Konark
Konark
(Oriya:
କୋଣାର୍କ) (Sanskrit:
कोणार्क)
is a small town in Puri district in the state of Odisha, India, on the Bay of
Bengal, sixty-five kilometers from Bhubaneswar.
It is the site of the 13th-century Sun
Temple (also known as the Black Pagoda), built in black granite by King
Narasimhadeva-I (AD 1236-1264) of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty. The temple is a World Heritage Site. It takes the form of the chariot of Surya (Arka), the sun
god, and is heavily decorated with stone carving. The entire complex was
designed in the form of a huge chariot drawn by seven spirited horses on twelve
pairs of exquisitely decorated wheels. The entrance is guarded by two lions,
which are each shown crushing a war elephant. Each elephant in turn lies on top
of a human body. The temple symbolises the majestic stride of the Sun god. At
the entrance of the temple is a Nata Mandir. This is where the
temple dancers used to perform dances in homage to the Sun god. All around the
temple, there are various floral and geometric patterns. There are also human,
divine and semi-divine figures in sensuous poses. The poses contain couples in
various amorous poses, and are derived from the Kama Sutra.
The temple is now partly in ruins, and a collection of its sculptures is housed
in the Sun Temple Museum, which is run by the Archaeological Survey of India. The
poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote of Konark: "Here
the language of stone surpasses the language of man." Konark literally
means “Essence of the Corners”. Konark is also home to an annual dance
festival, held every December, devoted to classical Indian dance forms,
including the traditional classical dance of Odisha, odissi. On
16 February 1980, Konark lay directly on the path of a total solar eclipse.
Konark beach is a popular tourist destination, though the waters are
deceptively calm. Its main attraction lies in its views of the temple.
Konark Sun Temple
built by the Eastern Ganga dynasty is one of the most well renowned temples in India and is a World Heritage Site.
Architectural glory of the Sun Temple
The Sun Temple, built in the thirteenth century,
was conceived as a gigantic chariot of the Sun God, Surya, with
twelve pairs of exquisitely ornamented wheels pulled by seven horses. Majestic
in conception, this temple is indeed one of the most sublime monuments of
India, famous as much for its imposing dimensions and faultless proportions as
for the harmonious integration of architectural grandeur with plastic
allegiance. It is admittedly the best in Odisha. Its fine traceries and
scrollwork, as well as the beautiful and natural cut of animal and human
figures, give it superiority over other temples.
Stone Work at Konark
The Sun temple belongs to the Kalinga School of
Indian Temples with characteristic curvilinear towers mounted by cupolas. In
shape, the temple did not make any major departure from other sikhara temples
of Odisha. The main sanctum (229 ft. high) which was constructed along
with the audience hall (128 ft. high) having elaborate external
projections. The main sanctum which enshrined the presiding deity has fallen
off. The Audience Hall survives in its entirely, but only small portions of the
Dancing Hall (nata Mandir) and the Dining Hall (Bhoga-Mandap) have survived the
vagaries of time. The Temple compound measures 857 ft (261 m) by
540 ft (160 m) The alignment of the Sun Temple is along the east-west
direction. The Temple is located in natural surroundings, abounding with
casuarina plantations and other types of trees, which grow on sandy soil. The
environment is by and large unspoiled. Gentle undulating topography around the
Sun Temple lends some variation to the landscape. Konark is also home to an
annual dance festival, held every December, devoted to classical Indian dance
forms, including the traditional classical dance of Odisha, Odissi.
Besides Konark there is also another sun temple
in Odisha called
Biranchi khetra (Biranchi Narayan
Temple) in Buguda,
Ganjam District.
The stones at Konark are not joined by any
limestone or cement. Instead, they are joined in a unique manner by making the
two stone plates so plane like glass plate that just one drop of gum can join
the two stones.
Fall of Konark
Incomplete temple
It is opined by some historians that, due to the
early death of the king Langula Narasimha Dev, builder of the Konarak temple,
the construction of the temple had been left in a haphazard state. As a result
of this, the incomplete structure eventually collapsed. But this view is
unsupported by historical data. The records of Madala Panji of Puri Jagannath
temple, as well as from some copper plates dated 1278 A.D., state that the king
Langula Narasimha Dev reigned till 1282. Many historians are of the opinion
that the construction of the Konark temple was completed between 1253 and 1260 A.D.
So the argument that the temple collapsed due to non-completion during
construction is not tenable.
Lodestone
Legends describe a lodestone on
the top of the Sun temple. Due to its magnetic effects, vessels passing through
the Konark Sea were drawn to it, resulting in heavy damage. Other legends state
that magnetic effects of the lodestone disturbed ships' compasses so that they
did not function correctly. To save their shipping, the Portuguese voyagers
took away the lodestone, which was acting as the central stone and keeping all
the stones, and the iron columns used to hold them walls together, of the
temple wall in balance. Due to its displacement, the temple walls lost their
balance and eventually fell down. But there is no record of this occurrence in
any historical records, nor is there any record of the existence of such a
powerful lodestone at Konark.
