Temples of Purushottama Kshetra Puri
by Ratnakar Mohapatra | 2007 | 135,363 words
This essay studies the Temples of Purushottama Kshetra (Puri) which is renowned for its historic and religious significance, situated in Orissa (Odisha) by the Bay of Bengal. Purusottama-ksetra is famous for the Lord Jagannatha temple and numerous smaller temples, it showcases the distinctive Kalinga architectural style. The region serves as a key ...
5.1. Decorative Female Figures in Odisha temples
a. Non-Iconic Figure- sculptures and Decorative Motifs:The non-iconic sculptures on temples can be divided into several groups such as female figures, erotic figures (scenes), secular scenes and figures, animal figures, caitya window medallions (motifs), kirtimukhas, scroll works, hallos, door frames decoration, architectural designs etc. Most of the temples of Orissa (Odisha), particularly the medieval period, were decorated with these motifs and with them they stood as the epitomes of beauty, breathing a religious favour and serenity around them. Decorative Female Figures: Among the decorative motifs of the Orissan temples, the female figures are the most beautiful products of the Orissan sculptors. The grace of woman has always been a favourite theme in Indian literature and art and on the temple walls of Orissa. The female figures occur in a variety of graceful poses and postures. The decorative female figures depicted in the mood of lassitude are known as alasa kanyas in Odisha. They are shown in various roles such as fondling a child, looking into the mirror, taking out anklets, playing on musical instruments etc. The variety of graceful attitudes, gestures and expressions usual with these figures gave the artist ample opportunity to exhibit the feminine grace to the fullest extent. The specimens from Rajarani, Lingaraja, Jagannatha and Konarka temples are like love poems written on stone in which the Indian conception of female beauty finds its supreme expression. The best specimens from Konarka are so sensitively modelled with remarkable artistic feeling and loving care that Coomaraswamy believes that 43
"sculptures of women are frankly the work of lovers". 57 The alasa kanyas mentioned above are also popularly known as nayikas. These figures are remarkable for their beauty and elegance and belong to the realm of sophisticated art. They are found in the recesses formed by the pilaster or in the intermediary rathas (pagas). In most cases they stand on pedestals formed by full-blown lotus; with their well-built breast, gentle hip, narrow waist and ineffable smile on the lips, these figures possess a powerful sensuous appeal. The sculptors had put their best to make these nayika figures most attractive and charming of all the figures on the temple walls. The "woman and the tree motifs" or the salabhanjika (the woman breaking the sala bough) is quite popular in Orissan art, several excellent representations of this charming motif are found from all-important temples of Orissa. The poetic idea that evens an Asoka tree blossoms at the magic touch of the foot of a woman, is a conventional tender expression, which is to be found in several Sanskrit works like the Meghadutam, Malavikagnimitram etc. and this conventional poetical idea has been executed in stone by the ancient artists of Odisha.