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The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1: Translation by Major Marshall

The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1

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English

Contents

Translation by Major Marshall

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³⁰ The following note (Nos. 31 to 50) appeared along with the translation.

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Om ! Salutation to (Kṛṣṇa) the adorable son of Vāsudeva!

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Verse 1. May Hari (Viṣṇu), who desiring to embrace (Sarasvati) with his body stamped with the impress of the leaves³¹ of the jar-like bosom of the warmly embraced Kamalā (Lakṣmī), was bantered thus : "Perish not this fresh garland of flowers," by the goddess of speech (Sarasvati)—prosper you !

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³¹ Alluding to the ancient Hindu custom of the females adorning the face and person with coloured pigment, such as saffron, sandal, etc.

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2. O goddess of speech ! since thou hast been daily worshipped from my childhood, let it now yield fruit—be propitious ! I am speaking the excellent words of of the praises of the family of Bhaṭṭa Bhava-Deva. Take thy station on the tip of my tongue !

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3. The learned *brāhmaṇs* who were born in the exalted and continuous line of Sāvarṇa Muni, a hundred villages, lands held by royal grants, became their abode. Among these truly *siddhala* alone, the famed, the chief of villages, the decoration of the beauty of Rādha,³² is the ornament of the regions of *Āryā-vartta*,³³ the (holy land).

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³² That part of Bengal which lies on the west of the Ganges.

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³³ Literally, the country where holy men are constantly produced ; bounded, according to Manu by the eastern and western seas, and by the mountains Himalaya and Vindhya (*Manu*, 11.22).

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[86] 4. Here this family³⁴ hath happily spread, with excellent sprouts, honoured with firmly compacted roots, whose glory is promoted by *brāhmaṇs*,³⁵ arrived at the extremities of the branches (of the Vedas), loudly reciting (those scriptures), not knotty, not crooked, upwright, handsome-proportioned, exalted above all.

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³⁴ The word *vaṃśa* also means "the bamboo", and the poet throughout this verse uses such double-meaning epithets as may be made applicable to both senses.

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³⁵ In applying this epithet to the bamboo, the word *dvija*, literally "twice-born", would be rendered "birds"—first-born in the egg, and secondly produced from it.

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5. Bhava-Deva appeared, the jewel of the crest of that line, a giver of tribute³⁶ like the sun, the producer of science and mystic formula, like *Bhava* (Siva).

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³⁶ The word here rendered "tribute" looks most like *kiraṇa* in the original ; but that reading makes no sense. It is here translated as if it were *kalasya* for *karasya* (*ra* and *la* being interchange-able), which word meaning also a "ray of light", the resemblance to the sun may, by a play on the word, be established. It appeared on first observation, not unlike *kallāsa* ; but on considering the metre, this reading proved inadmissible. The measure of this verse is the Āryā of 30 instants in the first line and 27 in the second.

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6. He was born between two brothers, an older and a younger (named) Mahādeva and Attahāsa ; just as Viṣṇu is between Brahmā and Śiva.

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7. He obtained from the King of Gauḍa a grant embracing the choice land of the territory set apart at *Śrī Hastinī* (*Hastinī-purī*). Moreover, he saw his eight sons, Rathāṅga, etc. like the eight forms of Maheśa³⁷ (Śiva).

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³⁷ The eight forms of Maheśa, viz., water, fire, the instituter of a sacrifice, the moon, the sun, the ether, the earth and air, are enumerated in the introductory benediction of the drama *Śakuntalā*.

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8. From Rathāṅga sprung Atyaṅga like the moon from the ocean of milk, the delighter of men, the abode of the undivided god of love. His son Budha, the lustre of whose wisdom was resplendent, was as famed in every quarter by the name of Sphurita, as the planet Saumya (Budha or Mercury).

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9. From him arose Śrī Ādi-deva, the sole seed of the prosperity of his family, the principal root of the great tree of unfeigned manliness, like the god Ādi-mūrti (Viṣṇu), wishing with a mortal form to adorn this earth.

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10. Who was minister during the stability of the fortune of kingdom of the rājā of *Vaṅga*, the pure, the great counsellor, the great minister, the profitable, the disposer of peace and war.

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11. He Ādi-deva begot a son, Govardhana, conceived in the womb of Devakī equal to (preserve) the stability of the world, wedded to Sarasvatī, wonderful in the worlds.

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12. Who, advaacing in fields of battle, and in the assemblies of the possessors of divine truth, both his territories and the art of speaking, by the deeds of his arm and the cunning of his eloquence, made his name justly applicable to his character in two senses of the word.³⁸

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³⁸ Govardhana means "increaser of land or teritorry", and "promoter of speech or eloquence". *Go*, "the earth, the speech", and *vardhana*, "increasing".

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13. He took to wife Sāngokā, the venerable, the virtuous daughter of a *brāhmaṇa* of the race of Vandya Ghaṭī,³⁹ the jewel of women.

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³⁹ Name of a family of Rạḍhīya Brāhmaṇas.

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14. In her, announcing his own birth by a vision, was conceived, by this Kāśyapa of the earth, the god Hari, in the form of Śrī Bhava-deva, on whose hands are beheld marked two lotuses, within whose breast the *kaustubha* (the jewel of Kṛṣṇa) is, from outward appearances, known to be deposited.

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15. By whom, placing Lakṣmī in his right shoulder, the earth in the force of his counsel Sarasvatī in the tip of his tongue, the bird Nāgāntaka (Garuḍa) in the body of his enemies, and the discus in the soles of his feet ; these his symbols were, for the sake of concealing that divine and primeval body, perverted.

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16. Assisted by the force of whose (Bhava-Deva's) counsel, that conqueror in virtue, Hari Varma Deva, long exercised dominion. In the reign of his son ale, Lakṣmī, like a firm Kalpalatā (a tree of heaven, bestowing all desires) followed the path of his (Bhava-Deva's) policy.

