The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c18.115

v2.c18.115

The hill was long in the occupation of Buddhists and contains several relics of their sanctuaries. One of these occurs on a bold prominence of the lower one of the two peaks. It is the basement of a porch to a temple. At its corners are monolithic pillars 7 to 8 feet in height, still *in situ*. The temple has been reduced into amorphous ruin. Another occurs in the pass between the two peaks. This consists 'of a porch and a cella surmounted by a small pyramidal tower'. This is in a better state of preservation. The roof of the porch has given way; but that of the cella still stands. It has no columns and is formed of solid walls with niches in the interior for five figures of Buddha, or Ananta Puruṣottama, as the people on the spot call them. The figures are all erect and cut in high relief; they are about five feet in height and each holds in the left hand a lotus with a long stem. The other hand is mutilated; so is the nose. 'The eyes have all a meek expression and the curled hair is tied with a fillet round the middle of the head. The ears, breast, arms and wrists have ornaments. There are inscriptions on the stone behind the shoulders and in one instance near the feet'⁴². The inscriptions were filled up with dust and partly covered by the wall when Babu Chandrasekhara Banurji saw them, and no facsimile could be taken. Mr. Beames communicated to the Asiatic Society of Bengal a drawing of one of the images, and it has been reproduced on Plate LIX. It will be seen therefrom that, though described by both the writers as of Buddha, the images are in reality of the Bodhisattva Padmapāṇi.