History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c13.54

v1.c13.54

Sir John Marshall places the great rock-cut monastery of Khāravela, the Rāṇī Nūr or the Rāṇinavara gumphā third in the chronological order. This great monastery is also double-storeyed and E-shaped. In both storeys there is a long narrow verandah supported by tall elegant pillars. The rear walls of both the verandahs are beautifully ornamented with pilasters, arches and bas-reliefs. The pillars of the upper storey are preserved in a few instances only, but those of the lower have disappeared ages ago with the roof of the verandah. In consequence, the ornamentations of the rear wall of the lower storey have suffered more severely from the action of the weather. Sir John Marshall is of opinion that the style of carving in these two storeys are widely different. In the lower storey, the style is elementary and crude; but in the upper, the workmanship is relatively free. The lower storey consists of a wide open terrace 43 feet square, on three sides of which there were three verandahs, the verandah in front being much larger than those on the sides. The main verandah possesses three doors leading to dormitories and the side verandahs leading to single or double chambers. There are Persepolitan pilasters on the sides of each doorway supporting an arch above. The space between the arches was ornamented by a raised horizontal band and the space between this band and the roof of the verandah was occupied by a long bas-relief, which has not been identified as yet. There is a door and a cell at each end of the lower verandah in addition to the seven doors in the rear wall. In front of the verandah and at each of the two rear corners of the courtyard there are two exquisitely carved little shrines without roofs. The walls of these shrines bear short and long bas-reliefs representing wild elephants sporting in a lotus pond. The upper storey is 63 feet in length and its flanks are much shorter and more irregular than the lower storey. On account of the preservation of the verandah the bas-relief of the rear walls are much better preserved. This bas-relief represents seven or eight events connected with the hunting episodes of a king, which culminated in his elopement with or the abduction of a lady. According to Sir John Marshall the upper storey of the cave is earlier than the lower storey and "the marked stylistic difference between the sculptures of the two storeys was the result of influence exercised directly or indirectly by the contemporary schools in Central and Western India."¹ The The image provided is blank. There is no text to transcribe.