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17. Of whom the worthy, the high-minded, the possessor of Kamalā, the pardoning, the sea of virtues, the undisturbed in mind, and ocean-souled—the qualities, such as rectitude, greatness. kindness, purity, depth, firmness and determination, almost transcending the bounds of speech, greatly delight (the world).

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18. Who is proclaimed to be *Parameśvara* (the Supreme Lord) on earth, by the following assembly of the *Śaktis* (energies of the Deity), *viz.* his fame (a form of) the great Gauri, his arm graceful as a climbing plant and terrific with the quivering sword, (a form of) Chaṇḍī, delighting in war and smeared with the blood of enemies in the field of battle, his person (a form of) the great Lakṣmi—and lastly, that naturally graceful eloquence.

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19. Before whose most powerful *brāhmaṇical* splendour the faint solar luminary enacts the part of a young fire-fly. Before the high aspiring body of whose fame the snowy mountain (the Himālaya) is truly as high as one's knee.

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20. This personage, a specimen of those who know the unity of Brahmā, a creator of wonders in already existing science, an evident discerner of the profound virtues of the words of philosophers, a sage, another jar-born saint (Agastya Muni) to the sea⁴⁰ of Buddhism, skilful at annihilating the opinions of heretics and cavillers, displays the qualities of Sarvajña (the omniscient)⁴¹ upon earth.

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⁴⁰ Alluding to the legend of Agastya Muni's swallowing the ocean in a fit of anger. Agastya is said to have been born in a water-jar.

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⁴¹ Also a title of the deified saints of the Buddhists.

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21. Who, seeing across the ocean of spiritual knowledge, mystical learning, and the science of computation; being a producer of all wonders in worldly sciences; and being himself the inventor and promulgator of a new system of Astrology, has evidently become another Varāha.⁴²

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⁴² Varāha Mihira, a great astronomer, and one of the nine learned men styled *navaratna*, "the nine gems".

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22. He by composing a proper and excellent work, rendered blind (useless) in the paths of the science of law the old expositions; and also, by making clear with his commentary the verses of the Munis on that subject, entirely removed every doubt regarding lawful actions.

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23.⁴³ By whom truly that aid in spiritual knowledge, in which a thousand arguments like the rays of the sun endure not darkness, was composed according to the rules prescribed by the learned. What need of many words! this sage is unrivalled in the following branches of knowledge; viz. the *Sāmaveda* to its utmost extent, all the arts of poets, sacred science, the *Āyurveda* (science of medicine), the *Astraveda* (science of arms), &c.

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⁴³ *This verse is in the Sragdharā metre of 21 syllables in each pāda or half-line.

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24. By whom indeed, is his name Bāla Valabhī Bhujaṅga⁴⁴ not honored?—it is with extasy heard, described, and proclaimed even by Mīmāṃsā (sacred science) himself.

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⁴⁴ The meaning of this surname is not apparent. It is compounded of three word *bāla*, "young", ignorant", etc., *valabhī*, "the frame of a thatch, a turret"; also I believe the name of a city and a dynasty, and *bhujaṅga*, "a snake, and adulterer".

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25. Who (Bhava Deva), bringing to life a whole world by means of his mystical incantations, which resemble the morning clang of instruments breaking the night of unconsciousness caused by the bite of a fanged and rabid serpent, has become an unequalled Mṛtyuñjaya (conqueror of Death, a name of Śiva), in sporting with poison, another Nīla-Kaṇṭha, (blue-throat,⁴⁵ another epithet of Śiva).

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⁴⁵ Śiva is said to have swallowed the poison produced, among other things, at the churning of the ocean; the only effect it produced on the god was a blue mark on his throat, whence this epithet. This verse celebrates Bhava Deva's excellent knowledge of antidotes.

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26. By whom was formed in *Rāḍha*, in the arid boundaries of land bordering a village situated on a wild road, a reservoir of water which fills the water jars, the desires and the minds of travellers sunk in fatigue; and of which the beds of lotuses are abandoned by the bees fascinated by the reflected shadows of the lotus-like faces of beauteous damsels who have bathed on its banks.

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27. By him this stone (image of) the adorable Nārāyaṇa (Viṣṇu), by which the face of the earth is adorned, was fixed like a bridge for crossing the ocean of material existence. Which, being the dark-blue frontal mark of the moon-like face of the eastern quarter, is to the earth (as it were) a lotus used sportively for an ear-ring, the *Pārijātā*⁴⁶ tree of this world, the bestower of completion of designs.

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⁴⁶ The name of a celestial tree which grants all desires.

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28. By him was erected this splendid temple, whose glory is exalted in emulation of the mountain of (Śiva), the destroyer of *Tripura*, and which like Hari (Viṣṇu), is distinguished by the mark called *Śrī Vatsa*,⁴⁷ and by the trembling discus. Which (temple) having overcome *Vaijayanta* (the place of Indra) waves out a flag in the sky. Beholding the beauty of which temple, Giriśa (Śiva) no longer desires Kailāśa.

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⁴⁷ A peculiar mark on the breast of Viṣṇu, said to be a curl of hair twisting to the right.

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29. He (Bhava-Deva), placed in that house of Viṣṇu in the innermost sanctuaries, the images of Nārāyaṇa, Ananta and Nṛsiṃha, as the Vedas in the mouths of Brahmā.

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[87] 30. He gave to this (temple) an offering to Hari⁴⁸ a hundred damsels, with eyes like those of a young deer, who are mistaken for celestial dancers sojourning on the earth, who with a glance resort to life Kāma, although he was burnt up by Ugra-dṛk, (fiery-eye, i.e., Śiva), who are the prison-houses of the impassioned, the abode of melody, dalliance, and beauty united.

