DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0439
Chap. II.
ORISSA.
415
complete without its hall of 1000 columns, and many besides
this had hundreds dispersed about the place, and used for every
conceivable purpose, the contrast is more striking, and shows
what a complete barrier the Chalukyas, whoever they were, in-
terposed between the two races on this side of India, though not
on the other. As a rule, every Orissan temple consists of two
apartments, similar in plan, as shown in the diagram (Woodcut
No. 124). The inner one is generally a cube, surmounted by a tower,
here called Bara Deul, or Dewul, corresponding with the vimana of
the south, and in it the image or images of the gods are enshrined:
in front of this is a porch, called Jagamohan, equally a cube or ap-
proaching it, and surmounted by a pyramidal roof of varying pitch.
The peculiarities are illustrated in the diagram (Woodcut No. 124)
just referred to, which purports to be an elevation of the celebrated
Black Pagoda at Kananic. It is only, however, an eye-sketch, and
cannot be depended upon for minute detail and correctness, but it is
sufficient to explain the meaning of the text. Sometimes one or two
more porches were added in front of this one, and called Nat and
Bhog mandirs (mantapas), but these, in almost every instance, are
afterthoughts, and not parts of the original design. Be this as it
may, in every instance in Orissa the tower with its porch forms the
temple. If enclosed in a wall, they are always to be seen outside.
There are gateways, it is true, but they are always subordinate, and
there are none of those accretions of enclosures and gopuras that form
so marked a characteristic of the southern style. There generally are
other shrines within the enclosures of the great temples, but they are
always kept subordinate, and the temple itself towers over everything
to even a greater extent than that at Tanjore (Woodcut No. 191),
giving a unity and purpose to the whole design, so frequently wanting
in the south.
Other contrasts will come out as we proceed, but, in the mean-
while, few examples bring out more clearly the vast importance of
ethnography as applied to architecture. That two people, inhabiting
practically the same country, and worshipping the same gods under
the guidance of the same Brahmanical priesthood, should have adopted
and adhered to two such dissimilar styles for their sacred buildings,
shows as clearly as anything can well do how much race has to do
with these matters, and how little we can understand the causes of
such contrasts, unless we take affinities or differences of race into
consideration.
History.
Thanks to the industry of Stirling and others, the main outlines
of the history of Orissa have been ascertained with sufficient accuracy
to enable us to describe its architecture without the fear of making
ORISSA.
415
complete without its hall of 1000 columns, and many besides
this had hundreds dispersed about the place, and used for every
conceivable purpose, the contrast is more striking, and shows
what a complete barrier the Chalukyas, whoever they were, in-
terposed between the two races on this side of India, though not
on the other. As a rule, every Orissan temple consists of two
apartments, similar in plan, as shown in the diagram (Woodcut
No. 124). The inner one is generally a cube, surmounted by a tower,
here called Bara Deul, or Dewul, corresponding with the vimana of
the south, and in it the image or images of the gods are enshrined:
in front of this is a porch, called Jagamohan, equally a cube or ap-
proaching it, and surmounted by a pyramidal roof of varying pitch.
The peculiarities are illustrated in the diagram (Woodcut No. 124)
just referred to, which purports to be an elevation of the celebrated
Black Pagoda at Kananic. It is only, however, an eye-sketch, and
cannot be depended upon for minute detail and correctness, but it is
sufficient to explain the meaning of the text. Sometimes one or two
more porches were added in front of this one, and called Nat and
Bhog mandirs (mantapas), but these, in almost every instance, are
afterthoughts, and not parts of the original design. Be this as it
may, in every instance in Orissa the tower with its porch forms the
temple. If enclosed in a wall, they are always to be seen outside.
There are gateways, it is true, but they are always subordinate, and
there are none of those accretions of enclosures and gopuras that form
so marked a characteristic of the southern style. There generally are
other shrines within the enclosures of the great temples, but they are
always kept subordinate, and the temple itself towers over everything
to even a greater extent than that at Tanjore (Woodcut No. 191),
giving a unity and purpose to the whole design, so frequently wanting
in the south.
Other contrasts will come out as we proceed, but, in the mean-
while, few examples bring out more clearly the vast importance of
ethnography as applied to architecture. That two people, inhabiting
practically the same country, and worshipping the same gods under
the guidance of the same Brahmanical priesthood, should have adopted
and adhered to two such dissimilar styles for their sacred buildings,
shows as clearly as anything can well do how much race has to do
with these matters, and how little we can understand the causes of
such contrasts, unless we take affinities or differences of race into
consideration.
History.
Thanks to the industry of Stirling and others, the main outlines
of the history of Orissa have been ascertained with sufficient accuracy
to enable us to describe its architecture without the fear of making