The Majestic Konark Sun Temple

    In the middle of the 13th century A.D. Narasimhadeva-I, the king of the Ganga dynasty laid the foundation for one of the greatest architectural marvels of ancient India - the Sun Temple of Konark. The temple honours the Sun God, a relatively minor entity in the Hindu pantheon, and is a notable exception to the general rule of the main deity being either Lord Shiva or Vishnu or their kin. The entire temple is in the form of the huge chariot drawn by seven spirited horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely decorated wheels or chakras at its base. Though the temple provides a rare and detailed insight into the lives of people in ancient India, sadly it's mostly in ruins now.

    Tagore wrote of Konark - "Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man.” These particular stones give us a remarkable rendition about the lives of people in those times. The sculptures include deities, musicians, apsaras (celestial beings), dancers, lovers, and myriad scenes of courtly life, ranging from hunts, boxing matches and military battles to the royal meetings in durbars. Intricate botanical scenes describe the rich natural heritage at those times and geometrical decorative designs like the decorated chakras show the engineering ingenuity of those times. Konark is not as much a temple as it is a celebration of life.

Ajay and I in front of the Natya Mantapa with the Temple behind it. The two gaja-simhas are just behind us.

    The temple is held together by iron rods attached to blocks of stone and a few iron bars provide earthing and structural support. Like most other temples of those times, it is built out of weathered sandstone which lends itself to creating intricate sculptures. It has three distinct structures – The outer Natya mantapa with intricate dance poses, the pyramid-shaped audience hall (128 ft.) and the partially destroyed main sanctum (229 ft.)

The Natya Mantapa:
    An appreciation of music and dance is essential to understanding ancient Indian temple architecture. The Natya mantapa of the temple is filled with 128 sculptures of artists dancing and playing various musical instruments.  Two gaja-simhas (elephant-lions - mythical creatures) at the eastern entrance welcome visitors to the temple. The temple was not just a place of worship, it provided a platform for art and culture to flourish.

The various poses in the Natya Mantapa

The Audience Hall:
    The temple displays a fusion of South and North Indian architecture and also imbibes distinct designs never seen before in Indian temples. The audience hall is surprisingly pyramidal in shape, generally not a shape associated with Indian temples, and the main sanctum is the typical Aryan shape. Orissa in those times was known to export hemp and there is a scene where Raja Narasimha Deva meets emissaries from Africa; so it is entirely possible that the pyramid-shaped audience hall temple was influenced by the pyramids of Giza. To answer the obvious question of how the people in that sculpture were identified as African - there’s a huge giraffe in the frame and the men are wearing skirts!

    Only one of the seven proud horses that carried the chariot shaped temple remain today, bravely leading alone what he once led with his brothers. The entrance to the sanctum of the main temple through the audience hall has been walled off by the British in 1905, ostensibly to preserve the 'super specimen of old Indian architecture'.

The pyramidal audience Hall behind the last of the seven horses.

The Main Sanctum:
    Though the main sanctum was partially destroyed, three granite statues of the Sun God survived and adorn the main sanctum on all sides but the Eastern one. These statues are made of granite, unlike the rest of the temple which is made of soapstone. The statues convey the mood of the Sun God at various stage of the day – the Southern statue is childlike and eager, the Western is manly and solemn and the Northern one looks tired, probably due a hard day's work! These statues are perhaps a reference to the various stages of life as described in the Hindu scriptures.

The now destroyed main sanctum of Konark(Southern Side). Notice the statue of Sun God on the top.

Rest of the Temple:
    The name Konark is derived from the Sanskrit word Kona (meaning angle) and Arka (meaning sun). The sun temple, no surprises here, faces the East and has 12 chakras that can be used to tell the time of the day based on the angle of the shadow they case. The bottom layer of the temple has sculptures of thousands of elephants, used either in battle or in construction of the temple. Elephants were used to haul stones using a specially built ramp. Some are of the opinion that these elephants were given drugs to enhance their strength and forced into musth to enable them to carry the huge rocks they would have otherwise been unable to. A few of the scenes even describe the gruesome execution of prisoners by these elephants.