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⁴⁸ The compound word *harimedhase*, here translated "an offering to Hari", has given much trouble; and the sense at last adopted does not appear very satisfactory. The word *medhas* is not found in Dictionaries: it is substituted by a grammatical rule, for *medhā* "understanding"; but only when compounded with a negative, or with *du*, *ra*, *su*, *manda*, or *alpa*. The meaning here given thus arrived at, the word *medha* is given in Wilson as meaning "an offering", and is derived from the root *medh* by adding the affix *ata*: it has therefore been supposed that this word *medhas* may be formed by affixing *asun* to the same root, with the same meaning.

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31. He truly made in front of the temple a pool, which is a market of purity alone, the water of which is pure and sparkling as an emerald, which, displaying under the form of a reflection in the water, the exact scene of Viṣṇu's deceiving the Hydra,⁴⁹ appears most splendid.

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⁴⁹ Referring to the story of Kṛṣṇa's conquering the one hundred and ten headed serpent Kālīya in the river Yamunā near Vṛndāvana.

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32. He on all sides of the temple formed an excellent garden, the quintessence of the earth, the vessel into which the delight of all eyes distils, the place of repose of Anaṅga (the god of love) wearied with the conquest of the three worlds.

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33. This eulogium was composed by his dear friend, the learned Śrī Vācaspati, the chief of Brāhmaṇas. Let this golden zone, like a beautiful form of fame, remain on the loins of this pure edifice until the destruction of the world! ⁵⁰ . . . . . in the year 32.

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⁵⁰ From hence to the end of the thirty-fourth line there are evident traces of letters, but they are illegible. [See opening remark: the missing sentence consists of nothing more than the month (illegible) and the year, "*Samvat 32*" distinctly visible.—Ed.].

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34. This eulogium is upon Bhaṭṭa Śrī Bhava Deva, surnamed Bāla Valabhī Bhujaṅga.

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**Kotitirthesvara :**—About a quarter of a mile to the E.N.E. of the last, there is, on the edge of a small mango tope, a dilapidated old temple about 40 feet high with a corresponding porch. It is dedicated to the lord of ten millions of sacred pools, whence its name *Koṭītīrtheśvara*. Its material is a bluish-grey, coarse basalt, and not, as in the case of the temples already noticed, brick-red sandstone. All the temples which are built of this basalt are comparatively plain, the material not being well adapted for fine carvings; and their make is such as to leave no doubt in my mind that they belong to a different and a much earlier age. Even then these were not the earliest temples built at Bhuvaneśvara, for, on examining the broken walls of the Koṭītīrtheśvara, I found that it had been built of stones which had originally belonged to some other edifice, as a great many of them had elaborate carvings on those faces which were inside the walls: the half-fallen walls have now brought them to light. A few of the carvings appeared to me to be of a Buddhist character, and it is probable that old temples and *caityas* of the Buddhists have contributed the materials for this edifice.

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Behind this temple there is a tank lined with stones, and having a flight of steps on the west side. This is the repository of the waters of ten million sacred pools, and thousands of pilgrims bathe in it to wash off their accumulated sins. But religiously most holy as the waters are, physically it is of a dull, opaque, greenish colour, and full of confervæ.

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**Brahmesvara :—**To the east of the last, at a distance of a little over half a mile, there is a magnificent temple, most sumptuously carved, and having a porch to match. Unlike all other temples at Bhuvaneśvara, it is built on a high mound formed into a terrace. It is singular too in having its interior as well as its exterior most elaborately carved and decorated ; in all other temples, not excepting the Great Tower, the carving being confined to the outside. The divinity of the place is a *liṅgam* of small size, and devoid of the Yoni mark. According to the *Ekāmra Purāṇa* (Chapter 14) Śaṃkara, after an elaborate exposition of the merits of Bhuvaneśvara as his chosen seat and secret retreat on earth, advised Brahmā to erect a temple at a distance of 1130 fathoms to the north-east of the Great Tower ; and Viśvakarmā built the temple in compliance with Brahmā's instructions ; and the temple now existing is believed by the pious to be the same which Brahmā established after his interview with Mahādeva, whence its name Brahmeśvara or the Lord of Brahmā. But whatever be the claim to antiquity of the *liṅgam*, the temple has no such pretension. The inscription referred to under the head of Ananta-Vāsudeva, (p.[83]), describes it as a monument erected by a pious lady named Kolāvatī, mother of Udyotaka Keśarī. Udyotaka is said to be the 7th from Janamejaya ; but this Janamejaya has not been defined. According to two copper-plate inscriptions published by Babu Raṅgalāla Banerji in the *Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal*, the father of Yayāti, the founder of the Keśarī dynasty, was Janamejaya. If this be the prince meant, and the descendants be supposed to have belonged to a junior branch, the age of Udyotaka would fall at about the middle of the 8th century. But if we take this Janamejaya to be the same with the 12th prince of the Keśarī line who reigned in 754 to 763, the time of his seventh successor would be placed in the third quater of the 9th century The genealogy given in the inscription includes the names successively of : 1, Janamejaya ; 2, Dīrgharava ; 3, Apavara ; 4, Vicitra (he belonged to a junior branch and a son of Apavara followed on his dying without issue) ; 5, Abhimanyu ; 6, Caṇḍīhara (wife Kolāvatī) ; 7, Udyotaka. The 4th is described to have come from Teliṅgānā, and assumed the sovereignty of his cousin in Orissa. But the temple records of Puri do not recognise any of these names, except the first. The surname Keśarī, however, shows that the princes belonged to the dynasty established by Yayāti, but being members of a junior branch, had to occupy a subordinate position as chieftains of a small principality included in Orissa. The character used in the inscription would place it between the 8th and the 10th centuries, and, taking the second Janamejaya of the Keśarī line to be the prince named, I take the inscription, and consequently the temple, to be of the 3rd quarter of the 9th century. The florid style of ornamentation used in the decoration of the temple would place it at about the same time.

