The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.100

v2.c17.100

**Bhuvanesvara his name and form :—**The full name of the presiding divinity of the Tower is *Tribhuvaneśvara*, “the Lord of the three regions,” *i e.*, of the universe; but the first word of the compound is generally omitted for the sake of brevity, and in the *Ekāmra Purāṇa* and the *Ekāmra-candrikā*, both Tribhuvaneśvara and Bhuvaneśvara occur with equal frequency. Another name of the divinity is Kīrtivāsa. It was given him, according to some, because he was instrumental in the destruction of the demons Kīrti and Vāsa (see *ante*, p.[67]); but others derive it from *kīrti* ‘noble deeds’ and *vāsa* ‘raiment’,—he who is clothed in noble deeds’. Some spell the name *Kṛttivāsa* a compound of *kṛtti*, ‘hide, and *vāsas* ‘clothing’—‘he who is dressed in a tiger skin’. The most common epithet for him, however, is *Liṅgarāja*, ‘the noblest of Liṅgams.’ The other names of Mahādeva are, at option, also applied to him; but they are not peculiar. The form in which he is represented in the sanctuary is that of a huge uncarved block of granite, about 8 feet in diameter, and rising eight inches above the level of the floor. It is half-buried in the centre of the room, and is surrounded by a raised rim of block chlorite ending on the north side into a point. This rim is called the Yoni, or the female emblem. The upper surface of the granite block was originally perfectly unhewn; and, although frequent washings for many centuries have since given it a polish, it is even now very uneven and undulating. For such a block personal ornaments are out of the question, and the only ornament occasionally put on it is a golden band round the rim The room is so dark that even at midday nothing is visible in it without the help of a lamp, and for the benefit of the devout one or more lamps are always kept burning; but even with this help the poorer classes, who behold the image from the Dancing Hall, can see very little of it. Those who are admitted to the Porch do not also see much of it; but the rich, whose presents and offerings are costly, are admitted into the sanctuary, and permitted not only to perform that all-important act of devotion, circumambulation by the right side, but also to touch the stone, place their offerings thereon, and fan the divinity with a large palm-leaf *pankhā*.