would be unreasonable to suppose the existence, in the third century B.C., of a large town of such importance as would attract the attention of Aśoka, which was not a capital, nor of a metropolitan character, we may very reasonably suppose that the town in question was the chief seat of power of the Kaliṅga rājās; and if this be admitted the *Kaliṅga-nagarī* or 'city of Kaliṅga' of the Elephant Cave of Udayagiri would be the same.

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¹⁵ *Ekāmra Purāṇa*, Chap. 63.

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¹⁶ The following is Mr. Sherring's account of this act of devotion : “To perform the pilgrimage of the *pañckoṣi* is accounted a very meritorious act. It is necessary that every good Hindu residing in the city of Beneres should twice a year accomplish this pilgrimage, in order that the impurity which the soul and body have contracted during the year may be obliterated; for it is held to be impossible even to reside in such a holy city as Beneres, without contracting such devilement Not only the inhabitants of Beneres, but also mutitudes of persons from various parts of India, traverse the road, and seek to obtain the blessing which, they are told, such a pious act ensures. It is customery for a large number of pilgrims to travel together on this journey. Before setting out each morning, they must bathe in a tank or stream, and on terminating their march each day, must perform the same rite. They do not permit themselves the luxury of shoes, nor do they relieve the fatigue of the journey by the assistance of either horse, or ass, or camel, or elephant, or of any carriage or cart or vehicle whatever. Anxious to secure a full measure of merit, they cannot afford that it should be lessened by the appliances and arts of civilized life. All, therefore, men, women, and children, rich and poor, princes and peasants, travel on foot. Starting from the Maṇikarṇikā Ghāṭ, the pilgrim keeps along the banks of the Ganges until he arrives at the Asi Sangam and Asi Ghāṭ, where a petty stream flowes into the great river From this spot he proceeds to a temple of Jagannāth close by, and thence on to the village of Khāṇḍhava, where he stays for the day, having performed a journey of 6 miles The second day's march is to the village of Dhūpcandī, 10 miles further on, where he worships the tutelary goddess of that name. On the third day he arrives at Rāmeśvara after a long walk of 14 miles. The fourth day brings him to Śivapur, where he visits the famous shrine of Pañc Pāndav, or five brothers, who were all married to one woman. On this day he travels 8 miles, and, on the fifth day, 6 more, namely, to the village of Kapildhārā, where he worships the god Mahādeva. The sixth and last stage is from Kapildhārā to the Burna Sangam, thence to Maṇikarṇikā Ghāṭ from which he first set out, which is also 6 miles in length. He has thus completed in 6 days a march of nearly 50 miles.” (*The Sacred City of the Hindus*, pp. 177 f.). Mr. Sherring is of opinion, that this pilgrimage is of modern date, not earlier than the time of Rāṇī Bhavānī, or 150 years; but seeing that in the time of Todar Mall a tank was excavated by the road for the service of Śiva, and the rite got currency at Bhuvaneśvara when the *Kapila Saṁhita* was written long before that date, and everything at Bhuvaneśvara was got up in imitation of Benares, with a view to make it a second Benares, I think the conjecture is not tenable. The main argument used is that there is nothing old about the road, is, to say the least, a very weak one. Mr. Sherring says the oldest inscription is about 250 years of age, but Todar Mall's inscription (*Proceedings As. Soc. for May* 1875, p.84) is older.

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Now, the Buddhist annals relate that when S'ākya died in 543 B.C., the kings of Kaliṅga were potentates of great influence, and obtained a share of his relices ¹⁷ Their capital, which would naturally be called Kaliṅga-nagarī, was then an important seat of Buddhism, worthy of being reckoned as one of the ten leading sovereignties which were to receive a share each of the said relics. One of the eye-teeth of the great saint was then assigned to it; and that tooth formed the subject of contention for several centuries afterwards, until it was removed to Ceylon. It would seem that the tooth in question was originally deposited in Kaliṅga-nagarī, thence removed to Dāntan or Dantapurī near Pipli, thence to Pāṭaliputra, thence back to Orissa, Teliṅgānā and Ceylon. From the last-named place it—or its substitute—went through a long series of migrations until burnt to [62] ashes at Goa by order of Don Constantine, the Portuguese Viceroy, before an imposing assembly of prelates and notables of the old city of Goa, as it was said, "for the promotion of the glory of God, the honour and prestige of Christianity, and the salvation of souls;"¹⁸ but even then to reappear and to find a resting-place at the Māligāva temple at Kandy in Ceylon. Taking these facts into consideration it would not be unreasonable to suppose that the kings meant were of the same city which is named in the inscriptions.