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[88] The translation by Babu Saradā Prasād Cakravarty of the record are copied below from the *Journal of the Asiatic Society*, Vol. VII, pp. 558 *et. seq.*

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1. The moon, perfect in his digits, (full) born with Śrī from the midst of Kṣira Samudra (the sea of milk) when churned by the Mandāra mountain whirling with the chief of the serpents used as a rope by Brahmā, Upendra (Viṣṇu), Maheśvara, Indra and Bāli ;—enlightens the three regions with his swollen beams and nectars !

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2. In his line was born rājā Janamejaya, who was of moon-like fame, master of the world, incomparable, destroyer of his enemies, and the owner of Teliṅga; and who drew to himself the fortune (Lakṣmī) of the rājā of Uḍḍra who was killed by his Kunta (a weapon), while their antagonist's elephants were overcome with fatigue fighting with their tusks.

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3. He (Janamejaya) was a celebrated emperor, master of the kingdom of seven limbs,⁵¹ of wonderful understanding in power and morals, charitable, most virtuous, a hero, and, like rājā Yayāti, an ornament of the earth; and who deprived the lovely wives of his inimical rājās of their pride of lovely tresses⁵²; and whose lawful deeds and conduct remained unchangeable from his childhood.

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⁵¹ The limbs of government, or as we say 'sinews of war' are horses, e'ephants, fighting men, paṇḍits, merchants, etc. See allusion to the same in the Burmese Bell Inscription, p. 294.

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⁵² The Hindu women are forbidden by the Śāstras to beautify their hair after the death of their husbands.

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4. After him his son Dīrgharava became rājā, who was a great Kalpa tree, the very crown-jewel of princes, modest, of boundless spirit, steadiness, riches, gravity, depth of knowledge, wise in producing prosperity and three sorts of power,⁵³ and success,⁵⁴ a hero and destroyer of his enemies, and who had qualities like that of a Mahāratha (a warrior fighting in a car) whose fame is celebrated.

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⁵³ Powers derived from magnamity, exertion and private advice.

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⁵⁴ The success of gaining land, gola and friend.

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5. From him was born the powerful rājā named Apavara as the second Paraśurāma, who suppressed his enemies by his invincible hand as with a thunderbolt, and became great through the merits of poets, and whose spirit was warm like the sun in midday.

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6. When he, the best of rājās, departed into heaven without issue, and all his kingdom was laid waste by various warriors, how long a time passed away in various ways, when the elephant-powered hero (Vicitravīra) was in a different country (Teliṅga).

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7. Vicitravīra (who was another descendant of Janamejaya, and celebrated everywhere on the earth as a wonderful hero), was placed in his place. From him was born his fortunate son Abhimanyu, and from him was born Caṇḍihara who was powerful and spirited like him (his father). He was made king by all his ministers.

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8. He reigned impartially, cherishing all his servants, ministers, people, those who sought refuge, kinsmen, and desired friends, and made both his kingdoms indisputable, who was the cause of delight of all the earth, and whose lily-like feet were enlightened by the splendour of the head-jewels of many prostrate rājās.

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9. From him arose Udyotaka Keśari, like the sun from the eastern mountain, illuminating the earth and heaven by his lustre, radiant as the sun and moon-beams; who was rich and the crown-jewel of the circle of earth defended by its four oceans; and who was a conqueror of earth, like Māndhātā, Pṛthu, and Bharata.

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10. Who, having defeated the whole force of his enemy, the Sinhala, Coḍa and Gauḍa (countries) as it were in child-play, and with well-armed warriors and a number of elephants in battles conquered the whole earth, causing numberless rājās to bow down their heads; who was victorious, and who made the tortoise, oppressed with the weight of the earth, sink down by the heavy march of his bright army, containing an *akṣauhiṇī*.⁵⁵

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⁵⁵ An army consisting of 189, 350 foot, 65, 610 horses, 21, 870 chariots and 21, 870 elephants. The interior of the temple is barely 7′ 7″ square, but on the outside it measures

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11. His mother, named Kolāvatī was a daughter of the solar and the chief queen of the lunar line; whose fame is a number of flags above the earth and, like the whirlwind ascending up, and like a hand going up with exertion, as if to destroy the spots of the moon.

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[89] 12. By that Kolāvatī was caused to be erected this cloud-touching temple, with four beautiful halls, for four other gods, which is like a tree without branches in interrupting the speed of the sun's car (ray?) like a crown over this earth and the king of fame, of Brahmeśvara, who destroys the sins of worshippers, and gives salvation to those who touch (his image) at Ekāmra, the holy place.

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13. Whom (Śiva) the holy Brahmā, Lord of the three regions, having bathed his emblem, Moon, the golden spot situated in the centre of the mountain Lokāloka, the seven oceans and islands, with the water of Gaṅgā is worshipping day and night. This is the very Śiva Brahmeśvara.

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14. This temple shines above, adorning all the firmament, like the summit of a mountain, or the evening lamp of the assembly of the youthful goddesses; from it all the regions have been lighted up by the lustre of the rays issuing from the golden Kalasa (pinnacle) shining on its summit.

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15. By her (Kolāvatī) were given some beautiful women to him (Śiva), who had eyes like that of the fickle Khañjanā (wagtail) and who were bright like the sparkling and immovable lightnings of the sky by the exquisite beauty of their limbs, adorned with gemmy ornaments, of lovely heavy-swollen bosoms, piercing through the eyes of men, like the beam of their own eye.

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16. Puruṣottama Bhaṭṭa, the best of poets, indited this eulogy, which spreads the white fame of the rājās of the lunar line; who was learned in the Vedas, grammar, political science, poetry, logic, etc., etc., and like Brahmā, of true, pure and humble understanding, and (born) of an innocent family.

