History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c47.38

v2.c47.38

Chanda's partial excavation of the area around the temple of Kiñchakeśvarī at Khiching has brought to light hundreds of beautiful sculptures and architectural specimens. In the narrow neck of the undulated country between the river Khayar-bandhan in the north and the Kanta-Khayar in the south are situated the ruins of Khiching. On the southern bank of the Khayar-bandhan is a fort ascribed to King Virāṭa, rectangular in shape and surrounded by a wet ditch. There is a larger fort near the north bank of the river Kanta-Khayar of the same shape and surrounded by masonry walls and a wet ditch. The space between these forts contains numerous temples, large and small tanks and small mounds. The entire place, as seen by the writer in March 1929, is the site of a large ancient city peopled by a much more civilized race than the modern inhabitants—mostly Kols, Santals, Oraons and a few regular Oṛiyās. In this ancient city the majority of Hindu temples were situated between the Kanachira and Kukuda-ghara tanks, the centre of attraction being the temple of Chāmuṇḍā called Kincha-keśvarī. At a little distance from the modern hut, in which the fine image of Chāmuṇḍā is kept, is the temple of Chandraśekhara, which is the only ancient structure still intact in the neighbourhood. At a greater distance are the ruins of the Buddhist temple called Itamundia, while near the Kukudaghara tank is the only other standing structure, the temple, now called Kutai-Tundi. But Chanda’s exploration has brought to light four or five plinths of ancient temples inside the circle shown on the map as “Wire fencing.” It is now possible to judge the date of Khiching sculptures as a general whole and determine their co-relation with those of the Buddhist centre of Udaygiri-Lalitagiri-Ratnagiri and the Hindu centre of Bhuvaneśvara. Khiching sculptures were certainly influenced by the art of other provinces, specially that of South-western Bengal. Inspite of this fact we can easily distinguish three different stages in the plastic art of this locality :