History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c46.144

v2.c46.144

In all of the great temples of Bhuvaneśvara and Puri, the custom grew up of building small maṇḍapas in front of the main or central niches of three of the facades of the Vimāna. At the temples of Liṅgarāja and Jagannātha these maṇḍapas became necessary as struts after the underpinning of the heavy plinth. In order to hide these defects little maṇḍapas were erected on them and the occupants of the niches of the Vimānas became subsidiary objects of worship. Generally one finds Śaiva Gods in Śaiva temples like the Liṅgarāja, e. g., Pārvatī, Kārtikeya, etc., and the incarnation of Viṣṇu in Vaiṣṇava temples like the Ananta Vāsudeva and the Jagannātha. They are all very late structures and appear to be erected late in the 17th or 18th century.