From the Ruins of – Sun Temple of Konark

What the world and India too associates Odisha with...

‘Riding the chariot of stone,

There stands life in the vehicle of dawn,

Ready to take flight on wheels twenty-four and horses seven,

As the first rays of sun descend from heaven’

The Black Pagoda

Annals of Mughal Era and various sailors of the time mentioned a gigantic Black Pagoda at the confluence of Chandrabhaga and Bay of Bengal that marked an important entrance to the country and that the pagoda would help navigate their ships when compasses would go wrong around the area. About 70 km from Bhubaneshwar (the capital city of Odisha) stands this dying temple where still etched in the stone, lies a rhapsody of Kalinga’s ancient glory – The Sun Temple of Konark, the same Black Pagoda. Last month I took you guys to the lesser known sun temple of India and many asked why it wasn’t the most renowned one. So, this month, I will try and answer that!

Can you see that one broken horse at the left entrance of the temple??

This 13^th century temple, that took thousands of craftsmen 12 years to build, not only ended up putting Orissa on the world’s map by being one of India’s first UNESCO Heritage site but also immortalized the Ganga Dynasty. The temple was designed as a gigantic chariot for the sun god with twelve pairs of chariot wheels for the 12 months of the year and seven galloping horses symbolizing the 7 colours of the rainbow, coming together to form the sunbeam. Also, interestingly, with three of the horses on the left and four on the right side of the temple, locals believe the chariot was designed to move in circles figuratively, mimicking the rotation of sun! (Our guide informed us this!) Did people really know of sun’s rotation back then? Makes you wonder right?

The Iconic Chakra or Wheel of the Konark Sun Temple.

The wheels on the other hand have identical floral motifs surrounding symbolic motifs referring to the regular tasks of the day on diamond shaped spokes, defining hours of a day. Each wheel apparently served as a sun dial with 12 spokes and the, 24 aka 12 pairs of wheels, which I initially thought were for the 24 hours of the day, actually symbolized the 12 months of the year of Hindu Calendar corresponding to both the Shukla Paksha and the Krishna Paksha. Oh, and they all have a different Hindu deity or king enacting royal duties in the center – our guide didn’t know what the centers symbolized.

The lion-elephant-human twins that welcome you to the temple is a very common statue in Odisha. Lions resemble the pride and elephants resemble the wealth which you lose with pride and both -pride of wealth destroy humans. Thus, at the entrance of every temple, they stand to tell people to enter the house of God with humbleness.

Impressed with the place already? But there was so much more to the temple than being a simple chariot. The temple was also sanctuary of art and a school of life for the ones who would see it that way. As you enter the Konark temple, you are welcomed by the two huge lions trampling elephants that stand on a human, asking people to enter the premises with humbleness! And then you are lost is a plethora of exquisite carvings on what remains of Sun Temple. 

You can see three of the four distinct layers of sculptures that run throughout the perimeter of the temple.

The carvings on the base of the current structures that stand in the campus: ‘the Nata Mandir’ – the dance hall, and ‘Jaga Mohan’ or /Bhadra Deula’ – gathering hall that served as an entrance to the main temple (the main temple unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore) have four distinct layers of sculptures. The lowermost layer has engraved arrays of animals, primarily elephants and horses in natural setting, while the top most layer has an army with people and animals running throughout the perimeter of the temple. The middle two layers however have different kind of sculptures in the Nata Mandir and Bhadra Deula which defines these structures in a unique way!

Musicians and dancers welcome you to Nata Mandir.

The Nata Mandir welcomes you with figurines of with apsaras dancing and musicians playing different instruments, telling you exactly what the purpose of this open roof pillared hall was. 

Dancers hold their pose, while the flute player is getting ready!

As you go up the pillars of the Nata mandir not only has the apsaras and musicians continuing their orchestra but also has various carvings of the audience, enjoying the show, giggling, lost in their own admiration, watching the dance from windows and so much more! Before you know it, you are lost in this festival of local art forms yourself, even though the magic now exists only in stone.

-       Konark is one of the very few medieval structures in the country that prove India had trade relations with Africa, but even more fascinating is that it is the only structure that indicates people of Kalinga might have seen Giraffes (brought to India) back in those days! Check out the Giraffe in the top-middle plaque.

The Jag Mohan on the other hand tells you of the world of people back then giving you a glimpse of life, trade, administration, religion, art and so much more from that era. There are several images of daily life like farming, trade relations, court work, kitchen activities, yoga, dressing up and public appearances, phases of life etc while some also tell you of the kingdom’s court rituals, trade relations and local festivals. 

Pages from Kamasutra etched on Konark Sun Temple's walls.

