History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c46.111

v2.c46.111

The temple of Brahmeśvara lies east of the temples of Rājā Rāṇī and Mukteśvara, in the fields, where very few people visit them. According to an inscription edited in the earlier part of the 19th century, Kolāvatī, the mother of Udyotakeśarī, seventh in descent from Janamejaya, built this temple. It is quite possible that this Udyotakeśarī was a lineal descendant of Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya.¹ From the style of the Śikhara and the roof both the Vimāna and the Jagamohana of this temple belong to the Liṅgarāja-Ananta Vāsudeva group. According to the calculations of Mr. Mano Mohan Ganguly the height of the Vimāna is 60 ft.² The Jagamohana is a building of the Ananta Vāsudeva type, having a window on each side covered by five pillars. Its exterior is covered with human figures which are certainly later than those of the Liṅgarāja or the Ananta Vāsudeva. The bas reliefs described by Mr. Mano Mohan Ganguly are also flat and lifeless.³ The temple of Brahmeśvara possesses four smaller temples at four corners and is surrounded by a stone compound wall.⁴ The temple of Megheśvara stands very close to that of the Brahmeśvara and is known from the second inscription to the compound wall of the Ananta Vāsudeva.¹ The temple consists of a Vimāna and a Jagamohana, of which the former is 50 ft. high. The Jagamohana is not square but rectangular, measuring 36 ft. 3 ins. by 24 ft. 10 ins. Nāga pillars are to be found on each side of the entrance to the Jagamohana which has a window barred by stone pillars on each side. The Megheśvara is an important structure in the history of the evolution of temple architecture in Orissa, as the late Mr. Mano Mohan Ganguly has succeeded in proving that originally it had no Jagamohana. Clear traces are still visible of the addition of the Jagamohana to the Vimāna². The inscription of the Megheśvara records the erection of the temple by Svapneśvara, the commander-in-chief and brother-in-law of Rājarāja II, one of the sons and successors of Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga³. The temple of Megheśvara proves that long after the adoption of the Liṅgarāja-Ananta Vāsudeva-Brahmeśvara type as the constant temple type in Orissa, temples of the Baudh type, *i. e.*, without Jagamohanas, were still being constructed in Orissa.