History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c47.108

v2.c47.108

The art of the Jagannātha temple at Puri is as crude as its architecture, but the vandalism of the priests of Puri has left very little of the carving of the Vimāna and the Jagamohanas uncovered to judge its standard. In March 1929 the writer observed that patches of plaster had been removed from the Vimāna, and it is absolutely certain that the decorative art of this temple, i. e., as much of it as can be certainly ascribed to Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga, is far more crude than that of the Rājā-Rāṇī. There is a certain stamp of haste and carelessness in every bit of carving that is still visible on its Vimāna and Jagamohana. The obscene figures on these two structures have been made more hideous still by the application of colours in order to heighten their shameless obscenity. In March 1929 a number of brackets and bas reliefs of the most grossly revolting type were collected on the platform of the Jagamohana, but nobody could inform the writer, at that time, whether they came from the *Vimāna* or the *Jagamohana*. They were much more crude and barbarous than sculptures still to be seen on the body of the *Vimāna* and the *Jagamohana*.