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17. So long as the earth with its mountains, forests and seas, the sun and moon which are the two eyes of the regions, and the Auttenapadi (the north polar star) which is above the earth, shall endure, so long may this eulogy exist as nectar in the mouth of every one. On the 3rd of this light half of Phālguṇa of the Samvat 18, of the victorious reign of Rājā Udyotaka Keśari Deva, who was most rich, king of kings, a rājā of the lunar line, and lord of Kaliṅga.

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To the west of the temple, close by its terrace, there is a large tank called Brahma Kuṇḍa, and its sin-rinsing merits are lauded in high terms by the *Ekāmra Purāṇa*; but, being situated far away from the Great Tower, very few pilgrims go to it; and neither the temple nor the tank is much cared for now. The priest, who worships the *liṅgam* in the temple, comes every morning, but lives far away in the village, and there is no watch or guard of any kind to protect the temple. When I visited the place, there were several heads of stray cattle on the terrace and inside the porch.

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**Bhaskaresvara:** To the north-east of the last, in the midst of a wide open plain, there is an old temple of a peculiar make, quite unlike the other temples of Bhuvanes'vara. It is named Bhāskareśvara of "the lord of the solar god." The *Ekāmra Purāṇa* has it that the gods of heaven, when informed by Brahmā of the unrivalled sanctity of the Mango Forest on the sea-shore, desired the thousand-rayed divinity, Sūrya, to proceed at once to the place, promising to follow him in due course. Sūrya came, and, charmed with the transcendental beauty of the place, got the celestial architect Viśvakarmā to erect a temple at a distance of 1,500 fathoms to the north-east of the Great Town of Kīrtivāsa. The temple erected, he established in it a noble *liṅgam*, and devoutly worshipped it with the choicest offerings. Kīrtivāsa, gratified by this devotion, offered him a blessing, and at the request of the devotee, promised to be ever-present in the *liṅgam* established by him.

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This story is of course generally believed by the faithful to be true, but there are certain facts connected with the temple which induce me to think that in it we have an instance of converting a Buddhist monument to Hindu usage. The temple is built of basalt, which, as I have said before, indicates greater antiquity than red sandstone. The style of building is also indicative of an older date than that of the Great Temple. The general absence of sculptured ornaments, and the use of stucco on decayed old mouldings are also peculiar to it. The piers have been repaired several times with stucco, and, to prevent the stones from exfoliating, the whole structure has been plastered over with lime-cement. These mouldings and plastering are now very much decayed, and the temple looks weather-worn and crumbling. But its most remarkable peculiarity is that it is apparently two-storeyed, the terrace round the temple forming the first storey, and the temple itself the second. The separate entrances of these two storeys are distinctly shown in the photograph (plate XLIV). The terrace or basement measures 48-4 by 47-8, the height being 11 feet. The temple proper stands on this, and at one time was over 50 feet, but its top is broken, the Kalasa and the Amlaśīlā are gone, and only about 40 feet of the height now remains *in situ*. The body of the temple is a square of 31 feet 4 inches with a small porch 11 feet broad, and 4 feet deep. The doorway is 7-9 by 3-6. The sides of the temple have niches, each holding an alto-relievo of the Devī, 3 feet high. The interior of the temple is 13-10 square. The floor is about 3 feet above the level of the surrounding country, and from its centre rises a *liṅgam* of sandstone 9 feet 3 inches long, and 12 feet 8 inches in girth, which gives it a diameter of over 4 feet. Its cylindrical portion is perfect, round and polished, but the top is broken, showing that it is a fragment of a huge monolithic column. The second storey is accessible from the roof of the terrace, and the centre of its floor is pierced, or, more correctly speaking, the floor is so arranged as to form a gallery round the *liṅgam* which rises above its level. Close by the *liṅgam*, there is a flight of stone steps, 8 feet high, and the officiating priest daily ascends it to reach the top of the *liṅgam*, and thence pours water and offers flowers and rice as the Śāstras require, for its adoration. Pilgrims by hundreds go round the gallery, and therefrom pay their adoration to the lord of the god of light. It is impossible to resist the conclusion that the *liṅgam* is a portion of an Aśoka lāṭ to which it bears a close resemblance; that it had stood there an honored monument of that great emperor; that when the place passed from the Buddhists to the Hindus, the column was somehow broken; and that the latter have since built over the lower part of the column a temple to give it shelter, and named it a *liṅgam*. It was the policy of the Brahmins not ruthlessly to sweep away the monuments of their rivals, and thereby offend the masses who were more or less attached to them, but to convert them, whenever possible, to objects of Hindu faith; and the shaft of the column could not be better [90] and more easily utilized than by naming it a *liṅgam*. This conversion must have taken place in the reign of Yayāti, or that of his immediate successor, and the temple must therefore belong to the close of the 5th, or the beginning of the 6th, century. Its design and details preclude the possibility of its being of a later age.

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**Rajarani Deul :**—About half a mile to the west of Bhāskareśvara, still within the area of the plain on which it stands, there is a large temple which was once a magnificent structure, but is now in a very dilapidated condition. It stands in the middle of what was once a beautiful flower garden, but it is now overgrown with brambles. The temple faces the east and has a porch in front. Both were built at the same time, with dressed brick-red sandstone, but without any carvings. The carved ornaments were then completed on the body of the temple, and commenced on the porch, but, owing to some cause or other, never carried forward to any great extent. A few ornaments round the doorway, and the two side niches were all that were completed; but chisel-marks on the stones show the outlines of the works which were at one time intended to be executed, and, judging from them, it is evident that the porch was intended to be as sumptuous as the body of the temple. The cause which prevented the completion of the carvings, likewise prevented the consecretion of the structure. Hence it is that there is no sacred image of any kind in the sanctum, and the structure has received no distinctive name. The image would have been obviously a *liṅgam*, and it would have been called the *īśvara* or ‘lord’ of the dedicator, whose name would have formed the first member of the compound name. The dedicator was probably the queen of one of the Keśarī kings, who, dying before the completion of the work, left the temple to remain as it was, and it has since run into decay; the people, in the absence of a special name, calling it Rājaiānī Deül, or the “temple of the royal queen”. Hence it is, too, that the temple has not been referred to in any of the several Sanskrit works on the sacred fanes of Bhuvaneśvara. Judging from the material, brick-red sandstone, and the style of the work, the most florid, I take the age of the pile to be the 9th century.

