With many monuments and temples in India lying in a state of ruin and having fallen prey to marauding invaders, looters and cultural destroyers from foreign lands since the 9th century – thousands of such heritage structures come to mind be it in Delhi, Hampi Varanasi, Srinagar or Dwarka. Some have been restored while some have been forgotten and lost forever.
One such temple structure which has been undergoing renovation for decades is the Konark temple near Puri in Odisha state. Even though the temple is now covered in wooden supports and in protective fold, it still witnesses thousands of tourists, admirers and history buffs from across the world.
There are very few sun temples in the world but the Konark Temple leaves its imprint in the memory of each and every person who has visited it and taken a very close look at it. There are many portions of the temple where nobody is allowed, while some upper floors are permanently closed. Our local guide Das – a congenial character who spoke a gibberish of English, Hindi and Odiya, however, managed to inform that the source of destruction of this temple still remains shrouded in mystery.
He said it was destroyed between the 15th and 16th centuries by invaders from Persia and also the temple had suffered from natural calamities. The present temple is said to have been built in the 12th century by Narasimhadeva-1 of the Eastern Ganga dynasty but it is also said an earlier temple from 8th or 9th century existed in this place.
Since my sole interest of coming to Konark was to catch a glimpse of the magical way of measuring the time by looking at the length of the shadows on the intricately carved spokes in the wheels, my entire time was spent in how to deduce the time by looking at the shadow length. If one looks from a distance at the famous sun temple of India, it is nothing but a giant stone chariot that is dedicated to Sun God. Frankly when you look at the intricately carved figures - the seven horses and the 12 pairs of chariot wheels, each of them are very symbolic and represent or denote something.
Don’t miss seeing all the wheels as each one is different and carved differently. Each wheel has exquisite carvings ranging from leaves to fruits to flowers to birds to animals. The wider spokes in the wheel which at a glance looks like a hand watch has a big circle in the middle and each of these circles has a different carving – women exercising, dressing and looking into a mirror and women in various erotic postures. Even the outer rim of the wheel has a plethora of animal and bird motifs.
The 12 pairs of wheels of the stone chariot temple is nothing but 12 months in a year, explained our guide with pride. Usually only two wheels are showcased to explain their working as a sun dial while the rest 22 remains just a showpiece to display their carvings. The seven horses denote seven days in a week.
Each stone wheel is so huge and awesome that one can sit in a corner and gaze and wonder how such a masterpiece was carved. Further, the wheel diameter itself is about nine feet and nine inches. Looking at the wheel, one can see two types of spoke, eight wide spokes that are so beautifully carved and also 8 other spokes that are beaded and slim. Now if you want to know more about the working of the Konark chariot wheels, read it in the second part.
How To Reach There:
The Konark Temple is just about 65km from the capital city of Bhubaneshwar in Odisha. It is located on north eastern side of Puri [about 35 km] that is famous for its Jagannatha Temple and annual yatra.
One such temple structure which has been undergoing renovation for decades is the Konark temple near Puri in Odisha state. Even though the temple is now covered in wooden supports and in protective fold, it still witnesses thousands of tourists, admirers and history buffs from across the world.
There are very few sun temples in the world but the Konark Temple leaves its imprint in the memory of each and every person who has visited it and taken a very close look at it. There are many portions of the temple where nobody is allowed, while some upper floors are permanently closed. Our local guide Das – a congenial character who spoke a gibberish of English, Hindi and Odiya, however, managed to inform that the source of destruction of this temple still remains shrouded in mystery.
He said it was destroyed between the 15th and 16th centuries by invaders from Persia and also the temple had suffered from natural calamities. The present temple is said to have been built in the 12th century by Narasimhadeva-1 of the Eastern Ganga dynasty but it is also said an earlier temple from 8th or 9th century existed in this place.
Since my sole interest of coming to Konark was to catch a glimpse of the magical way of measuring the time by looking at the length of the shadows on the intricately carved spokes in the wheels, my entire time was spent in how to deduce the time by looking at the shadow length. If one looks from a distance at the famous sun temple of India, it is nothing but a giant stone chariot that is dedicated to Sun God. Frankly when you look at the intricately carved figures - the seven horses and the 12 pairs of chariot wheels, each of them are very symbolic and represent or denote something.
Don’t miss seeing all the wheels as each one is different and carved differently. Each wheel has exquisite carvings ranging from leaves to fruits to flowers to birds to animals. The wider spokes in the wheel which at a glance looks like a hand watch has a big circle in the middle and each of these circles has a different carving – women exercising, dressing and looking into a mirror and women in various erotic postures. Even the outer rim of the wheel has a plethora of animal and bird motifs.
The 12 pairs of wheels of the stone chariot temple is nothing but 12 months in a year, explained our guide with pride. Usually only two wheels are showcased to explain their working as a sun dial while the rest 22 remains just a showpiece to display their carvings. The seven horses denote seven days in a week.
Each stone wheel is so huge and awesome that one can sit in a corner and gaze and wonder how such a masterpiece was carved. Further, the wheel diameter itself is about nine feet and nine inches. Looking at the wheel, one can see two types of spoke, eight wide spokes that are so beautifully carved and also 8 other spokes that are beaded and slim. Now if you want to know more about the working of the Konark chariot wheels, read it in the second part.
How To Reach There:
The Konark Temple is just about 65km from the capital city of Bhubaneshwar in Odisha. It is located on north eastern side of Puri [about 35 km] that is famous for its Jagannatha Temple and annual yatra.
Location map:
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