History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c46.150

v2.c46.150

The most difficult problem connected with the *Vimāna* of Konarak is its shape. Was it a regular *Śikhara* of the Liṅgarāja or the Jagannātha type or a stepped pyramid like those of the later temples of Orissa? We must wait for fresh evidence before we can state what was the shape of the *Śikhara* of the Sūrya Deul. It is now absolutely certain that the reign of Narasimha I marks the end of the *Śikhara* of the original Kaliṅgan type. One can not speak either with respect or with admiration of the production of Oriya architects after the 16th century. Soon after the Musalman conquest temples were built or renovated in parts of the country where the fury of the Musalman iconoclast could not reach them. All of these temples are of the type of the *Jagamohanas* of the Liṅgarāja-Jagannātha Sūrya Deul shrines. They are structures with pyramidal roofs or as Mr. Ganguly calls them *Piḍā-Deuls*. Such are the temple of Burā-Jagannātha¹ at Bāripadā in Mayurbhañj and that of Pāsa-Chaṇḍi² at Badsai in the same State. Most probably the temple of Bhāskareśvara at Bhuvaneśvara records an intermediate stage. The Bhāskareśvara is a plain structure without any ornamentation and the entrance faces the west like that of the Megheśvara. An interpolated passage of the Brahma-Purāṇa shows that an older shrine of the same name existed at this place. But the shrine which is known to-day by the name of Bhāskareśvara is much later than the Jagannātha. Its spire is a stepped pyramid, *with curved sides*. The perpendicular portion of the Vimāna is part of a slightly older structure in which there is on each side a second opening, about the height of the doors. But this is now closed. The whole thing stands on the edge of a platform intended for a much bigger structure.¹