The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.6

v2.c17.6

**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.