Some Ancient Remains from Bhubaneswar

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



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.