The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.78

v2.c17.78

The area forming the courtyard of the Great Tower measures 520 x 465 feet, with a 28 feet projection on the north side. The projected portion measures 235 feet, and the receding sides 115 feet each The wall surrounding this area is built of partially dressed laterite blocks, and is 7 feet 5 inches thick. It is plain on both sides but below the coping there is a simple moulding, with two rows of lancet-heads, one looking downwards and the other upwards. The coping is sloping, and projects about six inches, to throw the rain water off the surface of the wall; but the top is flat, and, terraced with a cover of concrete plastered with *chunam*, forms a good broad road. Access to this courtyard is had by three doorways, of which [71] that on the south is small and commonplace, a mere opening with a pair of folding doors. The northern one is larger and surmounted by a propyllon of small size (see plate XXX). The eastern one is the largest. It is 31 feet broad, covered by a large propyllon, and guarded on each side by a large figure of a lion-rampant (Plate XXXII). The style of the propyllon is the same as that of Orissan porches—a quadrangular structure with a pyramidal roof in nine tiers. The edges of the roofs are, as usual in all mediaeval Orissan buildings, set off with lancet-headed crests; and the top surmounted by a ribbed dome and a vase-shaped finial. Altogether the structure is about 50 feet in height. The side walls are broken, each by a set of threefold projections relieved by pilasters and niches, and having a series of longitudinal bands. The plinth also is decorated with a succession of longitudinal bands. There are no carvings in any part of the structure. The lions are of the conventional type with dog-like faces, and remarkable only for their size.