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¹⁷ *Asiatic Researches*, XX, p. 317.

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¹⁸ Gerson da Cunha's *Memoir on the History of the Tooth Relic of Ceylon*, p. 45.

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Thus, the history of the city may be traced to the sixth century B.C., and its name may very reasonably be concluded to have been Kaliṅga-nagarī. We have then Bhuvanes'vara under the name of Kaliṅga-nagarī, the capital of Orissa from the 6th century B.C. to the time of Yayāti Kes'arī, in the middle of the fifth century A.C. Assuming that Yayāti was an adventurer from the north, probably a lieutenant of the Gupta Rājās of Magadha, he must have come down from Behar to Orissa, and the first important place where he could establish his capital was Jājapur, which is believed by some to have derived its name from him. Proceeding thence to the south, he gradually subverted the supremacy of the Buddhists, and, at the close of his reign, got possession of Bhuvanes'vara where he made preparations for establishing the large tower, but died before accomplishing it. His successor, knowing the importance of the place in the estimation of the people, naturally wished to make it their capital, and so it again became the capital of Orissa a generation or two afterwards—certainly in the time of Lalāṭendra Keśarī in the 7th century A.C. when the temple of Bhuvaneśvara was completed; and in honour of the Lord of the Universe its name was changed to Bhuvaneśvara, in the same way as Puri is called Jagannāth, and Benares Tripurāri-rājanagari. It finally lost its proud position of a metropolitan city and all political importance in 940 A.D., when Nripati Keśari founded Cuttack, as his capital. As an inland town without any water-communication with the rest of the province, and having no manufactory of importance of its own, the loss of its political importance was synonymous with its desertion and ruin. Elsewhere the halo of religion is able to avert such a catastrophe, for a time at least; but in the case of Bhuvaneśvara even this protection was wanting, for the Śāstras having enjoined that all Śivite temples must cease to be sacred the moment they are desecrated and that a temple where service has once ceased should not be again consecrated, temple after temple repidly lost its sanctity from desuetude of worship, and with the loss of worship, the sanctuary itself fell into decay and under the all-destroying influence of an Indian climate and the roots of the destructive fig tree soon became shapeless ruins.

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**Hindu legendary account of Bhuvanesvara :**—To Turn now to Hindu legendary history. The leading works which treat of the town as a holy place of pilgrimage are : (1) the *Brahma Purāṇa*, (2) the *Śiva Purāṇa*, (3) the *Ekāmra Purāṇa*, (4) the *Kapila Saṃhitā*. All the leading compilations on sacred shrines and pools likewise refer to the place, but in doing so, they generally quote from some one or other of the above-named texts, and therefore they may be left out of consideration. The *Brahma* and the *Siva Purāṇas* are large and very comprehensive works, and only a few chapters of the first book of the former and four or five of the last books of the latter give some of the legends connected with the ancient history of Bhuvaneśvara. The third, as already stated (ante, I, p. [10]) is devoted exclusively to the description of the sanctity of its different holy shrines and sacred pools. The fourth has the sacred places of Orissa for its subject, and assigns only a part of its space to Bhuvaneśvara, and in doing so, takes care, in accordance with its own sectarian character, to subordiante the worship of Siva, the presiding divinity of the place, to that of Viṣṇu. The *Ekāmra-candrikā*, like the *Ekāmra Purāṇa*, is devoted exclusively to the religious merits of Bhuvaneśvara; but it is professedly a compilation, and not an original authority. These works afford us no information regarding the Buddhist period of the history of this place.

