The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c18.39

v2.c18.39

**[152]** The niches are set off with floral band and designed for statues of men, women and lions. The bands are of the various types so common at Bhuvaneśvara (see illustrations in Vol. 1), but they are superior both in conception and in execution; taken altogether they afford the most beautiful specimens of Orissan art. Above the upper row of niches there is another series of horizontal bands similar in make to the lower one, but of much greater depth, being equal to the depth of the space devoted to the upper row of niches and this completes the decoration of the side walls.