Chapter 2 - Characteristics features of Orissan Temples

with other Indian sculptures they can be easily identified as hailing from Orissa. For example, the wheels of Koṇārka are different from those found in South India. In the cult images some significant divergence can be noticd. The Sun images of Orissa 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. 6. Paintings of Orissan Temples: Orissa, the land of the artistic Utkaḷas, occupies a proud place in India in respect of her ancient monuments, many of which are still in an almost perfect stage of preservation. But, the traditional painting in Orissa has not yet been highly placed. From the anciet time, painting in Orissa was prevalent and it had its own peculiarity with the regional paintings. From the ancient Purāṇas, Kāvyas, work of art, inscriptions and the Mädaläpänji of Lord Jagannatha temple, we find the vivid evidences of it. Pantings cannot be as durable as sculpture. So there is no clear proof of the ancient paintings from the pre-historic period except rock paintings of Sundargarh, Kalahāṇḍi and Sambalpur districts. a. Types of Paintings: Materialwise the traditional paintings of Orissa can be divided into four main branches i.e.1.Murals (paintings on wall), 2.Pattacitra (paintings on cloth), 3. Pothicitra (paintings and engravings on palm leaf) and 4.Paper paintings. This chronology is overlapping and not linear because all these four branches have been executed simultaneously. Professionwise, it is the art of the citrakaras, the traditional painters and novices as well as free lancers. The Murals and Patta paintings are the work of the citrakaras, whereas the palmleaf and paper are ascribed to the other group. Consdering the formats, the Orissan paintings are vertically divided into two groups, the Murals and miniatures comprising palmleaf patta and paper paintings. b. Subject Matters of Paintings: Every composition of the Orissan painting is divided into two major parts such as the subject matter of the painting and decorative pattern. Generally, the subject matters belong to representative categories. Again the representative class is sub-divided into natural and conventional form. The flora and fauna have been copied from nature as well as the traditional symbolic representations. The human figures were mostly drawn from memory and this explains the artistic 72