     The temple has two beautiful statues of war elephants on the northern side and two intricately carved war stallions on the southern side crushing enemies. Surely a trophy of a king who loved war too much... There is a well nearby that probably served as the water source for visitors. Behind the main temple, there is a temple for the main deity’s wife - The Chhayadevi temple and another brick temple from the 10th century.

One of the two impressive war stallions on the Southern side of the temple

One of the two elephants on the Northern side of the temple

Konark Museum and ASI Restoration work:
    The Konark museum nearby has quite a few of the relics that had fallen off from the main temple. There are even pictures of how the temple would have looked if the main sanctum had not been destroyed. There is also an interesting frieze with the five main Indian Gods - Indra, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Surya. 

    This temple is unfortunately not as well preserved as Khajuraho or other South Indian temples. After enduring centuries of sea breeze eroding the walls of the temple, wars with zealous Muslim rulers intent on wiping out Hindu artifacts and British treasure hunters interested more in loot than conservation, the temple is a pale shadow of what it was. The ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) has done quite a bit of conservation work to ensure structural integrity at Konark; but just about managed to make the temple unsightly in the process. Many broken statues have been shoddily fixed using cement and and reeks of underpaid plumbery instead of stellar work by the nation’s premier conservation society.

The five main Hindu deities - Indra,Brahma,Vishnu,Shiva and Surya

Sexual Symbolism at Konark:
    Konark was built when Buddhism was on its last legs in India. In a way, its ostentatious sexual symbolism was a statement of triumph over a rival religion that promoted asceticism as a way of life. Sensuously modeled figures in various poses are placed prominently in upper levels of the temple (perhaps to avoid those pesky little kids from getting too curious at an early age). The sculptures of the male and female naga (snake) Gods coiled together symbolize fertility. 

    The temple also served as a place to educate people about the arcane secrets of Kamasutra. A few of the sculptures depict various intercourse positions and orgies, bestiality, lesbianism, childbirth and age old mechanisms to treat venereal diseases like gonorrhea. In a land where the men died early in the multitude of wars their kings waged, widow remarriage was openly encouraged and polygamy was subtly encouraged through these erotic sculptures. In modern day Victorian India, quite a few of these topics are taboo; clearly ancient Indian society was more open, puns intended.

one of the many sensuous sculptures of Konark

The story behind the construction:
    There is a sad and probably apocryphal story about the construction of the temple that the local guides love to tell with embellishments. In the last stages of building the temple, the architects face trouble fixing the huge magnet on top of the second (now destroyed) tower. The king threatens to behead everyone involved in the construction if the work is not completed in time. A young boy, who is not associated with the workers, figures the way out and fixes the magnet during the night when the rest of the workers are asleep. The workers wake up, realize that they might still be put to death for their failure to get the job done and demand that the boy kill himself in ritualistic self-sacrifice to save them. The young boy surprisingly obliges by jumping into the sea. The temple gets off to an ignominious start and is deemed unfit for prayer and worship. Not sure how pleased the king was with that, if at all this story were true!

Leogryph - A mythical creature

The Destruction of the Temple:
    The guides blame the British for the destruction of the temple and claim quite a few artifacts are in the Britain. Hmm, something to look out for when I visit London museum! History however tells a different story and blames Kalapahad, the general of Bengal Sultan Sulaiman Khan Karrani. In 1568 AD, his men hacked through the stone arches and displaced the Dadhinauti (Arch stone), leading to the collapse of the tower. It is said that the presiding deity of Konark Temple was secreted away during that phase for safeguarding and never found again. The Natya mantapa survived longer and was partially destroyed by Marathas. By the end of the 18th century Konark was abandoned and turned into a dense forest and the abode of pirates.

Raja Narasimha Deva meeting emissaries from Africa - Noticed the Giraffe and the long skirts?

    The kings of the old envisioned and built these magnificent temples for posterity, structures that tell the story of art, life and the Gods themselves. If you ever have a chance to get there early in the morning, stand atop the platform of the natya mantapa; imagine the sound of the waves washing ashore while the crimson sun lights up the beautiful temple, imagine the singers and the dancers lost in their morning performance for the king and finally imagine the sculptors focused on building the next master piece. This my friend, is Konark, the place where the Sun God begins his journey.

