Decorative Art of Parasuramesvar Temple

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Decorative Art of Parasuramesvar Temple authored by Late R P Mohapatra was published by the Odisha State Museum in 1991. The scholarly dissertation with rare photographs and architectural motifs pertaining to the surviving temple is a rare documentation. The said work has been out of print for more than a decade. There has been a constant demand by scholars, enlightened tourists and neo-researchers for the reprint of the book. The Odisha State Museum took all possible steps to reprint the book with old photographs in colour and a few additional photographs so as to fulfill the academic need of the researchers.

It is not out of place to mention that the Parasuramesvar temple, an exquisite shrine of the 7th century A.D. possesses a lot of architectural motifs and designs of the period which exhibits clerestory, latticed and trellised windows, a lot of sylvan motifs and has proudly introduced the saptamabrikas, the eight armed dancing Ardhanarisvar, Saiva and Sakta images with secular haunting scenes. It is a rarity.

The temple is ritualistically attached to the Lingaraj temple. In the month of Asadha, the festival image of Lord Lingaraj makes a ceremonial visit to the temple where the deity is ritually worshipped.

We are grateful to Prof. R.K.Mishra for carefully going through the whole book and correcting printing errors in the old book wherever existed. The book in its present format has only become possible because of constant inspiration and guidance given to us from time to time by Sri Manoranjan Panigrahy, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Culture Deptt. and Sri Amarendra Kumar Patnaik, Director and Addl. Secretary, Culture Deptt.

The monograph Decorative Art of Parasuramesvar temple is the outcome of a Research Scheme of the Odisha State Museum undertaken by late Dr Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra. On account of his sudden and unexpected demise on the 14th January, 1989 Dr. Mohapatra could not see the publication of this book, which to me is a unique work ever written by any scholar in Odisha giving adequate justice to the multitudinous decorative elements illustrated in the temple walls with dexterity, ingenuousness and inimitable genius betokening the early art tradition of Odisha.

Dr. Mohapatra was a pioneer in the disciplines of history and archaeology and a man of unusual character marked for his honesty, sincerity, dignity. integrity, suavity, discipline and punctuality. Being strong in temperament and stubborn in attitude and devoid of emotionalism but replete with scholasticism, he was in the habit of prevailing upon others.

A true scholar may be judged by the quality of his research works. Dr. Mohapatra in this count produced masterpieces based mainly on his survey and explorations of archaeological sites. He did not like to touch upon anything that are not supported by basic data and corroborative evidence. The best example is his Jaina Monument', a stupendous work grounded on his first-hand field survey of the 'Jaina sites in full coverage of Odisha. In fact, before publication of this volume Jainism in Odisha was considered to be a sectarian religion spread sparsely in the past. Dr. Mohapatra evidently proved that Jainism of Odisha in the past in this State was as significant as the mainstream of Indian religions like Buddhism, Saivism, Saktism, Vaisnavism etc. The survey and discovery of Jaina sites and iconographic identification of Jaina images are his greatest contribution to Odishan culture.

In the field of iconography, art history, he had numerous achievements to his credit and he was one of the most knowledgeable scholars. During the long period of over two decades of his curatorship in the Odisha State Museum his invaluable service to the cause of archaeological exploration was so deep that one cannot think of Odishan archaeology without him. The momentous and eventful career of Dr. R. P. Mohapatra was one of the continuous and devoted service to Odishan history and archaeology covering a period of only 25 years. An author of numerous research papers covering a wide range of subjects like Archaeology, Political and Cultural history. Literature many of which on the topics shrouded in oblivion, Dr Mohapatra specialized in everything bringing about a blend of all the subjects, of course, in the context of history. Some of his important books titled 'Udayagiri and Khandagiri, Jaina Monuments of Odisha' 'Military History of Odisha. Archaeology in Odisha, "Temple Legends' and several volumes in manuscript forms are not only unique contributions to indological study but a permanent testimony to his scholarly brilliance and erudition. His interdisciplinary approach to history and archaeology in accountability of details of facts made him a great historian and archaeologist. Each of his papers and each of his books replete with facts in detail indicates his thoroughness, deep insight and command over the subject. The vast research materials he enmassed could not be exhausted during his short span of life, but his numerous files heaped with the corinected data indicate that he had several plans in mind. Alas! the untimely death put a full stop to his planning.

The present book is one of his last works prepared in thorough survey and documentation of the particular temple. The temple of Parasuramesvar, the most sumptuously decorated edifice of the early period, in good state of preservation, attracted the attention of Dr. Mohapatra for detailed study. In fact, the temple is marked for architectural treatment and sculptural arrangement embellished with different mythological scenes, sculptures and varieties of motifs. The plastic decoration of the exterior though unsophisticated in nature is superb and unchallenging; every piece of stone is of an informative nature. The interior, like other Odishan temples is simply plain though the exterior walls are intricately and profusely carved and decorated. One inexplicable feature of the temple is the character of the junction between the Jagamohana and the Deul-which implies that the two structures were built at different times. The Jagamohana appears to have been the subsequent addition as the sculptural style of the both are different. The carving of major images and the decorative arrangement are more advanced than that of the Deul. The discrepancy in style has prompted the scholars to speculate that the two structures are not contemporaneous to each other.

Unlike other temples the Jagamohana is rectangular in shape with terraced roof supported within by two rows of pillars (3 in each side). The structure (29'4" x 22'6") is fitted with two doors, one to the south and the other to the west and four windows. This structure appears to be a model, on the basis of which more stylized and square-sized Jagamohana were developed in the later phases of evolution.

Dr. Mohapatra interestingly dealt with the peculiar and common features that are marked in the temple. Thus he touched upon, in short, the architectural peculiarities, sculptural arrangement describing the divine, semi-divine and animal figures, scroll work, varieties of motifs and panels, erotic sculptures, costumes and ornaments and other decorative elements etc. The book is decorated with a large number of illustrations.

It is a great pleasure to bring out this volume in memory of late Dr. R. P. Mohapatra. I am sure, the book will be of great use to the students and teachers of history, art history and archaeology. Lastly I express my gratitude to the Government in the Department of Tourism, Sports and Culture for providing funds for publication of the book