Konark is a small town in Puri district on the east coast of India in Bay of Bengal at a distance of 65 KM and 35 KM from Bhubaneswar and Puri respectively. It is the site of the Sun Temple (also known as the Black Pagoda) which was constructed with black granite by King Narasimhadeva-I (1236-1264 AD) of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty and a World Heritage Site. The temple is in the form of the chariot of Surya (Arka), the sun god drawn by seven spirited horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely decorated wheels, and is heavily decorated with stone carving. The entrance is guarded by two lions, which are each shown crushing a war elephant. Each elephant in turn lies on top of a human body. The temple symbolises the majestic stride of the Sun god. At the entrance of the temple is a Nata Mandir where the temple dancers used to perform dances in homage to the Sun god. All around the temple, there are various floral and geometric patterns.

The famous temple at Konarak, was built by Narasimhavarman in the middle of the 18th century and dedicated to Surya or the sun-god. It has been conceived as a huge stone chariot on immense wheels, dragged by seven rearing horses. The temple is now partly preserved. Its presiding deity, the Sun-god as seen here, is depicted in the typical north Indian manner, wearing boots, chain-mail armour, holding a lotus in each hand. He is riding a chariot driven by seven horses. On each side are his two wives, Chhaya and Suvarchasa, and the attendants Danda and Pingla.

On the plinth of the Jagmohana of the temple, at a height of about 50 feet from the ground, are installed colossal celestial musicians facing in all directions, playing on different musical instruments. These celestial maidens are shown playing the Veena. The massive proportions and powerful modelling of the figure, and a gentle smile on her face, express a sense of harmonious delight.

Another celestial maiden, similar to the Veena player, is the drummer. They are all in pink coloured sandstone of a rough texture. These figures are of colossal proportions yet very elegantly and beautifully carved.  

There are, besides, serious scenes where a teacher is shown surrounded by his students, in animated postures, full of life.

Narasimha, the great builder of the Konarak temple is shown here on a swing in his harem, surrounded by beautiful women and listening to music.
Another scene shows him appreciating literature in an assembly of poets patronised by him. Yet another shows his tolerance for faiths by presenting him before Siva, Jagannath and Durga.

There are several other similar representations of his life, and Konarak, with its rich sculpture, may be considered a storehouse of 13th century culture in Orissa.

The Orissan artists had produced images which were faultless in the perfection of their form and vitality, without giving up the conventional lines of grace and vigour. The examples of this school have sensuous charm and beauty of form. The Mithuna, or a pair of amorous lovers, glows with the exuberance characteristic of Orissan art. They have the eternal smile of lovers who are absorbed in each other. There are also human, divine and semi-divine figures in sensuous poses. The carvings contain couples in various amorous poses and are derived from the Kama Sutra. The temple is at present partly in ruins but preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and a collection of its sculptures is housed in the Sun Temple Museum, which is run by ASI. The great poet Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore wrote of Konark: "here the language of stone surpasses the language of man."

There is also another sun temple in Orissa called Biranchi khetra (Biranchi Narayan Temple)  in  Buguda, Ganjam District.

Architecture
Majestic in conception, Konark temple is one of the most sublime monuments in the world for its imposing dimensions and faultless proportions belonging to the Kalinga school of Indian temples with characteristic curvilinear towers mounted by cupolas. The main sanctum (229 ft. high) was constructed along with the audience hall (128 ft. high) having elaborate external projections. The main sanctum which enshrined the presiding deity has fallen off. The Audience Hall survives in its entirely, but only small portions of the Dancing Hall (Nata Mandir) and the Dining Hall (Bhoga-Mandap) have survived the vagaries of time. The Temple compound measures 857 ft (261 m) by 540 ft (160 m) and the alignment is on the east-west direction. The stones blocks at the temple are not joined by any limestone or cement. Instead, these are joined by making the two stone with plane surfaces jointed together as if two glass blocks are joined by a thin layer of gum.

Every part of the temple is covered with sculpture of an unsurpassed beauty and grace, in tableaux and freestanding pieces ranging from the monumental to the miniature. The subject matter is fascinating. Thousands of images include deities, celestial and musicians, dancers, lovers, and myriad scenes of courtly life, ranging from hunts and battles to the pleasures of courtly relaxation. These are interspersed with birds, animals (close to two thousand charming and lively elephants march around the base of the main temple alone), mythological creatures, and a wealth of intricate botanical and geometrical decorative designs. The temple wall carvings contain some erotic sculptures, which can be found primarily on the second level of the porch structure. The famous jewel-like quality of Orissan art is evident throughout, as is a very human perspective which makes the sculpture extremely accessible.

