Shreeram College

Here are some sculptural depictions from the twin temples of Jagti (1) also known as Charisambhu in local parlance. The standing image of Nilamadhaba Vishnu displays marvellous workmanship of the sculptor. One can find a parallel of this image with the parsvadevatas in the Sun Temple at Konark and its presiding deity now housed in the National museum(?). Built in the black chlorite stone this idol seems to be a trend setting one in the field of sculptural art in Odisha.

Scholars assign the construction of the temples to the Bhanjas but the Somavamsis in all probability are the builders after wresting the region from them in the middle of the 9th century. Tradition of temple building flowed along the Upper Mahanadi valley from Sripura (Sirpur, Chhatishgarh) to Tribhubaneswar(Bhubaneswar, Odisha) by the patronism of the Panduvamsis more famous as the Somavamsis in West Odisha since the reign of king Janmenaya. Originally Vaisnavites, the rulers adopted Saivism as evident from their Abhisekanamas such as Mahabhava and Mahasiva etc. They built many temples dedicated to gods like Kesaba(Vishnu) and Aditya (Surya) referred to in the Sonepur Copper Plate Charter but lost in the river long ago. Likewise,the temple of Mahakaleswara at Baidyanath also fell to the furious flood of the river Tel leaving aside the temple of Kosaleswara. Extant temples like Kapileswara at Charda, Subarnameru and Rameswara at Sonepur though have undergone thorough changes during subsequent rulers, evidence of sculptural art trace their origin to the Somavamsis.

Seshasayie Vishnu with Laxmi and Gajalaxmi panels on the entrance to the Garbhagriha of these Saivite temples speak greatly about the beginning of the HariHara cult here which achieved its acme with the building of the twin temples of Jagti. A rare of its kind in one plinth, they resemble the Parsurameswara group of temples in Bhubaneswar. Absence of Kalasa and Dhwaja and only Ayudha instead atop the Khapuri of the Amalaka also set a trend as it was replicated in the great Lingaraj.
The entwined Nagakanya(3)seems to be a further development of that found on the pillars at Charda. The elaborate and minute foliage of "jali"works(4) got its perfection in Konark four centuries later !

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