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With them its history brings from remote antiquity as a lovely tope of a single mango tree. Thus the *Kapila Saṃhitā* : "In a former age there existed on this spot a mango tree of great merit, and because there was an only tree, the place is called the grove of one mango tree (*ekāmra vana*),—a lofty tree with mangificent branches, decked with gem-like leaves, and bearing fruits which bestowed the fourfold blessings of virtue, wealth, desirable objects and salvation."¹⁹ The *Ekāmra Purāṇa* accounts for the name in a similar way and almost in the same words.²⁰ The word *vana* of the name is optinally and frequently replaced by *vipina*, *kānana* and other synonyms for a wood, a grove, or a forest, as also by the word *kṣetra*, “a sacred spot,” though the latter is usually understood to include a much wider area than the former, the one comprising a circuit of one *kroṣa* or two miles²¹ and the other nine *yojanas* or fifty-four miles.²² “It was in the Tretā Yuga,” or second age, says the [63] *Kapila Saṁhitā*, “that Śiva, wishing to retire from the din and sin of over-crowded Benares, sought the advice of Nārada, and, at the suggestion of that sage, took up this qutie, secluded, delightful retreat for his abode.” Kapila quotes the authority of Bharadvāja, who, he says, first imparted the secret and interesting account of this move on the part of Śiva to a company of sages assembled near the sacred pool of Puṣkara.

v2.c17.39.3

“Formerly in the Tretā Yuga”, said Bharadvāja, “when the great Lord Maheśvara dwelt in the city of Benares, he once thus addressed the pre-eminently holy sage Nārada: ‘We shall no longer reside in the city, for now it will surely be destroyed. It has become greatly over-crowded and injurious to devotion. It is not proper to live in a place which has become over-crowded. Disturbances occur there, caused by atheists and men bereft of sense; and no virtue can abide in a locality occupied by atheists. Through vice, O chief of sages, the offering of clarified butter ceases. Formerly this place was prepared very carefully for Pārvatī, and whatever Pārvatī is pleased with that is gratifying to me. But now my mind is not encouraged to dwell here. Tell me, therefore, O noblest of sages, where there may be a secret, and excellent retreat for me?’ Nārada replied: ‘On the shore of the Salt Sea, there is the best of hills the Blue Hill (*Nīla Śaila*) and to the north of that, O lord, is the noted grove of one mango tree; and there alone, in the lovely forest, doth the spiritual lord of the universe, the husband of Ramā, along with Ananta, flourish under the name of Vāsudeva. That place is great secret; even Prajāpati (Brahmā) does not know of it: even your excellency does not know of it; to say nothing of the other gods. This solitary mango, Śaṁkara, is a great secret; even the daughter of the ocean, (Lakṣmī), seated on the lap of the mysterious Jagannātha, does not know of it.

v2.c17.39.4

Janārdana with Ananta is personally manifest there, and there abiding, he decides upon the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe. The god Ananta always abides by him, along with Lakṣmaṇa, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, and the son of Rohiṇī (Balarāma). O great Lord, it was after years of ardent penance that I came to know of it from the merciful Vāsudeva. I, Śeṣa (Ananta), and Jagannātha are the only three who have access to this holy spot; but neither has Indra nor the other gods. Thus formerly, O lord, I came to know of this noble retreat, and now you have learnt of this most holy sanctuary (from me).’ On hearing this Śiva at once resolved to go to the place, and ordered his chamberlain, Nandi, to prepare for the journey.” Passing over the description of the preparations and Durgā's toilet, in anticipation of her tour in the company of her lord, I shall quote the conversation of Śiva and Vāsudeva. Arrived at the sacred grove, Śiva thus addressed its presiding divinity: “Salutation to thee, O thou Supreme Felicity, thou of the lotus navel, thou of glorious eyes. Salutation be to thee (who art) Hari, who assumed the threefold form (of Viṣṇu, Brahmā and Śiva), and whose body is like a blue cloud. Salutations to the dictator of the three regions. O lord, thou art the benefactor of the gods, and the remover of the woes of the miserable!

