Iron in Ancient India c6.s5: Iron Beams in the Temples at Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konarak in Orissa
Iron in Ancient India c6.s5
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- English
Contents
- c6.s5.t1 5. Beams below Temple — 1 part
- c6.s5.t2 6. Beams at the Corner of the Temple Room — 13 parts
Iron Beams in the Temples at Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konarak in Orissa
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Orissa is famous for her temples. The magnificent temple at Bhubaneswar, the black pagoda of Konarak, and the white pagoda of Puri are remarkable specimens of Hindu architecture of the Middle Ages. Of these gigantic temples the one at Bhubaneswar is the oldest, being constructed in A.D. 640. The temple of Puri was built in the 12th century (A.D. 1174). From architectural considerations Fergusson was of opinion that the black pagoda at Konarak, which was so similar in workmanship to the great temple at Bhubaneswar, must have been built two or three centuries after the Bhubaneswar temple, but certainly before the time of the erection of the Puri temples. Mr. Bishan Swarup in his excellent work on the Konarak temple concludes after a careful examination of old records and literature on the subject "that the temple of Konarka was built by Purandra Kesari in the latter half of the 9th century and its Natmandir was constructed in A.D. 1241 by Raja (Nagroo) Narsinha Deva of the Gangetic dynasty."²
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² Bishan Swarup, Konarka—the black pagoda of Orissa, p. 72.
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A very remarkable thing regarding these temples is the extensive use of iron beams in supporting the roofs and for other purposes. At Bhubaneswar "in the joining of long projecting cornices and roof stones iron clamps were frequently employed"¹ and iron beams also may be seen in great abundance.
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¹ Rajendra Lall Mitra, "Antiquities of Orissa," Vol. I, p. 36.
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At Puri iron beams have been much more extensively used and ore of larger dimensions. In the Gunduchibārī or Garden Temple at Puri, where the images of Jaggernāth and his brother Balarām and sister Subhadrā are taken after the car festival in June or July for ten days, as many as 239 iron beams ranging up to 17 feet long and up to 6 by 4 or 5 by 6 inches section have been counted. We give a list of these iron beams prepared by Mr. N. C. R. Chaudhuri, the District Engineer at Puri, and quoted by Mr. H. G. Graves.²
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² H. G. Graves, "Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute," 1912, Vol. LXXXV, No. 1, p. 200-2.
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*Number of Beams at the Lintels of the Doors.*
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| Item 1 | .. | .. | .. | 12 |
| " 2 | .. | .. | .. | 38 |
| " 3 | .. | .. | .. | 45 |
| | | Total | .. | 95 |
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*Number of Beams below Temple, Pillar Plates, etc.*
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| Item 4 | .. | .. | .. | 16 |
| " 5 | .. | .. | .. | 112 |
| " 6 | .. | .. | .. | 14 |
| | | Total | .. | 144 |
| | | Grand Total | .. | 239 |
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1. *At the Lintels of Doors in the Outer Compound Wall.*
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| No. | Length | Breadth. | Height. |
| | Ft. In. | Inches | Inches |
| Back door .. { 1 | 10 5 | 3 | 4 |
| | { 2 | 7 7 | 3 | 4 |
| " " .. { 1 | 9 8 | 3 | 4 |
| | { 1 | 8 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Front door .. { 2 | 11 4 | 5 | 3 |
| | { 2 | 9 8 | 5 | 3 |
| " " .. { 2 | 8 0 | 5 | 3 |
| | { 1 | 12 6 | 5 | 3 |
| | 12 | | | |
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2. *At the Lintels of the Outer Doors of the Garden Temple.*
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| No. | Length. | Breadth. | Height. |
| | Ft. In. | Inches | Inches |
| Door .. { 2 | 5 0 | 5 | 3 |
| | { 2 | 6 7 | 5 | 3 |
| " .. { 2 | 7 6 | 6 | 4 |
| | { 2 | 9 8 | 6 | 4 |
| " .. { 1 | 6 8 | 6 | 4 |
| | { 1 | 5 0 | 3 | 4 |
| " .. { 2 | 5 8 | 3 | 4 |
| " .. { 2 | 5 0 | 4 | 3 |
| " .. { 2 | 5 0 | 4 | 4 |
| " .. { 2 | 4 9 | 5 | 4 |
| " .. { 2 | 5 0 | 5 | 4 |
| " .. { 2 | 9 8 | 5 | 5 |
| " .. { 2 | 7 6 | 5 | 3 |
| " .. { 2 | 6 8 | 4 | 4 |
| " .. { 2 | 5 0 | 5 | 3 |
| " .. { 2 | 6 4 | 4 | 4 |
| " .. { 2 | 5 0 | 4 | 3 |
| " .. { 2 | 5 0 | 4 | 3 |
| " .. { 2 | 5 0 | 3 | 3 |
| | 38 | | | |
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3. *At the Lintels of the Inner Doors of the Garden Temple.*
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| | No. | Length. | Breadth. | Height. |
| | | Ft. | In. | Inches. | Inches. |
| Door | .. { 1 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| | .. { 2 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| | .. { 3 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| .. | .. { 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| .. | .. { 2 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| .. | .. { 8 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 6 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| .. | .. { 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| .. | .. { 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| .. | .. { 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| .. | .. { 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| | | --- | | | |
