Konark Sun Temple

The Sun Temple at Konark Magnificent in its isolation, the temple of the Sun at Konark (a.k.a Konarak), about 20 miles northeast of Puri, has been hailed as the supreme achievement of the architectural genius of Orissa, coming as it did at the apex of continuous development for centuries. It was built during the reign of the eastern Ganga King Narasimha Deva I (1238-64 see also the Ganga kings), but is now in ruins, with the heap of masonry forming a landmark which the sailors call the black pagoda, to distinguish it from the white temples of Puri.

The great tower of this temple has lost much of its height within living memory and the vimana, along with the shrine of the presiding deity has crumbled. However, enough remains to make a conjectural reconstruction possible and it is likely that the basic plan of the temple was not unlike that of the Jagannath and Lingaraja temples. Abul Fazl, Akbar's official historian, appears to have seen the temple before it became a heap of ruins, and records in the Ain-i-Akbari, that he was amazed at the beauty of the spectacle.

Although the temple was grandiose in conception, there is reason to believe that it was never quite completed, for the grandeur that the plan of the temple sought to achieve was too ambitious to be carried out in practice.