History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c46.68

v2.c46.68

We must now turn to a class of temples which intervene between the first group of mediaeval temples (Paraśurāmeśvara-Gandharāḍi-Mukteśvara) of Orissa and the third (Liṅgarāja-Ananta-Vāsudeva), hitherto regarded as the second. This group is better known from the group of three-shrined Tantric temples at Baudh² in the Tributary States of Orissa and from the Kutai-Tundi or Nilakaṇṭheśvara and Candrasekhara at Khiching³ in the Mayurabhañj State, as well as certain temples at Bhuvaneśvara. The principal characteristics of this second group are the want of a *maṇḍapa* or a *Jagamohana* and the sudden curvature of the *Śikhara* inwards near the top. This second characteristic is not present in the two existing temples at Khiching on account of the influence exerted on Kolhan temples by the art and architecture of South-western Bengal. We are not in a position to determine what was the shape of the great temple at Khiching, on the ruins of which the Khandiya Deul was built, but from the style of sculptures and decorative motifs recovered from the interior of the Khandiya Deul it is certain that this great temple belonged to the age of the Mukteśvara. The best examples of human figures are the Nāga,¹ the image of Śiva,² Nāgīs³ and as regards decorative art, the pilaster,⁴ the plinth⁵ mouldings, and the exquisite Nāga⁶ pillar. Leaving out of consideration the two temples at Khiching which show extraneous influence, we have to fall back upon the three temples at Baudh and a number of minor temples at Bhuvaneśvara which never had any *Jagamohana* and in some of which the *Jagamohana* is a later addition. In the three temples at Baudh the place of the *Jagamohana* is taken by a very small *Antarāla* or porch supported by two pillars in front and two pilasters. It may be argued that as the older temple of Paruśurāmeśvara and Mukteśvara and the Gandharāḍi temples as well as the later group of Liṅgarāja-Ananta Vāsudeva possess *Jagamohanas*, what objection there may be to place the temples of the Baudh type at a much later date. The answer is quite simple. Chanda has proved that there is a chronological sequence in the art of the Krittivāsa or the Liṅgarāja and the ruined temple at Khiching on the plinth of which the Khandiya Deul has been built.¹ This art sequence can be used to indicate and establish a similar sequence in the case of the evolution of the mediaeval temple type in Orissa. There is also a second line of evidence about this. At Bhuvaneśvara, in and around the temple of Liṅgarāja, there are some shrines which never possessed a *Jagamohana*. Many of these are certainly older than the great temple of Liṅgarāja. The temple of Bhāskareśvara lies due west of the Megheśvara. The present temple is a late structure, being later than the 12th century but the original temple was old, as the shrine is mentioned in the *Brahma-Purāṇa*. It possesses no *Jagamohana*.