Konark Sun Temple Orissa Temple of Sun God Legend behind Sun temple

The greatest fear man can have, is the fear of losing God's love.

Konark Sun Temple

The Black Pagoda

One of the most magnificient temples dedicated to the Sun God stands at Konark, in Orissa. The temple was built by Raja Narasimhadeva to mark a military victory. Since the rulers used to worship the Sun, the temple was built to resemble the chariot of Surya, the Sun God. It had 24 wheels, each being 10 feet in diameter. Each wheel had a set of spokes with intricate carvings. Seven fabulously carved horses dragged the chariot-temple, straining at the neck to pull the mighty chariot. Together, the 24 wheels of the Chariot and the 7 horses drawing it symbolize the passage of time. The front of the main entrance has two giant stone lions crushing elephants.
The whole temple is filled with beautiful carvings of animals, men, warriors and several scenes from life at that time. The temple contains 3 images of the Sun god, so positioned that each catches the rays of the Sun at dawn, noon and sunset. The name of the city Konark is derived from a combination of the words - Kona means Corner and Arka meaning Sun.

THE LEGEND
According to folklore, Samba, son of Lord Krishna, was struck with leprosy due a curse of Lord Krishna himself. Samba was inordinately proud of his beauty. So proud that he once made the mistake of ridiculing sage Narada, who was not renowned for his looks. Narada decided to have his revenge on the arrogant boy. He managed to lure the unsuspecting Samba to the pool where Krishna's wives and other gopikas were bathing and frolicking in the water. When Krishna heard that his son had become a peeping tom, he was furious and cursed him with leprosy. Realizing later that the innocent boy had been tricked by Narada's cunning, Krishna was mortified. But he could not revoke his course; all he could do was advise his son to worship the sun god 'Surya', healer of all diseases, and hope for a cure.

Samba for twelve years underwent harsh atonement and finally was sucessful in pleasing the Sun God (Surya), the healer of all skin diseases, and was cured of his ailment. Samba was so delighted that he decided to erect a temple in the honour of Surya. The day following his cure, while Samba was bathing in the river Chandrabhaga, he discovered an image of the god, which had been fashioned out of Surya's body by Viswakarma. Samba installed this image in a temple he built in Mitravana, where he worshipped the god.
Since then throughout the ages this place has been regarded as sacred. The day when Samba was cured of his disease is known as 'Samba Dasami' and is celebrated as a festival to revere the Sun God as the healer of all diseases.

Centuries later King Narasimha Deva-I of the Ganga Dynasty ordered a temple to be built there as a symbol of political supremacy of his dynasty. The chief sculpturer of this temple Bishu Maharana and his team of 1200 sculpturer when failed to fix the Arch stone of the temple and the time was out running to the last day, every body was under threat that if the work can't be done before time the king may behade them all. At the same time Dharmapada, the young son of Bisu Maharana, arrived there as a visiting onlooker. Taken birth after a month of his fater left house on kings call to built the konark, Dharmapada was on his way to meet his father after 12 years. He was carrying some guava of their backyard tree as an identification of him before his father. When he reached construction site he found his father there.
He became aware of the anxiety looming large among the architects. Dharmapada asked his father what is the problem and Bishu explained about the unstable Arch stone and his unability to fix that. Dharmapada said "let him try to fix the Dadhinauti (Arch stone) of the temple" and he climbed up to the peak and completed work successfully before the sunrise .
He surprised everyone by doing that himself. But the sculpturers had a fear that if king come to know that a child did which 1200 sculpturers couldnot, then defintely they will be behaded. But brave Dharmapada had a solution to this issue also. He said "if his sacrify can save the life of the 1200 sculpturers then his death is most justified. And he climbed up and jumped into the deep sea. "

The temple was also named as the Black Pagoda by European sailors, who used it as a landmark for navigation. The magnificient architecture is a tribute to the Orissan school of temple art. The Sun temple has been declared as a part of the World Heritage List from 1903.

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