Sun Temple - Konark- Orissa- India

LOCATION: Konark is situated at comfortable distance from the famous religious and tourist centre of Puri (35 K.M.) and the capital city of Orissa, Bhubaneswar (65 K.M.)The nearest airport is Bhubaneswar. The nearest rail station is Puri.
Sun temple has been declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

History: Sun temple is probably constructed by Narashimhadev I in the mid-13th century. Konark was one of the earliest centres of Sun worshipping in India. It is also called as "Black Pagoda" to distinguish it from the "White temple"-the Jagannath Temple at Puri (a near by famous temple)

The Sun Temple:

Black Pagoda" is well known for its architectural magnificence with images of animals, foliage, men, warriors on horses and other interesting patterns. The entire temple has been conceived as a chariot of the sun god with 24 wheels, each about 10 feet in diameter. Seven horses drag the chariot with four horses in the left and three in the right.

The base part of the Chariot(Temple) is divided into 3 parts with estonishing piece of carvings.. the lowest section consists of images of horses, animals, dolls etc ... this section is meant for children. The middle section is fot the teen and young generation of people wid erotic type of carvings .. And finally the Upper part having sculptures of Gods and Goddesses is dedicated for the older people...

According to legend , Samba,son of Lord Krishna was cursed by Krishna with leprosy for entering the bathing chamber of Krishna´s wifes. It was decreed that he would be relieved of the curse by worshipping the sun God on the sea coast north east of Puri.

The Black Pagoda doesnot exist in its full structure now. According to the local people there, the temple once had a huge and strong magnet on top of the central structure which disturbed the navigation of the foreign ships sailing towards Calcutta. This made the sailors to destroy it. Because of that the inside part of the temple is totally damaged but still this is a place worth seeing