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APPENDIX III
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The predominance of the great saiva centre at Bhuvanesvara, or Amratirtha, continued for centuries until it was eclipsed by the final establishment of the cult of Jagannātha at Puruşottama or Puri. The great temple of Jagannātha at Puri ( the Vimāna or the sanctum and the Jagamohana) was erected by Anantavarman Codaganga (1078-1148 A. D.) towards the close of the eleventh century, but the architectural style is considered to be degenerate in comparison with the classic examples of Orissan art at Bhuvanesvara. The Eastern Gangas of Kalinga extended their rule over the whole of Orissa in the second half of the eleventh century. But their tutelary deity was Gokarnasvāmin, or Gokarnesvara Siva, who is so often mentioned in their inscriptions, and whose shrine was located on the top of the Mahendra mountain in Ganjam District. Vajrahasta (1038-68 A.D.), the grandfather of Anantavarman Codaganga, is called parama-māhesvara or & devout worshipper of Siva in one of his inscriptions. Nevertheless the establishment of the temple of Jagannātha at Puri was a turning-point in the religious history of Orissa. A famous Vaisnava scholar, Naraharitirtha, a disciple of Anandatirtha, the founder of the Madhva'school, was the regent of Orissa for twelve years during the minority of Narasimha II (1278-1306 A.D.), and built the temple of Yogānanda-Nrsimha at Sri-Kurmam in Chikakole Tāluku of the Ganjam District in 1281 A. D. Other inscriptions recording gifts by Naraharitīrtha have been found in the temple of Kūrmeśvara at Sri-kurmam and that of Lakşmi-Narasimhasvāmin at Simhācalam near Waltair. The final triumph of Vaisnavism, or rather Neo-Vaişpavism, in Orissa was not, however, achieved until long after the fall of the Eastern Gangas. The new empire of Orissa extending from Medinipur to Trichinopoly was built up by Kapilendra (1435-70), who liberally patronized the great temple at Puri. His successor Puruşottama (1470-97) added the Bhogamaņdapa to the temple of Jagannātha. It was during the reign of his successor Pratāparudra (14971541) that Neo-Vaisnavism became paramount in the religious life of Orissa owing to the long residence of the Bengali saint Caitanyadeva in the country and his powerful influence on the king and the people. Unfortunately, as ably demonstrated by R. D. Banerjea, the supremacy of the new Vaisnavism in Orissa coincided with the political downfall of the country; and “the acceptance of Vaişnavism or rather Neo-Vaişnavism was the real cause of the Musalman conquest of Orissa twenty-eight years after the death of Pratāparudra." So far as the equilibrium of faiths was concerned, the predominance of
ea, the dd the pecanyadeva, te of 6
to the same type as the Sikharas of the Deogadh temple and the later temple at Nachna Kuthara. Sometime during the course of the 9th century A. D., temple types in Orissa began to change and the Sikhara grew taller. It was at this time that the curve of the spire became abrupt near the Amalaka. The only known examples of this type are the three small temples in Baudh town." J BORS, Vol XV, p. 80. The Daśávatāra temple at Devagarh on the Vetravati river is believed to be a monument of the Gupta age (early fifth century A. D.). It was dedicated to Vişnu whose image must have been installed in the sanctum. A short inscription in Gupta Brāhmi characters on a big square pillar refers to the gift (dāna) of Bhagavata Govinda, obviously the founder of the temple. See Dr. V. S. Agrawala's paper on the temple in Art and Thought (Luzac, 1947), p. 51.
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