The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.201.1

v2.c17.s1.201.1

**The Sun Pillar. Aruna Stambha.** In front of the eastern gateway there is an artistic ornament of marked elegance and great beauty. (Plates LI [F] and LII). It is a monolithic pillar of chlorite, set on an exquisite pedestal of the same material (Plate LII). Its pedestal is 7 ft. 9 inches square and 6ft. high, the base-tile being 1 foot and the plinth over it 5 ft. The former is plain ; the latter is formed of two tiles with an ornament somewhat resembling a torus, but its edge is flattened instead of being rounded, and over it there is another series of tiles. The carvings on these are of the most sumptuous description, the like of which are to be seen nowhere else in India ; as a piece of art-work they are fit to be compared with the best specimens of the kind in any part of the country. The pillar at first sight appears like a fluted column, but it has not a round shaft with flutes cut on it. The design was the square ; but the angles were repeatedly cut, so as to produce a sixteen-sided polygonal column. It measures from the top of the plinth to the bottom of the capital twenty-five feet two inches. It has a diameter of 2 feet and a circumference of 6 feet 3½ inches. The capital is formed of two rings surmounted by a series of lotus petals and covered over by a square tile having two receding tiles over it. The height of this capital is 2 feet 6 inches and the whole is capped by the figure of a monkey squatting.