v2.c17.39.5

Salutation to the dweller of the Ekāmra,—to him who is arrayed in yellow garments,—to him who, though above the three qualities, is the holder of the discus, the lotus and the conch-shell. Thou art the prime source of the sources of the universe, the friend of thy worshipper, the lord of the universe, and the ocean of unalloyed mercy. There are thousands of charming places for thee; but how is it that I knew not, O lord, thy secret form in Ekāmra? You, Viṣṇu, once told me I was half your body, but how of late have you, O Keśava, made me a stranger? Nārada is thy worshipper, and so is the lord of serpents (Ananta) who serves as thy bed, and they two only know this place; and there is no favour for me. But this is not remarkable. To the Gopīs, who are the adorers of thy love, the highest salvation has been granted by thee, O lord; but Śamaka and the other sages are awaiting the lord’s will (at his leisure and that) which is ungovernable. Dwelling, O great god, in this charming Grove of the Mango Tree, and betaking to the sleep of mediation, thou keepest thine eyes close. Pray cast on me now, thou sovereign of the universe, a favourable glance. I have come to thy shelter; permit me to dwell in thy choice retreat.’

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¹⁹ *Kapila Saṃhitā*, p. 32.

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²⁰ *Ekāmra Candrikā*, p. 6.

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²¹ *Ibid*, p. 4.

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²² *Loc. cit.*

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“Thus be-praised and solicited by the husband of her who is the daughter of the snowy mountain, opening his eyes, Viṣṇu smilingly replied: ‘Listen to my words Śambhu, I speak for your good. I shall with pleasure grant you room for your [64] abode here, but you must give me a solemn pledge that you will always abide here with all your retinue, and never go back to Kāśī.’

v2.c17.45

“Śaṅkara said: ‘How can I avoid going to Kāśī where dwelleth my Jāhnavī, and the holy pool Maṇikarṇikā, the substance of all sacred water?’

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“Vāsudeva returned: ‘Even here existeth in front of thee thy Maṇikarṇī, destroyer of sins (Pāpanāśinī)²³ covered by rocks and overgrown with bushes and creepers. Neither does Nārada know this, nor Śeṣa (Ananta). I alone know it, and you have learnt it now from me. Your Jāhnavī also exists here, she the blessed, born of my feet, to the south-east of me, under the name of Gaṅgā-yamunā. For me there are other sacred pools about this place, all great secrets, the knowledge of which I shall hereafter impart to you. Now Śamkara give me your solemn pledge.’

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²³ The name of a rivulet in the neighbourhood of Bhuvaneśvara.

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“Samkara said: ‘Truthfully—truthfully—I promise thee, Madhusūdana, I shall dwell here. forsaking Vārānasī and all other holy places, I shall abide by thee in this forest of Ekāmra. Truthfully, truthfully, again truthfully, I say, I shall go nowhere from this place.’

v2.c17.49

“Bharadvāja continued, ‘Having said this, the great Lord Sambhu settled to the south side of Viṣṇu, in the form of a *liṅgam*, the grantor of all the four kinds of blessings: its root or lower part was resplendent as crystal; sapphire blue was its middle; and ruby-coloured its upper part. Such was the *liṅgam* of the lord of the three regions (Tribhuvaneśvara). Thenceforward, O noble Brāhmaṇas, Maheśvara has been in this great sacred place. He is surrounded by ten millions of *liṅgams*, having Vāsudeva as their guardian deity. Those who behold that *liṅgam* at Ekāmra obtain in their palms expiation for ten thousand murders of Brāhmaṇas. Thus having obtained permission from the eternal Vāsudeva, Śambhu presides at the grove of Ekāmra as the lord of ten millions of *liṅgams*.’ ”²⁴

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²⁴ *Kapila Saṃhitā*, Chap. 11.

v2.c17.51.1

Divested of its legendary surroundings, this story clearly shows that Bhuvaneśvara was established as a rival of Benares, and with a view to divert to it a part at least of the halo of religion which surrounded that holy city; and from accounts elsewhere given, it appears that nothing was omitted in the way of details to make it the exact counterpart of its prototype. Every temple, every sacred pool, every rivulet, every ceremonial, every observance, and every legend of Benares were reproduced at Bhuvaneśvara, and *mutatis mutandis* the description of the one would be a close description of the other. The opportunity seized was probably the revival under that great leader and soldier of the Hindu faith, Yayāti, and it was an appropriate one. Buddhism at the time was most rampant at Benares; the Hindus, who identified it with atheism and vice, naturally wished to transfer their sacred shrines to a place where it had been overcome, and the revival of Hinduism in Orissa under the first prince of the Keśarī dynasty was a fitting occasion, and the dominion of that potentate the most convenient place, for the purpose. The prince himself doubtless gave the first impulse by establishing temples, granting rent-free lands for their support, and otherwise encouraging the followers of Śiva, and the consummation was effected in a very short time. According to the Temple Records of Puri, he commenced the erection of the Great Tower, but did not live long enough to finish it;