More well-known plaques of the Jag Mohan though are erotic sculptures of Mithunas etched in different positions from the Kamasutra and these are as elaborate and detailed as those at Khajuraho! There are also plenty of images of Hindu Deities and Yoginis making this structure as sacred as the Bada Deula aka the main temple.

The ruins of the Bada Deula. It is said that the Main temple had a suspended statue of  Surya that would get hit by the first ray of sun! You do see the ray of sun that is directed towards the Bada Deula, but the temple and the idol are long gone.

Unfortunately, like I mentioned before, the main temple doesn’t not exist anymore and all you can see of the main temple is its base and some remnant pillars with secondary statues of Sun God. The Bhadra Deula too, was on the verge of collapsing too due to weakening of the joints between the walls and the shikhara (pyramidal stop of the temple) and the sheer pressure the shikhara exerted, the entire structure was sealed off in 1903 and filled with sand! 

What remains of the Mayadevi Temple now.

The campus also has ruins of Mayadevi Temple – dedicated to the wife of Surya, a Vaishnava Temple that was recently discovered in 1956, proving the Ganga dynasty’s Vaishnava affiliation, a Bhog Ghar aka kitchen and a couple of wells.

Repair, Damage and All sealed off. This was one of the entrances to Jaga Mohan. You can see a layer of Laterite stone near the top of the gate, suggesting that the interior of the temple was probably made of a different kind of stone.

Given historic records prove that the temple was in ruins by late 17^th century and after that it was lost to sand and wilderness until late 19^th century, I am just glad the temple was rediscovered, and it stands today for people to etch it in their memory. But still its present state saddens me. I wonder if people, in another 50 years, would even be able to see this amazing structure anymore. Silently by the Bay of Bengal, this temple, once an architectural wonder, is just trying to survive now for the future generation. But why? What happened?

Minimal damage of Nata Mandir puts the theory of Kalapahada into doubt zone. 

I know I am totally risking sounding like an encyclopedia here, but the reason behind its current state is a total enigma! Some Odiya religious texts state that an Afghan invader named Kalapahad destroyed the temple, which is disputed because the Nata Mandir and the Bhadra Deula were not destroyed in the attack. Historians also suggest that since the temple was primarily made of Khondalite stone which weathers due to moisture and salinity in the air, the temples proximity to the coast and constant cyclones in the area eventually destroyed the temple. 

Khondalite was used for various temples in the region but none of them have met the fate of Konark, which also makes a lot of historians doubt if the current ruined state of Konark is actually due to the weathering of Khondalite by the coastal winds. 

Some records suggest that early European attackers removed the magnetic stone under the crown stone of the Bada Deula, casing the main tower (which was built with laterite stone from within) to disintegrate into rubble, and weakening the walls of Bhadhra Deula (which also has and interior of laterite) rendering the place not fit for worship, leading to its negligence and current state of ruin. No matter what the real reason behind the current state of the temple is, ASI and UNESCO have taken up the arduous task of protecting and conserving what they have left of the temple, and so far, have done a great job at it.

Glimpse of the Konark Dance Festival from December 2018.

To celebrate the culture and art for what the temple stands for, and to recognize the effort of those thousand craftsmen who dedicated their life to build this magnanimous structure, Odisha Tourism and Odissi Research Centre organize two dance festivals in the vicinity of the temple. The Konark Dance & Music Festival has been held during the 3^rd week of February and the first week of December since 1986 and showcases mythological stories of the area and India in different classical dance forms of India. If you were mesmerized with the Nata Mandir, this festival is for you because it really does bring those images to life! This brings me to some important things you should know before visiting Konark:

How to Get to Konark and Where to Stay:

Bhubaneshwar is the closest international airport and Puri is the closest railway station to Konark Sun Temple. The most convenient way to get to Konark is to hire a cab from the Bhubaneshwar or Puri since it is part of the Odisha Golden Triangle. If you do plan to stay over at Konark, the only decent option near the temple is the OTDC Yatrinivas, Konark.

Join the audience or join the show, Konark gives both the options!

Some Important Tips:

- If only visiting the temple and you are not there for the Dance festival, I would suggest going to the temple as early as possible (around 6-6:30!) as the area gets very hot and humid during the day. I was there from 8-10 a.m. and was completely dehydrated due to the coastal heat.

-   Carry a cap, scarf or umbrella and a lot of water because the place does get hot and humid in almost every season.

-   For food and washrooms, the only decent option in the vicinity is OTDC Yatrinivas. Please do not carry food in the temple campus.

-   Visiting hours for the temple are from 5am to 11pm.

-   Do hire a guide here! Not everything they say might be true, but without a guide you would not be able to notice all the unique and special statues in the temple.

-  For Konark Festival tickets, please check http://konarkfestival.com/

Experience the magic of Konark Feb 19 - 21 and December 1 - 5th!!

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