The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c18.36

v2.c18.36

From its great height the tower served, as the porch now does, as a beacon to mariners, warning them of the shallow shore of the neighbourhood and it was an easy transit from that to the romantic loadstone and the story of Sinbad the sailor of the *Arabian Nights*. I was at first induced to think that the fall took place before the consecration of the temple and communicated the opinion to Dr. Hunter; but after mature considertion I am forced to a different conclusion. The age of the images of the sun and the moon must date from the time the place was appropriated to Hindu worship in the 5th, the 6th or the 7th century, and the Gangetic king Lāṅguliya Narasiṁha built the great temple for their better accommodation. The consecration, therefore, must have taken place immediately after its completion. Thereafter, we have the testimony of Abul Fazl that the place continued in a thriving condition for three centuries and fell only in the beginning of the 17th century. It is impossible to believe that the temple was left unconsecrated for such a length of time.