By Deepak Kumar Nayak
CUTTACK: The 15th Century CE Gopinath Dev temple in Kothasahi village in Pipili block of Puri District is undergoing repairs and renovation. The temple is a traditional Rekha Deula built in the Kalingan style using Khondolite stone blocks. The Vimana of the 40 feet high temple stands on a highly raised platform.
The temple had been documented by the Intach team during the survey of the Ratnachira River valley. According to local legends, the temple was constructed during the reign of Suryavamsi Gajapati Kapilendra Deva in the 15th Century CE. The celebrated Gajapati built this temple dedicated to Gopinath Krishna along with a Shiva and Devi temple too. There are a set of hereditary Brahmin families whose forefathers had been granted lands for the upkeep and rituals associated of these temples.
The temple enshrines a beautiful carved image of Gopinath Krishna, stylistically of the period of 14th/15th Century CE. The three feet high Gopinath Krishna stands in a tribhanga pose with both his hands playing flute. He wears an ornamentally carved Kiritamukuta and a long Vanamala hanging from his neck. A scarf is shown flying in air below his shoulders. Over his head we see the leaves of a Kadamba tree’s branch, similar to the Gopinath images elsewhere in Odisha. Krishna is flanked with Sridevi and Bhudevi on either side. The pedestal is a Biswadalapadma over which Krishna and all other divinities stand. Below the lotus petals there is a group of cows and Garuda looking upwards towards Krishna with a feeling of devotion. This intricately carved image is in a good state of preservation. The doorjamb of the Garbhagriha has an early era Navagraha Panel.
While the temple is devoid of any external sculptural depictions, the Parsadevata niches have replaced inmages. The original images of Varaha, Trivikrama and Nrusingha have been kept in the small room built in front of the Vimana in later years. A miniature image of a Jain Tirthankar, images with royal ceremonies is also seen in the temple premises. These images have got notable iconographical similarities with Gajapati Kapilendra Deva’s images found at Kapileswar Temple and the Kapali Mutt at Bhubaneswar.
In spite of its antiquity, the temple of is not a protected monument both under the State Archaeology Department or the ASI. It is currently managed by a village committee under the trusteeship of Radhashyam Rath. The Intach team, comprising of Deepak Nayak, Dr. Biswajit Mohanty and Anil Dhir inspected the site recently and found that the external walls of the Vimana was being plastered using modern day cement. Half the upper portion has already been plastered and coated with lime wash.
This unscientific conservation will render the antiquity to be destroyed. The INTACH team has discussed with the villagers and temple keepers and tried to impress them to keep the temple in its original form. A report was given to State Convener Amiya Bhushan Tripathy who has immediately written to the State Culture Department to stop the work. Intach has recommended that a group of experts from the State Archaeology should be sent to have a detailed study on the historic and archaeological aspects of the site. Furthermore, all the three temples in Kothasahi village should be declared protected monument under the State Archaeology Department.
Intach has also said that the Cement and Lime coating that has been already applied should be removed. The original Parsadevata images should be restored in their appropriate niches after proper security measures have been taken. The multitude of loose lying images should be moved to the Odisha State Museum.
(The writer Mr Deepak Kumar Nayak, is a leading Heritage Researcher, INTACH, Cuttack Chapter).
