The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.242

v2.c17.s1.242

**Images of Jagannatha and his companions.** Owing to the excessive darkness of the sanctum and the absence of the necessary apparatus for producing artificial light, I could not obtain a photograph of the images. Nor would such a picture, had I got one, would have proved of any use, as the images are variously dressed at differnt times of the day and their true shape cannot be taken at any time. This is, however, not to be regretted, for the better class of pictures sold in the market at Puri and so well known to the public does them no injustice. The images are made of the *nim* wood (*Melia azadiracta*), which is perhaps the best wood available for the purpose in India. It is hard, close-grained, susceptible of high polish and not liable to warp or crack; while its bitter taste makes it proof against the ravages of worms and insects. It is of a brown colour and when polished and varnished looks very like mahogany. The images are made each of one solid block, the hands being formed of separate pieces. Abul Fazl says the images are made of sandal-wood and other Muhammadan writers have made the same statement. But they were all misinformed. Mr. Stirling was the first [122] to point out the mistake, but in correcting it he said ‘the mistake must have arisen from confounding the sandal-wood bar in the porch with the images’,⁵⁴ whereas it was due either to the sandal-wood battens nailed on the back of two of the images to keep their arms *in situ*, or to that wood having been originally used for the purpose of making the statues. The latter appears the most probable case, as I find it stated in the *Vāmadeva Saṃhitā* that the proper wood for the images is the sandal. If this was ever used, the images could not have been made of one solid block each, for sandal trees never grow to such a thickness as to yield blocks of five to six feet in girth.