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The ground plan of the temple is shewn in plate XLIX. It is, as usual at Bhuvaneśvara, founded on a square, but its position is that of a lozenge, and its projections have been so carried out, as to produce a lozenge with serrated sides. The area of the chamber does not correspond with this outline; nor is it a perfect square as most of the sanctuaries of Bhuvaneśvara are. It is square in position, and has the front side straight; but the other three sides are broken by three-fold projections. The extreme width of the chamber is 12 feet, and its length 14 feet. The walls are on an average 10 feet thick. The passage leading from the porch to the sanctuary is in its widest part 9 feet, then 7 feet and then 4 feet. The porch is oblong, the greatest length extending from side to side. It is, both externally and internally, diversified by many projections. The extreme length in the inside being 28 feet, and on the outside 40 feet. The height of the temple is 63 feet, and that of the porch 30 feet. A photograph of the temple is shown in plate XLI. Its scale, however, is too small to show to advantage the details of the temple. The plinth is deep, and of the pattern of the Great Tower, but the projections, carved out in the form of buttresses, look more like attached pillars than integral parts of the building. Each projection above the stylobate is carved into niches one above the other; then comes a series of mouldings formed of seven horizontal bands, and thereupon a spire, capped; with a flat dome and a pinnacle. The body of the spire is diversified by perpendicular ribs intersected by horizontal bands. The central projection on each side is the highest, having three lateral one on each flank. Of these lateral projections the middlemost is the highest, and of the two side ones, the outermost one being the lowest. The niches are filled with statues, each three feet high, and executed with great vigour and elegance, the subjects being men and women in various attitudes, some being obscene. One of them, closely resembling the statue of the Venus de Medici has been already noticed (*ante* Vol. I, p. [59]). The young lady engaged in writing something on a tablet (Fig. 117 of plate XXVI of Vol. I) is also from this temple. Others are mostly of the type common in the Great Tower; as also the rampant lines and elephants, which fill up the niches in the receding spaces between the buttresses. The floral bands round the niches and over horizontal mouldings are of the richest pattern, and several of these have been figured in the first volume (see plates, VIII, 17; IX, 18; X, 23 and XXXV, 145). Some of the brackets are also particularly handsome, and two of them have been figured in Vol. I (plate XV, fig. 40 and plate XXXVI, fig. 144). To describe and figure them all would require more space and a far greater number of illustrations than what I am in a position to devote to them. Suffice it to say that for elegance, beauty, and finish the temple affords one of the finest specimens of Orissan art, and is worthy of the highest consideration. It is to be regretted that vandalism has committed the greatest havoc in this beautiful and noble structure. As an unconsecrated temple, unprotected and uncared for, it has afforded to travellers a mine of statues and carved stones, and they have not failed to make the most of it. General Stewart and Colonel Mackenzie, I am sorry to add, have been the greatest sinners in this respect, for they carried away the largest number of statues, and, in the attempt to detach the statues, dismantled large portions of the niches, and sadly defaced the building. Some of the stones brought away by Colonel Stewart are now deposited in the Indian Museum.

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[91]. **Muktesvara Temple :—**About three hundred yards to the west of the last, there was once a mango tope, which, having been the dwelling place of some hermits, is known by the name of Śiddhāraṇya or the “grove of the perfect beings.” Most of the trees have since fallen under the axe, but still there are several which give to the locality an umbrageous appearance. It has also the benefit of several natural springs. The place was, therefore, selected for the location of a great number of temples, of which more than a score are still entire. Of these the most worthy of notice are Mukteśvara, Kedāreśvara, Śiddheśvara and Paraśurāmeśvara. The first of these is the smallest of the four, but it is at the same time the handsomest—a charming epitome of the perfection of Orissan temple architecture—faded—colourless—joyless—but beautiful past effacing even by the decay of a thousand years, which has furrowed its brow, and wrought wrinkles on its once glistening surface. According to European architects the most important element of beauty in architecture is size ; but the Orissan artist, in this instance, has so ingeniously adapted the ornaments to the scale of his work that the effect is the most charming ; and the mind, wrapt in admiration by the beauty of the details, fails to detect the smallness of the structure on which they are set. The temple is barely 35 feet high, and the porch 25 feet ; but the parts are so adjusted, so adapted to each other, that the eye fails to detect anything puny, or trite, or common-place in any part of the edifice. The ornamentation is of the most sumptuous description, sculptured and finished with the greatest care and taste. The floral bands are neater and better executed than in most of the temples, the bas-reliefs sharp and impressive, the statuettes vigorous and full of action with drapery well disposed, and the disposition of the whole elegant and most effective. The subjects of the statuettes are also more varied and interesting, and less objectionable on the score of decency, than what obtain in the larger temples, in which the frequent repetitions of the same subjects produce an unpleasent sense of samenss. Among the subjects may be noticed a lady mounted on a rampant elephant and striking her uplifted sword against a giant armed with a sword and shield ; a figure of Annapūrnā presenting some alms to his lord Śiva (Vol. I, plate XXIII, fig 83) ; semi-ophide females canopied under the expanded hood of five or seven-headed cobras (plate V, vol. I) ; lions mounted on elephants ; groups of elephants fighting with lions (Vol. I, plate XX, 65*b*) ; lions capped with elephantine trunks (Vol. I, plate XX, 65*a*) ; demsels in various attitudes, some dancing, others playing on the Mṛdaṅga, or the Vīnā, or the Tāmbura ; crouching monsters supporting heavy weights ; saints worshipping Śiva ; an emaciated hermit giving lessons to a disciple ; another reading a palm leaf MS. placed on a crosslegged stool ; a lady standing under an umbrella ; another standing by a door with a pet parrot on her hand ; another enjoying the cool shade of a tree ; another standing on a tortoise. This last is evidently intended for the goddess of the earth. The head dresses of most of these ladies are particularly interesting, and most of the chignons shown on plate XXV of Vol I have been taken from them. The scroll works, bosses and friezes are also worthy of special note, as they display marked excellence in design, and great delicacy of execution (Vol. I, pl. VII, 11 and 12 ; XI, 24 and 26 ; XV, 41 ; XVI, 44 ; XVII, 55 and 57 ; and XXXVI, 143). The monkey scroll given in plate XII of Vol. I, is the best specimen of this class of work.

