The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.90

v2.c17.90

**Mohan :—**The next building of the group is the Mohan or Porch. It is of the same age and style as the Tower itself, and was planned and built at the same time. According to the temple records of Puri, the foundation of this building was laid in the reign of Yayāti Keśarī who wrested Orissa from the hands of the so-called Yavanas (ante, p. [58]), and re-established Hinduism on the ruins of Buddhism. The prince reigned from 474 to 526, but the foundation having been laid at about the close of his reign, he did not live long enough to finish the temple. His successor Sūrya Keśarī, during his long reign, seems to have done nothing for the temple, but Ananta who followed him, pushed on work, and it was completed in the reign of Lalāṭendu Keśarī, *alias* Alāvu Keśarī. The date of completion, I find from a *śloka* quoted in a Ms. diary of my late father, to be Śaka 588. The *śloka* is said, in the diary, to be a transcript of an inscription on the temple of Bhuvaneśvara; but I failed to trace it on the temple. Lalāṭendu, however, reigned from 623 to 677, and there is no improbability in the date recorded. From corner to corner the Porch measures 65 feet by 45 feet, but the sides are broken by three-fold projections, as shewn in the ground-plan (Plate XLVIII). Unlike the two preceding, it has been so built as to appear rising from the ground without the intervention of any separate plinth or surrounding berm. The lowest part of the walls is shaped like a plain tile, a foot thick, and on it are ranged a series of pitchers in high relief, forming the stylobate (Vol. I *ante*, Plate IV). From each of these pitchers rises a highly ornamented pilaster so as to divide the surface into niches, which are filled with *alto rilievo* figures of men, women and lions. The decorations are of the most sumptuous character, and the ornaments have been put in with lavish profusion. To describe them in detail, would require more space than I can spare, and even then the description would fail to convey a correct idea of the structure. [74] I must content myself, therefore, by referring the reader to the annexed photograph of a part of the southern facade of the building (Plate XXXIV). It includes the whole of the central projection of the building and portions of the side ones. The doorway in the centre, seen in the photograph, was originally closed by six mullion bars, each bearing the figure of a *danseuse*. On the north side these mullions are still *in situ*, but on the south three of the bars were, sometime ago, removed to form a doorway for the convenience of the priests, who found the passage through the Nāṭ Mandir circuitous and tiresome. Three of the bars are still in position, and they are well shown in the photograph. The spaces between the bars had been originally left open for the admission of light; but the light admitted by the doorway being more than enough, the openings were subsequently closed, and on the north side a thin partition was built on the inner side, so as to convert the space between the bars and the partition wall,—an area equal to the thickness of the wall of the building,—into a small chamber.