The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c18.64

v2.c18.64

**Date of the Temple.** The date of the Sun Temple, according to the *Temple Annals*, is Śaka 1200, i. e. A. D. 1278. In the abridged version of the *Annals* the statement runs thus: 'His son Lāngulīya Narasiṃha Deva reigned for 45 years. Śaka 1204. This king erected in the Arka Kṣetra a temple to the god Koṇārak. His seal runs thus: "The lord of the earth, the tailed king Narasiṃha, erected a temple for the ray-garlanded god in the Śaka year twelve hundred". This king filled up the river Bānkimohanī'. Mr. Stirling says, 'the present edifice, it is well-known, was built by Rājā Lāngora Narsiṃgh Deo, A. D. 1241, under the superintendence of his minister Shibāi Sautra'²⁴. In the *Puruṣottama-candrikā*, the reign of the tailed king is said to have extended from 1159 to 1204 Śaka; but the date of the temple is not given. Dr. Hunter adopts these dates, giving 1237 for accession and 1282 for the demise of the king. The date of erection given in the *Annals* does not correspond with the date given by Mr. Stirling, the difference being 37 years. I know not how to account for this, unless I assume that Stirling named the commencement of Narasimha's reign for the date of the temple. This difficulty, however, is greatly enhanced when the statement of Abul Fazl, that the temple was, in his time at the close of the 16th century, 730 years old, is taken into account. Mr. Fergusson, commenting on the date given in the *Annals*, says: