History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c46.140

v2.c46.140

The *Jagamohana* of the temple of Jagnnātha differs from that of the Liṅgarāja in being square instead of oblong. Most probably there were two windows, one on each side, originally, but at the present moment the opening on the south is a doorway and that on the north or left totally closed. The style of construction is exactly similar to that of the Liṅgarāja and presents no new features. Further study of this important structure is precluded by the hideous plaster and whitewash with which the interior is now covered. The Naṭamandira and the Bhogamaṇḍapa were built in later times and therefore will have to be described later on. The only other structure of the same date as the Vimāna and the Jagamohana is the temple of Lakshmī inside the inner compound. It consists of a Vimāna, Jagamohana, Naṭamandira, and Bhogamaṇḍapa, out of which the first two are now almost completely hidden from view by a later temple on the south. The Vimāna is a comparatively modern structure, as shown by the earlier plinth which can be easily seen and the crudeness of human figures on it, but the Jagamohana has, fortunately for us, escaped plaster and whitewash. The building is cruciform in shape and possesses two beautiful carved windows with bars in them bearing decorative figures. There is a great wealth of decoration on it, specially Nāga pillars on some of which we find two and on some others three Nāgas as at Konarak. The Naṭamandira and the Bhogamaṇḍapa are later additions, as in the case of the great temple itself. The height of the Vimāna of Jagannātha is 214 ft. 8 ins.