Its deterioration continued unchecked until the opening of the 20th Century when the British Archaeological Survey came to it. It is certain that its neglect began in the first half of the 17th Century when the tower, which was 174 feet high, gave way. And, there is a record in the Temple at Puri of an attempt by invading vandals to destroy it. Others have blamed earthquakes, lightning, sinking of the foundations in the sandy soil, etc.

One is founded in a native legend that the priests deserted it after mariners had profaned it by stealing a great lode-stone which rumor had set in the Vimana, (tower over the sanctuary), alleging the lode-stone drew their vessels irresistibly toward the shore.

Various suggestions as to why worship in it was given up have been offered. All of this temple, except the Jagamohan or Audience Hall, is in unrecoverable ruin. With the exception of Number VI the remainder of the reproductions are of stone sculptures from the Temple to Surya (the Sun-God) at Konarak, a small village on the coast of Orissa, and 19 miles north-east of the city of Puri. It was built by Krishna I., Rashtrakuta, King of Malkhed in the incredibly short period of twenty-three years, between 760 and 783 A. Though Moslem zealots have striven to destroy the carved figures, and time and earthquakes have weathered and broken away parts here and there, this great temple is still one of the most perfect examples of Dravidian architecture. That is, a sloping hill has been hewn away externally as well as internally, leaving the temple a solid mass of trap-rock about a sunken, cloistered court measuring 276 by 154 feet. It is a model of a complete temple such as might have been erected on the plain. This cave-temple is not a mere interior chamber cut in the rock. Certainly it is the most splendid of those representing Buddhist, Brahmanical, and Jain work near Ellora, a village of India in the State of Hyderabad and north-east of the city of Bombay.

The monolithic Temple of the Kailas has been characterized as the most wonderful and interesting monument of architectural art in India.

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