5.3. Secular Scenes and Figures in Odisha temples

The temples being primarily the houses of Hindu gods & goddesses, the secular figures are comparatively rare. But mostly executed by secular craftsmen, sculptors portray many aspects of their every day life. As Rabindranath Tagore observes, "The great and little deeds of man, the good and evil occurrences of his daily life, his work and play, his war and peace, his home and the world, cover up the whole temple through series of wonderful pictures." On the walls of Orissan temples can be seen the king with all his majesty, soldiers, siksadana 47

scenes, dancers, hunters and even common labourers carrying loads or dragging stone, indeed the whole gamut of life depicted on the hard surface of stone. In the Parsuramesvara temple we find grills depicted with dancers and musicians. The dynamic sweep and rhythmic movement of the limbs of the dancers endow them with vitality rare in the dance sculptures of India. A similar grill representing dancers hails from the Kapilesvara temple complex. On the walls of the Muktesvara, Brahmesvara, Lingaraja and Konarka temples the depiction of female dancers is fairly common particularly natamandira of Konarka, with its numerous dance sculptures, is a veritable lexicon of Odisi nrtya. In the early temples the percentage of secular figures and scenes is very low. They are completely lost in the vast multitude of divine figures. As it is said earlier, with the evolution of temple architecture more and more secular figures were included into the scheme of decoration and on the temples belonging to the latter period they constitute a considerable number. The royal persons and ascetics are conspicuous by their absence in the early temples. The royal persons appear on the temples like the Brahmesvara and the Lingaraja of Bhubaneswar. In the Varahi temple at Caurasi figures of nobility are carved on the bands, which form the lowest level of slopping roofs of the mukhasala. On the Brahmesvara temple a panel depicts a scene of what K.C. Panigrahi mentions, a king with his courtiers. The vimana and the mukhasala of Lingaraja temple contains more than one panel depicting royal figures. One of them, i.e. on the southern facade of the vimana, depicts a royal figure with a sword in the right hand and what supposed to be a copper plate in the left. The royalty of these figures are indicated by the parasols held over their heads. It seems, the practice of carving figures of kings and the members of the royal family started with the advent of the Somavamsis and this practice was followed by the Gangas. Royal figures also appear on the walls of the Sun temple at Konarka. We find a number of panels depicting king NarasimhaI in various roles. He sits with folded hands laying down his royal sword at the feet of the Sun god; he demonstrates his skill as an archer, and discusses with learned men. A panel shows the king on a swing in the company of female attendants, while there other panels depict him as worshipping Siva-linga, Durga and Jagannatha, a scene, which not only captures the essence of his liberal policy but also represents the religious harmony that prevailed in medieval Orissa. 48

The figures of ascetics (rsis) were introduced for the first time in the Muktesvara temple and followed in the other notable temples thereafter. The ascetics are generally depicted in the act of teaching. Sometimes they are shown in emaciated bodies. In the Brahmesvara and the Lingaraja temples the ascetics are found seated against the pillows. Teaching scenes are also noticed on the Jagannatha temple at Puri and the Sun temple at Konarka. An inscribed chlorite sculpture from Konarka, now preserved in the Indian Museum Calcutta, depicts teaching scenes under a pillared pavilion. Another specimen in Victoria and Albert Museum, which can be claimed with any certainty to be of Konarka origin, depicts a seated guru and his royal pupil. Among the secular scenes, the scene of elephant capture is very common and occurs mostly in earlier temples. Hunting scenes occur in the temples like Laksmanesvara, Vaitala, Muktesvara temple etc. In the northern facade of the Parsuramesvara temple there occurs scenes, which has been described by M.M. Ganguly as 'Lion-hunt'.74 In this scene the lion, unlike the elephants found in the scene of elephant-capture in the same temple, has not been realistically treated. K.C. Panigrahi opines that it is a fabulous animal.75 The military scenes are fairly abundant in temple sculptures. There are many admirable scenes depicting the marching of the army, which consists of foot soldiers, cavalry and elephants. There are several panels in the pidhas of Lingaraja temple and in the upana of Konarka Sun temple, which depict the marching of soldiers with their usual weapons. An interesting panel from the upana of Konarka temple shows a cooking scene, which is typical of everyday life. The mode of catching elephants, and hunting of animals are also represented, of which there are several examples at Konarka. The maritime pride of ancient Kalinga inspired artists to depict boats in sculptures. An interesting sculpture, now preserved in Orissa state museum, shows two boats with elephants on them. The boat is also depicted on the bada of the bhogamandapa of Jagannatha temple of Puri, and below the feet of Bhairava images of Konarka Sun temple.