History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c14.22

v1.c14.22

"Here in the olden times the outer wall must have been uniformly of considerable height, but has now in several places fallen into lamentable ruin, whether from earthquake, typhoon, or the wear and fear of long, long ages. Somewhat similar in character would be the semi-Indian ruins of Java and the cyclopean structures of Ake and Chichen-Itza in Yucatan. A series of rude steps brings us into a spacious courtyard, strewn with fragments of fallen pillars, encircling a second terraced enclosure with a projecting frieze or cornice of somewhat Japanese type. The measurement of the outer enclosure, as we afterwards roughly ascertained, was some 185 ft. by 115 ft., the average thickness of the outer wall being 15 ft., height varying from 20 to nearly 40 ft. The space within can only be entered by the great gateway in the middle of the western face, and by a small ruinous portal in the north-west corner. The inner terraced enclosure forms a second conforming parallelogram of some 85 ft. by 75 ft. ; average thickness of wall, 8 ft. ; height of walls, 15 to 18 ft. In the centre of a rudely paved court lies the great central vault or treasure chamber identified with the name of an ancient monarch known as Chau-Te-reu, or Cahu-te-Leur, probably a dynastic title like that of Pharaoh or Ptolemy in ancient Egypt."¹