Kalapahad
Wheel of Konark Sun Temple
The most popular theory about the root of the
fall of Konark temple rests with the Kalapahad. According to the history of Odisha, Kalapahad invaded Odisha in 1508. He destroyed
Konark temple, as well as a number of Hindu temples in Odisha. The Madala Panji
of Puri Jagannath temple describes how Kalapahad attacked Odisha in 1568.
Including Konark temple, he broke most of the images in most of the Hindu
temples in Odisha. Though it was impossible to break the Sun temple of Konark,
the stone walls of which are of 20 to 25 feet (7.6 m) thick, he somehow
managed to displace the Dadhinauti (Arch stone) and thus made a way for the temple
to collapse. He also broke most of the images and other side temples of Konark.
Due to displacement of the Dadhinauti, the temple gradually collapsed and the
roof of the Mukasala was also damaged, due to the stones falling down from the
temple top.
Consequently, Odisha came under Muslim control in
1568. There were attempts to destroy the Hindu temples. The Pandas of Puri, to
save the sanctity of the Puri temple, took away the Jagannath from the temple
and kept the image in a secret place. Similarly, it is said that the Pandas of
Konark took away the presiding deity of the Sun temple and buried it under the
sand for years. Latter on the image was said to have been removed to Puri and
kept in the temple of Indra, in the compound of the Puri Jagannath temple. According
to others, the Puja image of the Konark temple is yet to be discovered. But
others hold the view that the Sun image now kept in the National Museum of
Delhi was the presiding deity of the Konark Sun temple.
However, the Sun worship in the Konark temple was
ended upon the removal of the image from the temple. This resulted in the end
of pilgrimages to Konark. The port at Konark was also closed, due to pirate
attacks. Konark was as glorious a city for Sun worship as it was for commercial
activities, but after the cessation of these activities, Konark became deserted
and was left to develop as a dense forest for years.
In 1626 the then king of Khurda (now a district
in Odisha), Raja Narasimha Dev, son of Purusottam Dev, took away the Sun image
to Puri along with two other moving deities - Sun and Moon. Now they are found
in a temple in the compound of Puri Jagannath temple.
It is recorded in the Madala Panji of Puri temple
that in 1028, Raja Narasimha Dev ordered measurements to be taken of all the
temples at Konark. At the time of measurement, the Sun temple was in existence
up to its Amalak sila, i.e. about 200 feet (61 m) in height. Kalapahad had
only destroyed its Kalas, the crowning stone and the Padma-dhwaja, the lotus
finial and the upper portions.
As described earlier there was a big block of
stone called Navagraha Paata placed in front of the Mukhasala. The then king of
Khurda removed the block. The king had taken away many sculptured stones from
Konark and constructed some portions of Puri temple with them. During Maratha's
time the outer compound wall of the Puri temple was constructed of stones from
Konark temple. It is reported that among all the temples the Naata Mandir or
the Dancing hall of Konark was in its original form for the longest period, and
that it was broken intentionally since it was considered an unnecessary
structure during the Maratha administration.
In the year 1779, a Maratha Sadhu had taken away
the Aruna Khumba (Pillar) from Konark and put it in front of the Lion's Gate of
Puri Jagannath temple. Thus by the end of 18th century Konark lost all its
glories and had been turned to a dense forest. In course of time, the temple
area thus became devoid of people, covered with dense forest, full of sand,
filled with wild animals and became the abode of pirates. It is said that even
the locals feared to go to Konark in broad daylight.
Legends
As the legend says that, King Narasimha Deva-I of
the Ganga Dynasty had ordered this temple to be built as a royal proclamation
of the political supremacy of his dynasty. A workforce of 12 hundred artisans
and architects invested their creative talent, energy and artistic commitment
for an exhausting period of 12 years. The king had already spent an amount
equivalent to the state's revenue receipts of 12 years. However, the completion
of the construction was nowhere near sight. Then the king issued a final
command that the work be completed by a stipulated date. The team of architects
headed by Bisu Maharana was at its wit's end. It was then that Dharmapada the
12 year old son of the chief architect Bisu Maharana arrived there as a
visiting onlooker. He became aware of the anxiety looming large among the
architects. Although he did not have any practical experience of temple
construction, he was thorough in his study of the theories of temple
architecture. He offered to solve the confounding problem of fixing the last
copping stone at the top of the temple. He surprised everyone by doing that
himself. But soon after this achievement the dead body of this adolescent
prodigy was found on the sea beach at the foot of the temple. Legend says that
Dharmapada laid down his life to save his community.
The victorious King of Odisha,
Narasimhadeva erected a victory pillar designed as a war chariot. This temple
was dedicated to Surya the Sun god, at a location near the temple town of Puri.
He named this place Konark which means “Essence of the Corners” While the
structure commemorates the victory in the battle against the Muslims, the name
Konark commemorates the science of astronomy of which the King was an avid
student.
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