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18 feet. The porch is 26′ on the outside, and 15′ 7″ x 12′ in the inside (Plate III, Vol. I). The interior of the latter has two pilasters on each side for the support of the roof, and the ceiling is an elaborate and most beautiful piece of work (plate XXXVIII). The peculiarity occurs also in the Brahmeśvara porch, which has a carved ceiling, but that is not nearly so rich. All the other ceilings of Bhuvanéśvara are plain, and show, in most instances, the iron beams on which they are supported.

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Right in front of the porch is an archway or Toran, 15 feet high (plate XXXVII). It is supported on two columns of excellent and elaborate workmanship, totally unlike every other structure of the kind at Bhuvanéśvara. Over the arch there are two reclining female figures placed very like supporters in a coat-of-arms, or angelic figures shown on pediments in European architecture. As an ornamental appendage to the temple the archway is particularly graceful, but the people say it was erected not with that view. Though the presiding divinity of the temple is immovable, he is, by proxy of course, entertained, among others, with the swing festival, on which occasion a chair is hung by two iron rings fixed to the arch, and therein the image is placed and kept swinging, very much in the same way in which the Lord of the Universe celebrates the feast (*ante* p. [81]).

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Proceeding from the pillars there runs each way a line of low parapet wall with panelled sides and carved battlemented coping. It surrounds the temple on every side, and parts of it are shewn in plate XXXVII. The panelling is remarkably chaste and beautiful. The space in front of the Toran is paved with sandstones, forming a courtyard for the devout to assemble and behold the divinity in his swing. Towards the west corner of this surrounding wall there is a stone platform, rising in three steps, and forming a place where the divinity is occasionally placed (by proxy again) in chill winter mornings to bask in the sun. The attending priests find the place much more pleasant, and in the cool of the evening many of them congregate there. On the south side of the parapet there are three small buildings, one intended for an out-office, the other two, very small chambers, 5 feet square, contain in the middle each a vat, which is fed by a subterranean fountain. There are three other vats on this side, but without any covering.

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[92] The name of the temple in the mouth of the people is invariably Mukteśvara, the “Lord of the emancipated,” (*mukta*); and in two manuscript works, the *Ekāmra Purāṇa* and the *Ekāmra-candrikā*, I have found this name reproduced, but in a second codex of the *Candrika*, and in that of the *Sarṇārdri-mahodadhi*, I find it written Muktiśvara or “the lord of salvation,” (*mukti*.) Either name may be correct, but which was first applied to the temple I cannot determine.

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Close behind the temple there is an oblong tank 100 x 25 feet, lined with stone revetments on three sides, and having a flight of steps on the fourth, which is shaded by a small tope of Nāgakeśara tree, (*Mesua ferrea*). The trees, when I saw them, were the largest and handsomest I had ever seen of their kind. In the early part of December when I saw it, the tank was full, and I was told that it derived from a neighbouring spring, its supply of water, that the supply was larger than its requirements, and that the surplus had to be got rid of by a tunnel leading to another tank to the south-east, which it reaches after passing through five small vats on the east of the temple; I also saw the pipe through which water was flowing in a small current and falling through a crocodile-shaped gargoyle into the Gaurī Kuṇḍa; but I could not see the connection of the tunnel with the tank. The water is slightly opalescent in colour, but beautifully clear. The tank has no reputation for sanctity, and no one resorts to it for any use.

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**Gauri Kunda :—**Immediately to the south of the last, within a distance of about thirty feet there occurs the Kuṇḍa above referred to; it has the alternative name of Kedāra Kuṇḍa. The ground round it is about three feet lower than what it is round the first named tank, and is densely shaded by a number of mango trees. The tank is 70 feet long, and 28 feet broad, and has a depth of 16 feet. Its sides are perpendicular, being lined by stone revetments; but on the south side there is a flight of stone steps, 20 feet long, and altogether 10 feet broad: the bottom is formed of small boulders. Its water is tepid, but not so as to be in any way injurious to fish; for I saw a number of them—small ones—playing about in excellent condition. This was the more remarkable as there was no moss or vegetation of any kind, except a few decayed mango leaves which occasionally drop in, on which they could live. The water was beautifully clear, and every part of the bottom was visible through a depth of 8 feet of water. Its taste was also excellent, and nowhere else in Bhuvaneśvara can water be had of such quality. The tiny streamlet of spring water noticed above, flows into the tank through an orifice of about 2 square inches, and is barely sufficient to meet the requirements of the people for the water, being the best available in all Bhuvaneśvara, is taken away for drinking purpose by all who can afford the labour; but the tank is always full, and there is on the south-east corner a waste-pipe the end of which is carved into the form of a giant head, and through it flows out a larger stream than what flows into the tank. This waste water is sufficient for the irrigation of over twenty to thirty acres of arid laterite soil. This shows that the Kuṇḍa has a spring in its bottom. Such a tank, in so sacred a place as Bhuvaneśvara, could not but command the highest veneration, and local legends assign to it the greatest sanctity. According to the *Śiva Purāṇa*, the tank was excavated by the goddess Gaurī with her own hands, and endowed with the most transcendental virtues. To those who resort to it, it bestows beauty of person, good fortune, and freedom from all sins. The conviction is that a devotee who, putting a few seeds of the black sessamum on his head, bathes in it for a year, beginning with the 9th of the wane in any month, obtains whatever he desires. The *Kapila Saṃhitā* repeats this story; but it is not pleased with the slow progress of virtue attained by a year's penance. Accordingly it says that a single sip of the water is enough to emancipate the drinker from all future transmigrations.

