History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c46.141.1

v2.c46.141.1

In the strict chronological order we must now revert to the second and third maṇḍapas called, respectively, Naṭamandita and Bhogamaṇḍapa in Orissa in all temples where they exist. The principal structures of this class are the Liṅgarāja, the Ananta Vāsudeva and the little temple of Pārvatī in Bhuvaneśvara and the great temple of Jagannātha and the smaller temple of Lakshmī in the same compound. The very fact that the majority of the temples at Bhuvaneśvara and the Sūrya Deul at Konarak do not possess these additions prove that these members of the great temples were considered necessary after the days of Narasimha I, *i. e.*, the 13th century A. D. The Nāṭamandira of the Liṅgarāja is a plain square hall built in the same style as the *Jagamohana* but wider, and admits more light and air, as it is widely open on the sides. Though it is entirely devoid of ornamentation, it possesses a dignity of its own on account of the simple and chaste panelling of the exterior. Its walls are not so thick and it appears to have been built when the expenditure of a large amount was impossible. The Nāṭamandira of the Jagannātha is a huge clumsy affair. Even the late Mr. Mano Mohan Ganguly, who praised anything and everything he saw in Orissa, observed: "The natamandira is a subsequent addition to the Jagamohana, for courses of stone of the former do not correspond with those of the latter;