Passing through The Temples of Odisha

     Every last minute adventure trip in India begins with an online adventure, where one generally ends up in the losing side. Four people armed with two or more accounts each failed to book a tatkal ticket for two in IRCTC for the Diwali weekend. Ajay and I were nevertheless determined to travel to Odisha and visit Konark. Come Friday, we reached the railway station, bought unreserved tickets and paid a fine to upgrade to sleeper class. We slept on the floor, in the space between beds of a compartment in our carriage, blanketing ourselves from head to toe in our sleeping bags to avoid squeaky little rats. Surprisingly I slept well that night!

   The next morning, we got down at Balugaon and caught sight of the first destination of our trip - the Chilika Lake. There were plenty of average looking to run-down restaurants on the main road and we chose the one that looked least decrepit for breakfast. Odisha is sandwiched between North and South India, the ideal melting pot for culinary delicacies. If you live in a major metro, chances are your favorite hotel has a cook from Odisha. Perhaps, all these good folks have migrated to other states for employment, leaving the kitchens of their native land in the hands of stable boys and fishermen. Breakfast was insipid and the idlies tasted like they were prepared a week ago. For the first time in my life, I wished that I had had breakfast in the train.

Chilika Lake

   Chilika Lake is the second largest lagoon in the world and known for Irrawaddy dolphins. We missed the morning ferry and ended up hiring a boat to travel from Balugaon to Satpada across the Chilika Lake. For three excruciating hours, we listened to the constant whirr of the diesel motor and even managed to sleep for a while, just to shut out the deafening roar. Unsurprisingly, no dolphin ventured near our noisy tub, though we saw many storks and geese before we finally reached our destination. Lunch at Satpada was worse than breakfast, with most dishes filled to the brim with potatoes and a gooey gel that could only have come from a failed high school chemistry experiment. At that point in the trip, both of us were tired and a bit disappointed that the trip wasn’t half as exciting as we thought it would be.

   After lunch, things started looking up. Satpada is surrounded by lagoons from the three sides. The three hour long 55 km journey from Satpada to Puri in a local bus goes through a very picturesque route filled with small lagoons and wetlands growing rice and paddy. The day ended early; it was around 5:30 p.m. when we reached Puri and dusk had settled in. Puri initially seemed like an overgrown village until we had to face the traffic in the main road. I came across a few locals and foreigners smoking marijuana and in this temple town; it seemed like a way of life. These drugs have been in use in such places for generations and they were not going to let a small thing like a government ban get in their way. Though there is a pervasive poverty in the state that even a casual visitor will notice, the people here seem healthier and fitter than those in neighboring states down south where most villagers look like overweight cops.

   Ajay and I prefer generally travel without a concrete plan on where to stay and what to visit. This gives us flexibility to visit and stay at places we want, but can get confusing at times as we end up travelling for days without seeing the back of a hotel! After a quick picture in front of the Puri Jagannath temple, we headed to the Ranger’s guest house; 20 kms ride from Puri that took about an hour. After travelling for more than 24 hours, we reached the “Rangers”, an adrenaline-pumping oasis that offers surfing lessons, forest treks and ATV training in the midst of a forest. The place is truly hippie and the main caretaker, Sachin, believes in mastering the power of the Kundalini through an indulgent lifestyle and spends his time playing a long winded bamboo shoot named Didgeridoo that produces a shrill bagpiper like music.  

Trekking near the beaches of Puri

   I didn’t know to swim, but there I was, ready to surf in the pristine blue beaches of Puri. We met our surfing instructor, Jessie, the next morning. An Aussie with dreadlocks and penetrating eyes, he travels around the world seeking the best waves to surf because he thinks that the Australian surfing scene was too crowded or localized. Jessie was hardly surprised when we informed him that we were not swimmers and strongly suggested that we try Stand-Up- Paddling (SUP) at the lagoon instead of venturing out the ocean. The suggestion was more of a directive and we had no option but to agree. 