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**Kedaresvara Temple :—**Close by the ghat there are some small rooms used as kitchen and dwellings, and against the outer wall of one of them are kept a large altorilievo figure of Hanumān, about 8 feet high, and another of Durgā standing on the lion. Both are daily worshipped. The former is in sandstone, and bedaubed with red-lead. The latter is formed of chlorite, and has the finest female head to be seen in Bhuvaneśvara.

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To the right of this there is a medium-sized temple of the usual make, with a corresponding Mohan, both built of grey sandstone, and devoid of sculptured ornaments (plate XLVI). Its height is 41 feet, and its angles are so canted as to produce an almost circular ground plan (plate XLVIII). The Mohan is square, and, in the interior, has pilasters for the support of the ceiling, but no sculptures. The *Brahma Purāṇa* assigns to this temple a remote antiquity, and its sanctity is extolled in the highest terms by [93] the *Ekāmra Purāṇa* and the *Kapila Saṃhitā*. Looking to the material and make of the pile, I have no reason to doubt that it is much older than the temple last noticed, and probably older than the Great Tower itself, being of the same age with the temples of Bhāskareśvara and Koṭitīrtheśvara; but that would only carry it to the middle of the 6th century, earlier than which it cannot be. There is an inscription in it on the righ jamb of the doorway, but it is in so smudgy a state that I could not read more than a few words of it. The letters are cut into the stone of the wall, and not into a separate slab, and are of a modern type, probably not older than the twelfth century. It was evidently recorded long after the erection of the temple.

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Right in front of this temple there is a small one dedicated to Gaurī, the presiding divinity of which gives her name to the tank noticed above. The temple has no architectural pretensions of any kind, and is obviously of a modern date; but the image it contains is well-executed and worthy of notice. It is to this image that the Lord of the Universe is usually married by proxy on the sixth on the waxing moon in the month of May (*ante*, page [81]).

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**Siddhesvara Temple**—Fifty yards to the north-west of Mukteśvara, there is a decayed old temple of no architectural importance, but of considerable antiquity and sanctity. It is older than Kedāreśvara and other temples which surround it, and, though now neglected, was once the most sacred spot on this side of Bhuvaneśvara. It was, according to the *Ekāmra Purāṇa*, erected by the celestial architect Viśvakarmā, by order of Viṣṇu; and, since Viṣṇu attained his perfection (*siddhi*) through the blessing of Śiva, the presiding divinity was named Siddheśvara. The blessing went further, and said, “Whoever will worship the divinity will become perfect”; and many sages, dwelling in its neighbourhood, attained to whatever they desired. Hence the name of the locality, Siddheśvara-vana, or “the grove of the perfected.” The temple is 47 feet high, and has a well-proportioned porch (Plate XL). To the east of it there is a temple which the discus of Viṣṇu established, whence called Cakreśvara, otherwise called Śaṃkareśvara, another called Śakreśvara, a spring behind it to the west, and several small temple of no pretension, and more or less in ruins. These are respectively assigned to Śaktyeśvara, Vāyaveśvara, Varuṇeśvara, Dhanadeśvara, Pāvakeśvara and Candreśvara, the lords of the different deities whose name they bear, and who caused the temples to be erected by Visvakarmā.

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**Parasuramesvara Temple**—The last temple of the group is Parasurāmeśvara. It stands at a distance of about 200 yards to the west of the tank, and in size and richness of detail is far superior to the other temples of the group. It is over 60 feet high, and is most elaborately sculptured all over. Its ground plan is a square, and the angles of the spire are left unchamfered, so the square character is preserved throughout. Its porch is oblong, and profusely covered with bas-reliefs representing processions of horses and elephants in the upper linear bands under the cornice, and scenes from the life of Rāma in the lower bands and panels. The roof is peculiar; it is formed of a sloping terrace, running along the middle of which is a clear-storey with a sloping roof crowned with a flat one in the middle. The clear-storey has a range of six windows in front, and twelve on each side (Plate XLVII). This plan of bringing light into the Mohan is unknown elsewhere in Bhuvaneśvara, except in the Mohan of the Vaitāl Deül, and seems to have been adopted more for its peculiarity and beauty than for light, inasmuch as the two doors on each side, and the one in front of the body of the porch, are quite sufficient to give it as much light as is desirable. It recalls to mind the clear-storey of Saxon churches, but as neither the Paraśurāmeśvara nor the Vaital Deül can be said to be of a later age than the 9th century, it cannot indicate a European paternity. It has obviously been borrowed from the Vihāra Halls of the Buddhists, who resorted to this plan of bringing light in some of their cave chapels; but done in masonry, the Hindu specimen is more elaborate and more artistically finished than what the Buddhists produced. I take the temple to be of the 9th century from the similitude of its workmanship and material with those of the Mukteśvara and the Rājarānī temples. In the *Ekāmra Purāṇa* the divinity of this temple occurs under the name of Daityeśvara, from the fact of Kīrti and Vāsa having, by order of Śiva, worshipped it first.

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