The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c18.105

v2.c18.105

‘About fifty feet higher up in the jungle’, continues Babu Chandrasekhara, ‘there is another platform on which once stood a sanctuary of Buddha. Numbers of images of gods and goddesses, engraved on slabs of different shapes, are scattered around. A group, with heads and arms mutilated, is still worshipped by the people, who have succeeded in effacing all traces of its original character, by painting the figures with repeated layers of vermilion and turmeric'³⁸. Here occurs a small gateway of superior workmanship. The following is Mr. Beames' description of this beautiful piece of art-work : ‘It consists of two upright slabs of stone, supporting a third as lintel. The dimensions are : Height of opening 5 ft. 5 in., breadth of *ditto* 2 ft. 3½ in., thickness of stone 1 ft. 3½ in. The two sides jambs are divided into bands separated by grooves three-fourth of an inch wide, and 2·75 inches deep. The panel or band nearest the doorway is carved with a continuous wavy creeper upon which human figures are climbing in grotesque attitude ; from the excessively *nitambinī* outlines they are probably intended for females’. (In the plate published by Mr. Beames, the figures appear to be monkeys, much like the scroll shown in Fig. 28 Plate XII, Vol. I, from the Mukteśvara temple). “The next band has a columnar type....The pilaster of the column is adorned with intricate arabesques and lions' heads. The next band is divided into tablets, each of which contains a beautifully carved group of a male and a female figure engaged in, what I may venture to call, flirtation of an active kind”³⁹. The fourth is formed of a string of large flowers. In the centre of the band on the lintel there is a figure of Buddha with, on each side, an elephant with its trunk raised over the head of the central figure. Over this band there is an oblong pediment set off with eight circular openings arranged in two rows. On each side of this pediment there is a stool, shaped like a *morā*, and on it is a seated figure of Buddha in meditation. On the tops of the side-posts there are also oblong pediments, with a bas-relief of a female figure in a flying position. The general character of this gate is similar to that of the Koṇārak porch, but not nearly so well or so richly carved. The gate has been removed by Mr. Beames to Cuttack where it has been set up in the public garden.