Built in 13th century, the Sun temple at Konarak is a monumental representation of the god Surya’s 100 feet high chariot; its 24 wheels are decorated with symbolic designs and it is led by a team of seven horses. It is at the shore of Bay of Bengal. It is believed during Sun rise, first Sun rays falls on the temple.
The unique thing about Konark Sun Temple is a Sun dial. Each wheels has a time clock which represents more or less like a model days wall clock. Using a slender object like a stick and placing it exactly in the center of the focal point of the wheel pivot, and the shadow falling on the beads between each spokes, it is quite fascinating to learn how the time is calculated.
One of the most known mystery about Sun Temple is it had a very huge powerful magnet placed in the temple and which kept the temple structure together for more than hundred years. It is also said that a statue of Sun God was floating on the air above the temple due to the lodestone magnet.
The magnet interfered with the compasses of the ships floating through the sea and it led to changing their direction and it even ended up in a shipwrecks. To save their trades and the ship, the Portuguese sailors destroyed the temple. They destroyed the magnet holding the entire temple together.
At the inner pillars of the temple you can see depictions of many male and female performers on the walls carved in unique mudras and holding unique styled instruments. The structure of the Konark Temple also had a Nritya Mandap or a Dancing Hall. This great hall was created with an intention of offering the Arti Nritya by Devadasi (The dancer girls)
Even today, the Konark Temple area is used to offer puja rituals to the Sun God during the religious festivals along with the dance show performance.
SUNRISE IN KONARK
Sun Temple is at the sea shore of Konark. When you visit the temple, make it a point to start early morning so as to reach the sea shore before the Sun Rise.
Thousand of people gather at the shore just to witness the beauty and paying salutations to the rising sun. The entire 20 minutes show is quite satisfying and then you can rush back to the temple.
Walls of Sun Temple has depiction of sex all across. During my visit, I curiously asked one elderly knowledgeable uncle why these acts are portrayed and he gave me this nice answer.
Hindu temples were a place of worship and they also had a purpose of spreading philosophy and knowledge. In ancient times, people used to visit temples as a pilgrimage and temples were treated like a knowledge centres. These sculptures were added to the temples to make people aware about the knowledge.
