History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c47.131

v2.c47.131

On account of the vigour of expression in the 13th century renaissance of Konarak, figures of animals are much better executed on the whole than human figures. The lion became extinct in north-eastern India and therefore the artist's idea of that animal became unreal even in the 8th century A. D. The pairs of lions flanking the door of the *Jagamohana* in front, are quite unnatural, but not so the kneeling figures of the elephant, which is still a native of the jungles of the Garhjat. In the representation of the lion the idea of the Orissan artist was as much correct as that of the Gandharan Greek in the 1st century B. C. Where the artist had the opportunity of studying animal forms in life,—tigers, elephants and deer,—his productions are super-excellent. The colossal pairs of elephants on the northern side are often mistaken by visitors on moon-lit nights to be real.¹ But similar high praise can not be bestowed on the pairs of horses with riders in the compound of the same temple. They are disporportionate and unnatural, proving that the horse was not a familiar sight in Orissa.