The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.106

v2.c17.s1.106

**Somesvara Temple**—About 800 feet to the south of the Vaitāl Deül, there is, in the centre of a courtyard, a small temple, richly sculptured all over, and vying in some respects with the beauty of Mukteśvara. It is barely 33 feet high, and 27 feet square on the ground plan. Its Mohan is oblong, being 33 feet long, and 27 feet broad. The ornamentation of this fane is in the style of Mukteśvara, but neither quite so sumptuous, nor so well executed. Close by it there is a large tank lined with laterite blocks, and on the whole in an excellent state of preservation. It bears the name of Pāpanāśinī, "the destroyer of sin," and to it the proxy of Bhuvaneśvara is brought every year to celebrate the festival of Prathāmaṣṭamī (*ante*, p. [77]). Between this temple and the western wall of the courtyard of the Great Tower there are between 30 and 40 temples of different sizes, mostly in a ruinous condition, and some desecrated and forsaken. They all derived their halo from the reflected sanctity of the Great Tower, and were at one time in some repute; but they are not now noticed by pilgrims.