5.16. Mythological Stories in Odisha temples

The tendency for story telling is a feature of the art of the early as well as later Orissan (Odisha) temples. The theme always remained the Hindu mythology. In the Parasuramesvara temple the story of Siva curbing the pride of Ravana has been depicted in a panel on the front raha of the vimana. The same panel has been 70

repeated in the same position of the Satrughnesvara temple; the rahapaga of the vimana on the southern side bears the panel depicting Siva begging food from his consort. The recessed kanthi of the Svarnajalesvara temple is relieved with scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata such as, the meeting between Rama and Surgriba, Rama killing the golden deer, Rama killing Bali and the fight between Arjuna and Siva in the guise of Kirata. Mythological scenes have also been carved in the recessed kanthi of the Satrughnesvara temple. The edges of the lower eaves of the mukhasala roof of the Sisiresvara temple are relieved with reliefs from the epics. We can also notice scenes from the Ramayana on the lower most eayes of the mukhasala of the Simhanatha temple. Some of the episodes can be recognized in the reliefs of the Svarnajalesvara, Varahi temple at Caurasi, Gauri temple at Bhubaneswar, Sun temple at Konarka (detached sculpture in the Odisha State Museum), Anantavasudeva temple at Bhubaneswar, Somanatha temple at Visnupur and the bhogamandapa of Jagannatha temple at Puri. Some of the loose slabs found near the Manikesvara temple at Suklesvara are relieved with scenes from the Ramayana. The sculptures of the temple give us some indication about the mode of their carving. Some of the Orissan temple sculptures were lime washed, plastered or painted with red and taces of these are still visible. "The sculptures of Parasuramesvara and Muktesvara temples at Bhubaneswar and of the Konarka temples were lime-washed at different intervals of time, and those of the Lingaraja coated with fine plaster consisting of 3 parts of lime and 1 part of sand". 112 The brick red paint applied on the Muktesvara temple at Bhubaneswar was prepared by the mixture of clay with local red ochre or haematite. 113 The sculptures engraved in the bhogamandapa of the Lord Jagannatha temple, are made of yellowish sand stone rendered red-ochre. The brief survey of the various aspects of sculpture given above shows not only the achievements of Orissan art but also gives us fair insight into their characterstic features. As in other parts of India, stone is the material par excellence for sculptures in Orissa and besides Khondalite, the sculptors made use of hard chlorite in which an almost metallic finish was possible. The Orissan (Odisha) scuptors have shown their calibre by mastering over technique. They could care both large and tiny figures with astonishing skill and precision. In the Indian art, as a whole, the sculptures of Orissa occupy an honoured positon and even if palced side by side 71

with other Indian sculptures they can be easily identified as hailing from Orissa. For example, the wheels of Konarka are different from those found in South India. In the cult images some significant divergence can be noticd. The Sun images of Odisha are different from the Surya figures of South India where the feet of the god are left bare. The artistic movement found its fullest expression in the 13th century AD.