The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.93

v2.c17.s1.93

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.