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but there are several temples, such as those of Bhāskareśvara and others, which date from long before the time of the Great Tower. Mere rivalry, apart from sectarian antagonism, has often given rise to counterparts of sacred shrines in distant parts of the country. A temple from some cause or other attains great repute; its presiding divinity becomes noted for working miracles; the flow of pilgrims to it is large; and the influence and emoluments of the officiating priests are enormous. A set of starving priests, or an individual of some sanctity, feels that if the same causes and circumstances which contributed to raise that temple to importance could be brought to bear upon another, that too would derive the same advantages, and a little fraud, some deception, and more delusion, soon realize the object sought, that of rising in wealth and importance; though the sanctity of the new competitor may not be always lasting. Failures are also not unfrequent. A notable instance of such failure is given in the *Skanda Purāṇa*. In the Kāśī Khaṇḍa of that work it is related that Vyāsa was, on one occasion, offended with the treatment he had [65] received at Benares, and *en revanche* determined to establish a new Benares or Kāśi of his own, opposite the old city, on the right bank of the Ganges. He set about the work in earnest ;

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and in a short time temples, images, priests, and pilgrims,—everything that could contribute to its greatness—were secured, and, to crown the whole, it was given out that, whereas at old Benares a pilgrim must die before he can become a Śiva, in the new place his mere advent would secure absolute emancipation from all mundane ties. This was doubtless a great advantage, and Durgā, seeing that her favourite city was about to be completely eclipsed by so potent a rival in its close neighbourhood, and that she could not prevent the mishap by any fair means, resorted to an artifice. Assuming the form of an old hag, she appeared before Vyāsa, who was then absorbed in meditation, and began to tease him by frequently asking him what would be the reward of dying in the new city. Vyāsa replied several times, that reward of salvation was accorded on the very first entrance of a pilgrim within the sacred boundary, and nothing could be given in excess of it. But Durgā pretended not to hear him, and repeated the question over and over again. Vexed beyond endurance, the sage at last said, "Why, he who would die here would be a donkey for you." This was exactly what the goddess wanted. She immediately assumed her own proper shape, and, in the way of a benediction, said, 'Be it so." Vyāsa then opened his eyes, and, beholding the goddess before him, perceived that all his labours had been thrown away, and his great object had been defeated.

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The name of his city, Vyāsa Kāśi, has ever since been associated with failure. Other instances on the part of priests, sages and princes may be easily multiplied. Some time ago a rich man in Calcutta attempted to establish an Earthly Kailāśa (Bhúkailāśa) in imitation of the heavenly mansion on the crest of Mount Kailāśa, and another, a Secret Vṛndāvana (Gupta Vṛndāvana) as a rival of the holy grove near Mathurā ; and in the case of a highly successful prince and revivalist like Yayāti, an attempt of the kind was just the thing that would be most probable. Of course it is not to be assumed that it was during his reign that Śiva worship was first introduced into Orissa, or even into Bhuvaneśvara. As already stated (ante l, Chap. V.) both Śivaism and Vaiṣṇavism had existed in Orissa from a much earlier period than that of Yayāti, and contemporaneously with Buddhism, for there is nothing to show that at any time in the history of Śākya's faith it had completely superseded Hinduism in any province or district ; it rose, it prevailed, overpowered Hinduism ; but it never, and amidst no large community, completely extirpated it. The origin of phallic worship, as already shown, dates from long before the commencement of Buddhism ; and there is no ground to question its existence at Bhuvaneśvara from before the age of Śākya Siṃha ; but the sanctification of the place as a favourite abode of Śiva must, I believe, have taken place in the time of Yayāti and his immediate successors.

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