In some important aspects, all Hindu temples are the same. Symbolic recreations
of the Divine Cosmos, Hindu temples are structures whose very form reverberate
with symbolism and with meaning. Temples have also served as a meeting place
for all those living in the vicinity. Even today, in the villages of Orissa,
one can see that the village temple still carries out most of these functions.
Many of the sculptural scenes are taken from religious mythology and legends;
many represent military and courtly life and the activities which would have
been associated with the temple (such as pilgrimage, teaching, or performance).
The jewel-like quality of Orissan stone sculpture has often been remarked, and
the temples, from a distance, do indeed convey an impression of resplendent
beadwork. Orissan temples, and especially the Sun Temple at Konark, are famous
for their beautiful and often quite explicit erotic imagery. In Orissa, it has
frequently been suggested that the imagery has specific reference to Tantric
cults.Tantrism, which concentrates on worship of the shakti (female life
force), combined elements of both Buddhism and Hinduism with a belief in the
efficacy of magic ritual. Sublimated sexual power was seen as especially potent
in many Tantric rituals. Whether or not the erotic images were directly or
indirectly related to these practices, it is clear that they quickly developed
the status of an aesthetic convention, and became a regular part of the
decorative canon. The senses and feelings which are common to human experience
are used in Indian art to communicate some sense of the divine experience, and
it is the genius of the Orissan artist in doing this that infuses all Orissan
sculpture with an ineffable delicacy and spirituality that transcends the
subject matter.