Jessie started our lessons with an easy looking exercise - standing on and balancing a plank of wood on circular tube with a diameter of around 20 cm. Jessie has this amazing Zen-like knack for teaching and explained that balance and breathing are at the core of any sport when he found us struggling to balance the plank. When I tensed up at times, he came over and asked me to loosen up the muscle in question. After half an hour of balancing on the plank, we moved onto a mechanical surfboard simulator that was closer to an actual surfboard and easier to balance than the plank. Once the training lessons were over, we went to a lagoon nearby for the real deal. Paddling in the surfboard was the best fun I had had in a while. I think I need to learn swimming just to surf in the ocean someday.

    Though the Rangers is an amazing place, it might not be a place for the standard Indian temple tourist or people who are not used to the local E. coli bacterium. The place does not have bottled water. Sachin explained that the groundwater there was very pure and provided a simplistic reason like ‘I drink it and am fine’. Of course human physiology is never really that simple - don’t play Rambo; just take bottled water if you plan to head over to the Rangers.

   That evening, we left for Konark after our surfing lessons. Konark is a hustling village that houses one of the greatest architectural masterpieces of ancient India - the 13th century Sun Temple. A detailed blog on this monument is coming soon, so I will not write more about the temple here. We settled into a good hotel that was way cheaper than what we would have paid for in other states. There is tremendous potential for tourism in Odisha with its pristine beaches and numerous historical temples. But somehow in Konark, the tourist crowd was missing in spite of Nov-Dec being peak tourist season.

Ajay and me at Konark Temple

   Before leaving Konark for Bhubaneswar, Ajay and I took stock of how much we had spent for the trip. On most of our previous trips, we never had time for lodging as we spent our nights travelling by train. This time though, we had stayed in a hotel every night. This coupled with the boat ride and surfing lessons proved to be quite the recipe for an expensive trip. We decided to couchsurf, a trend that’s catching up in India and involves requesting folks to provide lodging for free in their home for a short duration. Sanjay, the founder of Rangers, was kind enough to host us for the night in spite of the next day being Diwali. Couch-surfing gives you a chance to meet interesting people. Sanjay was a great conversationalist and we spent hours talking with him on a wide range of interesting topics like “Why surfing is such a great sport and what it can do for tourism in Odisha” and “Was the Konark temple the last nail on the coffin for Buddhism in India”. He also seemed excited about the surfing festival that the Rangers were planning in January and helped draw up our itinerary for the next day in Bhubaneswar.

Udayagiri Caves - Bhubaneswar

   The next morning we headed to the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves which are partly natural and partly hewn from rock in early 2nd century BC. These 33 caves were once the abode of Jain monks. The caves are famous for the Hathigumpha inscriptions in Devanagiri script, written by Raja Karavel, the king of Kalinga (modern Odisha) in India during the 2nd century BC. The inscriptions record the royal edicts during the rule of Raja Karavel. There is even a double storied monastery similar built in the style of the one in Ellora. Though the place has a historical importance and was excavated at around the same time as the Ajanta caves, the lack of paintings in these caves doomed these caves to remain a lovers’ hangout while the Ajanta caves are known world over for its murals and beautiful paintings!

   We later visited the splendid Lingaraj temple that was crowded on account of being a temple where prayers are still offered. There are quite a few deserted temples around the Lingaraj temple that are built like miniature Konark temples and giving Bhubaneswar the title of ‘city of temples’. Certainly quite an achievement in India where there is a temple in every other street in most cities. The temples unfortunately are very poorly maintained. Due to lack of space, kids play cricket in these temples. I am sure priceless monuments fall prey to bad batting in these temples on a daily basis. At certain locations, temples are less than a meter away from houses and some of these temple complexes also double up as parking lots. Though one would tend to blame the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) for this mess, I know that they simply are not equipped to fight such battles. The apathy towards these age old temples is the shame of a nation that doesn’t bother preserving its archaeological treasures.

Just another neglected beautiful temple in Bhubaneswar

   After spending the morning visiting temples, we left for the state museum and found it closed due to Diwali. Settled for lunch in Pizza Hut in a mall nearby as both of us had had enough of the local fare by then. 

We thankfully had a ticket for the journey back home. I loved every moment of the four days spent traveling and meeting amazing people in Odisha. Well, perhaps not every moment; there was suffering, especially with regard to food and travel. After all, no journey is without pain but at the end of it, as we were boarding the train back home, I was glad I came.