| | | 45 | | | |
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4. *Pillar Plates (within the temple).*
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| No. | Length. | Breadth. | Height. |
| | Ft. | In. | Inches. | Inches. |
| 12 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 4 |
| --- | | | | |
| 16 | | | | |
5. Beams below Temple
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| No. | Length. | Breadth. | Height. |
| | Ft. In. | Inches. | Inches. |
| 7 | 6 0 | 5 | 4 |
| 53 | 3 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 16 | 2 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 17 | 3 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | 1 6 | 3 | 3 |
| 1 | 1 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 16 | 2 0 | 3 | 3 |
| --- | | | |
| 112 | | | |
6. Beams at the Corner of the Temple Room
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| No. | Length. | Breadth. | Height. |
| | Ft. In. | Inches. | Inches. |
| 4 | 2 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | 1 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | 2 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | 1 0 | 3 | 2 |
| --- | | | |
| 16 | | | |
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From the enumeration of as many as 239 iron pieces in the Gunduchibārī Temple it is certain that iron beams have similarly been used on an extensive scale in the main temple itself.
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At Konarak the beams are even larger in dimensions. Stirling, who visited the shrine in 1824, saw nine iron beams nearly one foot square and 18 to 21 feet long.¹ Fergusson, who visited Konarak in 1838, makes the section less, viz. 8 inches by 9 inches, but the lengths greater to 23 feet. Dr. Rajendra Lall Mitra makes the length of the beams 21 feet with average cross section 8 inches by 10 inches. The Konarak temple was more or less in complete ruins until regular work of preservation, commenced under the Government of Sir John Woodburn, Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (Orissa was then a part of Bengal). Only a heap of debris and the dilapidated porch in the front remained while the Nātmandir and other temples were buried under drift sea-sand probably two or three centuries previously. In 1901 the excavation of sand round the main temple was commenced and beautiful carvings and other objects of architectural value, including iron beams, were discovered. Whilst Stirling saw in 1824 only nine beams, Mr. H. B. Graves has counted in 1912 as many as twenty-nine beams at Konarak, the largest being 35 feet long and 7 to 7½ inches square, weighing about 6000 lbs. There is another beam 23½ feet in length and 11 by 10½ inches in section which was a part of a much longer beam, the other end missing. "Some of the pieces are only 5 or 6 feet in length and, could they be matched, it would probably result in not fewer then twenty complete beams."
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¹ Stirling, Asiatic Researches, Vol. XV, p. 330.
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The forging of the Orissan beams is not so perfect as in the case of the Delhi pillar, the weld lines being more or less perfectly visible and cinder lines and cinder more or less apparent in many beams.¹
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¹ The photograph and the diagram in Plate IV are reproduced by permission of the Secretary of the Iron and Steel Institute. The beam against which the walking stick stands is deeply corroded with holes into which a stick could be thrust.
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The iron used is undoubtedly pure wrought iron. I was given for analysis a specimen of Konarak iron—a detached piece from a beam, in an excellent state of preservation—by the Varendra Research Society.
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A small piece of it could be easily flattened out into a thin sheet showing it to be wrought iron. The results of analysis are below.
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Specific gravity 7·8.
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| Iron (estimated directly).. | .. | .. | 99·64 per cent. |
| Carbon | .. | .. | .. | traces. |
| Sulphur | .. | .. | .. | traces. |
| Phosphorus | .. | .. | .. | ·15 per cent. |
| Manganese | .. | .. | .. | nil. |
| | | | 99·79 |
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The nature of the iron is almost similar to the iron of the Delhi pillar, manganese being absent and phosphorus high with traces of carbon and sulphur.
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Fig. 1. Iron Beams at Konarak. (Journal, Iron and Steel Institute, 1912, No. 1, page 195.)
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Fig. 2 Blooms in Konarak Iron. (Journal, Iron and Steel Institute, 1912, No. 1, page 197.)