Incomplete Temple

Some historians are in the opinion that due to the early death of the king Langula Narasimha Dev, builder of the Konarak temple, the construction of the temple had been left in an incomplete state. As a result of this, the structure had eventually collapsed. But such theory is not unsupported by historical data. The records of Madala Panji of Puri Jagannath temple and some copper plates of 1278 A.D., state that the king Langula Narasimha Dev reigned till 1282. The Konark temple was completed between 1253 and 1260 A.D. as per the researchers. Therefore, the argument of temple collapse due to non-completion does not hold good.

Lodestone

A lodestone or loadstone is a naturally magnetized piece of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets that attract pieces of iron. Ancient people first discovered the property of magnetism in lodestone. Legends state that a lodestone was placed on the top of the Sun temple. Due to its magnetic effects, vessels passing through the Konark sea were drawn towards shore causing heavy damage. Other legends state that magnetic effects of the lodestone disturbed ships' compasses so that they did not function correctly. To save the ship, the Portuguese voyagers took away the lodestone, which was acting as the central stone and keeping all the stones, and the iron columns used to hold them walls together, of the temple wall in balance. Due to its displacement, the temple walls lost their balance and eventually fell down. But there is no record of this occurrence in any historical records.

Kalapahad

The fall of Konark temple rests with the Kalapahad as per the most popular theory about it. In 1508 A.D. Kalapahad invaded Orissa and destroyed Konark temple and many Hindu temples in Orissa. The Madala Panji of Puri Jagannath temple describes how Kalapahad attacked Orissa and Orissa came under Muslim control in 1568. It was difficult to break the Sun temple of Konark as the stone walls of which are of 20 to 25 feet (7.6 m) thick. The invader had managed to displace the Dadhinauti (Arch stone) and thus made a way for the temple to collapse subsequently and the roof of the Mukasala was also damaged, due to the stones falling down from the temple top. He also broke most of the images and other side temples of Konark.

The Pandas (priests) of Puri, to save the sanctity of the Puri temple, took away the Jagannath from the temple and kept the image in a secret place. Similarly, it is said that the Pandas of Konark took away the presiding deity of the Sun temple and buried it under the sand for years. Later on the image was said to have been removed to Puri and kept in the temple of Indra, in the compound of the Puri Jagannath temple. According to others, the original image of the Konark temple is yet to be discovered. But others hold the view that the Sun-god image now kept in the National Museum of Delhi was the presiding deity of the Konark Sun temple.

However, the Sun worship in the Konark temple was ended upon the removal of the image from the temple. This resulted in the end of pilgrimages to Konark. The port at Konark was also closed, due to pirate attacks. Konark was as glorious a city for Sun worship as it was for commercial activities, but after the cessation of these activities, Konark became deserted and was left to develop as a dense forest for years.

In 1626, the then king of Khurda, Raja Narasimha Dev, son of Purusottam Dev, took away the Sun image to Puri along with two other moving deities - Sun and Moon. Now they are found in a temple in the compound of Puri Jagannath temple.

It is recorded in the Madala Panji of Puri temple that in 1028, Raja Narasimha Dev ordered measurements to be taken of all the temples at Konark. At the time of measurement, the Sun temple was in existence up to its Amalak sila, i.e. about 200 feet (61 m) in height. Kalapahad had only destroyed its Kalas, the crowning stone and the Padma-dhwaja, the lotus finial and the upper portions.

As described earlier there was a big block of stone called Navagraha Paata placed in front of the Mukhasala. The then king of Khurda removed the block. The king had taken away many sculptured stones from Konark and constructed some portions of Puri temple with them. During Marahatta's time the outer compound wall of the Puri temple was constructed of stones from Konark temple.

It is reported that among all the temples the Naata Mandir or the Dancing hall of Konark was in its original form for the longest period, and that it was broken intentionally since it was considered an unnecessary structure during the Marahata administration.
In the year 1779, a Marhatta Sadhu had taken away the Arun Pillar from Konark and put it in front of the Lion's Gate of Puri Jagannath temple.

Hotels in Konark

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 November 2010 23:46