Some Ancient Remains from Bhubaneswar

·期刊原文
Some Ancient Remains from Bhubaneswar

By Nirmalkumar Basu, M. Sc.
Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society
Vol.XV, 1929, pp. 259-262

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p. 259

The Buddhist and Jaina remains of Dhauli and
Khandagiri in Orissa are well known. Both these sites
lie from 3 to 4 miles to the east and west of the
village of Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar itself is full of
temples dating from the 8th century onwards; but
nothing of an earlier date had been hitherto
discovered in or near about that village. Quite
lately however, a numher of interesting monuments
have been found, some of which may date from the
early centuries of the Christian era.

About three years ago Professor Radhakumud
Mukherji of Lucknow first discovered a piece of
railing on a field lying to the north of the temple
of Bhaskareswar, which is locally known as Megheswar.
It was the corner-post of a railing having lenticular
sockets in two adjacent sides and two turbanned
figures in an attitude of adoration in the other two.
About the end of last June, we made a second
excursion to that area under the auspices of the
Orissa Historical Association and fortunately dug up
what seems to be the rest of the first piece of
railing-post at a spot which was about twenty yards
away from the place where the first had been found. A
friend of mine, Mr. Dhirendra Nath Basak, also
discovered a third piece of railing-post with sockets
for insertion in opposite sides and praying figures
on the other two at almost the same place. The last
two pieces lay buried in the soil and only a part of
them was exposed.

The place where railing-posts have been found is
near a slight mound upon which the temple of
Bhaskareswar is situated. This temple is of great
interest from more points of view than one. The
lingam which is enshrined here is of immense size,
being 3'--11" in diameter just above the Gauripatta
and 8'--8 1/2 at a height of about 5' above that
level. The taper of the column is 2" in 5'. It is
made of a single block

p. 260

of sandstone. The shaft bears rough chisel-marks up
to a certain height, above which the top seems to
have been hewn off in large fragments. It was held by
Rajendra Lal Mitra that the lingam was really an
Asokan lat, which had been subsequently defaced and
adapted by Saivas to suit their own purpose.* The
column is made of fine grained sandstone and does not
bear even the slightest trace of any polish on its
surface. That practically rules out the possibility
of an Asokan origin, as all of the Emperor's pillars
are known to bear a characteristically fine polish.
It is however not unlikely that "pillar was erected
here by some king after Asoka's fashion and a railing
was also set up all around, the remains of which now
lie scattered and buried in the soil at some distance
from the mound. The connection between the railing
and the column in the mound seems to be apparently
original; the chances of the adaptation of the column
to a lingam being comparatively recent is therefore
great. Near the temple of Rameswar, about 11/2 miles
west from the temple of Bhaskareswar as the crow
files, there is a large tank called Asoka Kunda. A
friend of ours, Mr. Achyuta Kumar Mitra of the
Mayurbjanj Arehaeological Survey, drew our attention
to a most important object which lay at the
north-east corner of the tank. It is the bell-capital
of a column of immense size, being 4'--5" in height
and as much as 19' in circumference at its widest
part. There is a plain surface at the top of the
pillar, which had a raised edge an around it, in
older to hold securely some piece of sculpture.
Beneath the ribbed bell-shaped portion is a frieze
adorned with scroll, flowers and animal figures. The
under side of the capital has a socket for insertion
of the shaft of a column, the shape of which is in
all probabilities hemispherical. The diameter of the
whole at the bottom is nearly 3'--3.8".

We shall try to calculate the height of a shaft
which might have accommodated the bell-capital with
data gathered from columns with bell-capitals in
other parts of India.(1) The height
______________________

* Mitra: Antiquities of Orissa, Vol II, pp. 89-90
Such wild theories are not seriously regarded at
the present day.--Ed.

p. 261

of the bell-capital of Asoka at Bakhira is 2"--10"
while the base and shaft are together nearly 38' high
(V.A. Smith: Asoka, pages 117-118). The height of the
column in question would accordingly be about 52'.
(2) The height of the bell-capital of Heliodorous is
1'--5" while the base and shaft together are 15'--7"
high. If we suppose that the present column was
modelled in the same proportion, the height of the
base and shaft would be about 44'.

Let us hypothetically assume that the present
bell-capital belonged to the column of Bhaskareswar,
for no other column of like size is known in or near
about Bhubaneswar; and then see to what conclusions
it carries us. The present base of the column is
3'--11" in diameter. The taper is 2 1/2" in 5'; the
column should therefore have been 15' above the
present base in order to fit into the whole in the
bell-capital with the diameter of 3'--3.8". A
bell-capital of 4' height, and perhaps mounted with
an animal figure of similar height resting upon a
column only 15' long would be absurd. So that a part
of the column must be embedded in the mound; and this
portion may be anywhere from 29 to 33' in length. On
the other hand we should also keep clearly in mind
that the bell-capital and this column may be totally
unoonnected, a conclusion which is slightly favoured
by the petrological character of the two specimens.
The column is made of fine sandstone, while the
capital seems to be made of sandstone of a coarser
variety. Two lines of future research therefore,
present themselves to us. We have to search the
jungles of Bhubaneswar for a column of the above
description, and also to expose the column of
Bhaskarswar to its root, in order to determine its
actual length and see if it bore any inscription or
not. This operation is, however, likely to be
seriously objected to by the inhabitants of the
village.

It is not possible to say anything definite
regarding the age of these ruins. The youngest
railings that have been discovered in India are of
the 3rd century A.D. But lately the Orissa Historical
Association has also discovered a small railing-post
at Lalitgiri in Cuttack district, the remains of
which place

p. 262

appear to belong to the 9th--10th. century A.D. on
epigraphic grounds. It is thus clear that the use of
railings was carried down in Buddhist centres in
Orissa till as late as the 10th century A.D.
approximately. The very fact that it is a piece of
railing does not therefore carry us far in the matter
of dating. Stylistically however, the figures on the
Bhubaneswar railing-pieces are old. The heads of the
human figures are turbanned, with occasionally a knot
done somewhat in the fashion of Barhut. The nature of
the turbans, the gloved hand, the high boots and the
short clothing suggest however, that the figures
should be equated with similar figures in the Rani
Gumpha at Udayagiri. The modelling is more in the
round, the folded hands do not lie flat upon the
breast but are pointed forwards. It is possible
therefore that this sculpture is posterior to Barhut.
This is perhaps all that can be said at present
regarding the date of the railing-pieces.

The date of the bell-capital is almost equally
uncertain. From a lack of polish it is clear that it
does not belong to the reign of Asoka, but is likely
to be later. The frieze at the base of the capital
bears a scroll unlike those on Asokan pillars. Our
guide, Mr. Mitra, said that an eminent archaeologist
to whom he had pointed it out, had said that it was
similar to a frieze on a Sunga capital. This may or
may not be correct; we should rather search more
assiduously in the jungles of Bhubaneswar and carry
on excavations in the mound of Bhaskareswar before
pronouncing anything very definite regarding the age
of the present finds. Only this much can be said with
certainty that these remains are far earlier than the
oldest temples in Bhubaneswar and that they might be
near the Udayagiri sculptures in the point of
antiquity. They are probably later than Barhut.

The three pieces of railing have been lodged for
the present at Roy's Museum in Puri.