KONARAK SUN TEMPLE : EVER RESPLENDENT
(By Subbaram Danda)
It is the rarest and most distinctive edifice of its kind in the world – the Sun Temple in the coastal town of Konarak in the state of Odisha, India. In both primary concept and style of execution, it stands out as a masterpiece. It is designed as a huge chariot with 12 pairs of exquisitely-carved massive wheels pulled by seven galloping horses, driven by the Sun God himself as charioteer from the sanctum. The scheme symbolizes passage of time as commandeered by Sun with the wheels representing hours of the day and horses days of the week.
As visitors drive under a canopy of dense greenery formed by huge avenue trees heading for the monument, it comes into their view almost suddenly stunning them. And soon the vast complex appears before them standing majestically in a well tended garden with pleasing lawns and trimmed bushes. What they first see in front is a set of two huge exotic sculptures, each depicting a fierce lion pouncing on a crouching war elephant, which in turn holds a lying man. They flank a short flight of steps leading to a highly ornate roofless multi-pillared dance hall. Behind it stands a stately porch with a soaring pyramid-like covering. At the rear is the main sanctum without any tower. The porch is the entrance hall for the sanctum. Though all the three structures are in the same line one behind the other, the dance hall remains on its own, detached. In sculpting, ornamentation and elegance, one vies with another in astonishing the people.
 |
The porch (left) with a pyramid-like tower, roofless dance hall (centre) and
exotic lion-on-elephant sculptures (extreme right)
|
Fashioned by 1200 artists
The Konarak Sun Temple was built by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty in the 13th century AD ostensibly on fulfillment of his prayer for a healthy son, whom he named Bhanudeva after Sun God. It could also be a measure of thanksgiving for the Sun God following his recovery from an ailment. Some scholars say that it commemorated his successful campaign against the Muslims. Whatever the motivation was, a workforce of 12 hundred artists and workers put in their best efforts for over 12 years to fashion the temple.
Yet, according to a legend, Lord Krishna’s son Samba became the victim of a curse through trickery and consequently got afflicted with leprosy. To ward it off, he did penance worshipping Sun God and got cured. In gratitude, he constructed the Sun Temple. Even today, especially on a particular day in a year people bathe in the sea off Konarak and pray to Sun God to rid themselves of skin ailments.
Filigree of etchings
While sculptures, an astonishing variety of them, pervade the entire temple scene, the pride of place goes to the 12 pairs of huge wheels – ten feet in diameter. Nowhere else in temple architecture in the world wheels enjoy such prominence. They are strikingly chiseled on the sides of the 13-foot high platform on which the sanctum and the porch stand and on the sides of the porch stairs. Each wheel has eight major and eight minor spokes, a rim and a hub, each artistically designed and fully carved. Displaying amazing figures of deities, amorous couples, animals and flowers in a filigree of etchings, the wheels appear to exhort the people to move cheerfully with times taking life in its stride.
Next stealing the hearts of the onlookers are horses and elephants with life-like features. Out of the original seven stallions drawing the chariot, only one remains now. It can be seen in all its strident splendour on the south side of the flight of steps in front of the porch. A pair of war steeds and a couple of enraged elephants, all life-size, stand on separate pedestals to the south and north of the porch respectively distinctly away from the main structure. The tense expression on their face, the contours of their taut muscles and the posture of their legs make a lasting impression on the visitors. Around the base of the main temple alone about 2,000 lively elephants march in different styles. Among the notable sculptures near the sanctum is a charming panel depicting an elephant carrying men on its back facing a giraffe under a forest canopy.
Carnival of life
An insanely great carnival of earthly life and a pageant of heavenly beings unfold themselves in stone everywhere in the temple complex – on the walls, niches, pillars, pedestals and plinths. There are friezes depicting dancers and musicians, courtesans and sages, celebrities and commoners, celestial nymphs and divinities, and hunters and animals. Strikingly attractive damsels can be seen in a variety of postures – wringing water from wet hair, caressing a bird, arms raised over the head, playing musical instruments, fondling a child and exhibiting their body sensuously. There is no dearth of mythological figures, including human-headed serpents and demons. The king and facets of his daily life including royal hunts, processions, victories and religious activities are writ large everywhere.
On the porch tower, which is the cynosure of all eyes today, master sculptors have lavished their skills in shaping and giving life to large-sized nymphs. With gay abandon, they play cymbals, beat drums and play wind instruments. In their midst stands multi-headed Bhairava, the fierce manifestation of God Shiva associated with annihilation.
Erotic extravaganza
Blatantly erotic sculptures almost everywhere, large in size and conspicuous in detail, do not fail to attract and stun the visitors. There are couples locked in exotic and ingenious amorous postures. Celebrities, nobles, warriors, merchants, commoners and even sages participate in this sensuous extravagance. It is explained that amorous adventures and frank display of the rhythm of life were never a taboo in ancient Indian literature and temple art. Erotica has always been treated as a prominent aspect of temple decoration, it is said. Konarak is no exception.
The sculptural exuberance on the exterior of the temple found its reflection in a greater measure in the creation of the sanctum. A lofty tower, more than 200 feet in height, adorned it with striking imagery and decorative floral motifs. Inside, on a richly embellished pedestal, a highly decorated lofty statue of Sun God stood in serene profundity. But, unfortunately today the tower and the presiding deity are not there anymore.
Super specimens
Fortunately, there remain on the exterior of the sanctum three similar statues of Sun standing tall in niches on the southern, western and northern sides. Regarded as “super specimens of the iconographic art” the sculptures more than 11 feet in height mesmerize the visitors in no small measure. Their benign and poised bearing, elaborate ornamentation and finely carved drapery linger in their minds for long.
At the feet of the southern statue, whose two arms have been mutilated by invaders, are King Narasimhadeva kneeling and his bearded guru standing. At the top, celestial divinities adorn the tri-lobed arch, which frames the statue. The western image is similar in essentials. However, the northern statue is different – it rides an energetic horse.
The dance hall in the front, despite its missing roof, is a treasure-house of sculptures. It exudes the joy and rhythm of life with musicians and dancers coming out alive all over the plinth, platform, walls, pilasters and large-girthed columns. The very layout of this pavilion is artistically attractive.
Desecration and decay
For more than 300 years the temple was in full worship. “Desecration” of the temple by Muslims, the shifting of the enshrined deity’s image to the nearby town of Puri to pre-empt moves to ransack the temple, subsequent lack of prayers, further attempts at pillage, and the merciless play of natural elements led to gradual decay of the temple. At one stage, the sanctum had been reduced to “an enormous mass of stones with vegetation grown all over.” However, the porch seems to have escaped total destruction.
British rulers and later Indian authorities took interest in restoring and conserving the temple. These efforts have largely borne fruit, despite enormous constraints. Once again, in a way the edifice looks resplendent. In 1984, UNESCO accorded the World Heritage Site status to the monument. According to the Archaeological Survey of India, the temple is “one of the most sublime monuments of India.” A couple of years ago, a poll conducted by the television channel NDTV in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry of the Government of India, gave Konarak a place among the Seven Wonders of India. Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore once wrote: “Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man.” No wonder, thousands of visitors from all over the world visit Konarak temple every year to savour its delights.
March 3, 2012 (1440 words)
***
