Konarak

Village on the Bay of Bengal in the state
of Orissa, about forty miles east of the
state capital, Bhubaneshvar. Konarak is
famous for its Sun Temple. Now in
ruins, the temple was built by king
Narasimhadeva (r. 1238–1264), a
monarch in the Ganga dynasty. The
entire temple was intended to be a likeness of the sun’s chariot. Twelve great
wheels were carved on the sides at the
temple’s lowest level; in front of the temple are statues of several colossal horses.
As at Khajuraho, the temple’s lower levels are covered with erotic carvings, giving rise to diverse interpretations: Some
claim the carvings sanction carnal pleasure as a religious path, while some
interpret them allegorically as representing human union with the divine.
Others view them as teaching that the
desire for pleasure must ultimately be
transcended to attain the divine.
The temple was built on a massive
scale. According to one estimate, the
massive central spire would have been
over 200 feet high. It is uncertain
whether this spire was ever completed,
since the sandy soil at its base would
have been unable to support the weight
of such an enormous structure. This
unstable soil has been the greatest
contributor to the temple’s increasing
deterioration. The primary structure left
at the site is the jagamohan (assembly
hall). During the nineteenth century,
the hall was filled with sand in an
effort to prevent further collapse. For
further information see Roy Craven,
Indian Art, 1997.