The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.348

v2.c17.s1.348

**Gundicha Garh:** Next to the Great Temple, the most important sanctuary of Jagannātha is the Guṇḍicā summer-house. It is situated, as above stated, at the eastern end of the great highway, the Barādaṇḍ. Its distance from the Great Temple is about two miles. It is called a Gaḍ or 'fort', because a part (430 x 320 feet) of its area is surrounded by a masonry wall, 20 feet high and 5 ft. 2 in. thick; but it is simply a large garden with a suite of temples and out-offices for the accommodation of Jagannātha and his retinue during their stay on the occasion of Car Festival. Its principal entrance, facing the Barādaṇḍ, had at one time a grand gateway; but when I saw it, it was out of repairs and very much dilapidated. This gate is called Siṁhadvāra or the Lion Gate and through it Jagannātha enters the premises. Close by it there is a smaller gate which is called Vijayadvāra, Gate of Victory, or Nākconā, and through it Jagannātha is brought out on the occasion of his journey home. The area of the garden outside the wall is covered by large topes of mango and other trees; but the ground within and around the temple is laid out in flower-beds and altogether has a very cheerful appearance. Right in the middle of the beds there is large masonry terrace, with seats all round, adding considerably to the beauty of the place. The temple and its threefold appurtenances are all of the same age. The temple is 75 feet high with a base of 55 x 46 feet outside, and 36 ft. 8 in. x 27 feet inside. The ceiling from the floor is 16 ft. 7 in. The walls are set off with only a few simple mouldings but no carvings. On the off side of the temple there is a plain, raised seat, 4 feet high and 19 feet long, made of chlorite; and this is called the Ratnavedī—the throne on which the images are placed when brought to the temple. The porch is a square of 48 ft., divided into a nave and two aisles by four square pillars. The nave is 17 feet broad and the aisles 8 ft. 7 in. each. The walls are 5 feet thick. The ceiling is 16 ft. 8 in. from the floor, and the doorway 11 ft. x 6 ft. 8 in. The Dancing Hall is a rectangle of 48 x 44 feet, divided into a nave and two aisles like the porch. It has three doors on each side, of which the central one measures 11 ft. 3 in. x 9 ft. 7 in., and the side ones 8 ft. 8 in. x 6 ft. 7 in. The Bhoga Mandir of this temple is peculiar. Instead of being a square or nearly so, as in the case everywhere else in Orissa, it is an oblong room, 58 ft. 9 in. x 26 ft. inside, with walls 6 ft. 10 in. thick, and doors, three on each side, 8 ft. 6 in. x 6 ft. 4 in. Beyond the last is a long range of low rooms which are used as kitchen and store-godowns. The place is not used except for four or five days in the year; but there is a small establishment of servants by whom it is regularly swept every day, and kept clean, tidy and in a good state of repair.