SUN TEMPLE
(KONARK)
mystic India
The Supreme achievement of Orissa's architectural genius is the Sun Temple at Konark,about 32 Kms north-east of Puri,which was built during the reign of the eastern Ganga King Narasimha Deva1,(1238-1264).
The great tower of this temple,which must have stood over 60 m high, has fallen but the assembly hall is still intact.The Konark temple is conceived of as a 'rath' or chariot of the Sun God,drawn by seven caparisoned horses.The base of the temple is an immense terrace with twelve giant Wheels,each 3 m high,on either side. On the raised platform,was thus created the temple building-erected in the conjoined parts forming the sanctum and the vestibule.The nat-mandir and the bhog -mandir were separate structures,all enclosed with a courtyard measuring 263.6 m by 164.5 m.
Exquisite sculptures embellished the immense outer surfaces of this architectural masterpiece.The exterior has been chiselled and moulded either into abstract designs or fantastic human and animal forms.The sculptures,executed in hard stone,are large,vigorous and full of warmth.Some of them depict erotic themes.These controversial love themes are later day encrustations on the mystic symbolism of Hindu religion,which in its more popular manifestations has absorbed and attributes mystic significance to sex,.
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