The Sun Temple — a 13th-century chariot of the sun god carved as 24 wheel-sundials with 1,200 stone elephants, erotic sculpture, and a sanctuary so magnetically charged it sank ships before the magnet was removed
Konark (pop. 15,000) is a small village on the Odisha coast 35 km east of Puri, site of the Konark Sun Temple (Surya Deula) — one of the greatest architectural achievements of medieval India and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Built in the 13th century by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, the temple was conceived as a massive stone chariot of the sun god Surya, pulled by seven horses across 24 stone wheels (each a functional sundial accurate to within minutes). The main tower (now collapsed) was originally 70 meters tall; the surviving dance hall (Jagamohana) is 40 m…
The Konark Sun Temple was built c. 1238–1264 CE during the reign of Narasimhadeva I, the most powerful king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, following his victory over the Muslim Sultanate forces that had been raiding Odisha. The temple was a statement of Odia political and religious confidence — the largest Sun temple in India and one of the most technically ambitious structures of its era. The temple appears to have functioned as an active place of worship only briefly before being damaged, possibly in a Mughal invasion in the early 17th century; by the time British survey teams reached Konark…