Standing in a dilapidated condition, a little away from the shore of Bay of Bengal, the Sun temples at Konark is a living legend of Orissa’s ancient artistic tradition. The temple, for its superb artistic and architectural features has been described as “epic in stone” and is regarded as the climax of architectural tradition of temple building in Orissa that started around sixth century A.D.

The temple was built by the great Ganga king Narasimhadeva-I around 1250 A.D. for the worship of Sun God. It is said that the entire structure took 12 years of labour of twelve thousand skilled masons for completion. The twelve years’ revenue of the state was spent for the project. It is only to imagine about the gigantic structure as it was in its hey day. Because, the spire (Shikhara) of the temple is no more. What is left out of the nature wrath is the base of the temple structure along with its prayer hall (Mukhasala) and dancing porch (Natamandapa). Yet the artistically ornamented prayer hall excels all the temples of Orissa in height and arts. It seems from the sight of whatever remains of the temple that the entire temple structure was designed as a chariot drawn by seven horses like the celestial chariot of the Sun God. Every inch of surviving Mukhasala and base of the temple are carved artistically with human and animal figures. Some of the gigantic statues like the war elephants and the horses exhibit the artistic talent of the Oriya artists during the bygone days.

The scenes of love and war, of dance and music have been carved with minute details with a deep artistic touch. The lady with an enigmatic smile on her lips, the amorous couples, the horse ready to take up speed and above all the images of Sun God—all are products of hands and mind of the master craftsmen. All these create a sense of great pleasure in the minds of visitors combined with a great deal of surprises and questions with regard to the identity of their craftsmen as to whether they were human beings or the craftsmen descended from the heaven.

The folklore connected with the temple speaks many things starting from the selecting of the site by Sibei Samantaray, the minister of the Ganga monarch to the twelve years child Dharmapada or Dharama who gave the finishing touch to the temple by laying amalasila or the sealing stone on the top of the Shikhara, a difficult task that could not be accomplished by twelve hundred senior craftsmen. The legendary story was that the temple was erected by Samba, son of Krishna, in thanks giving to Surya, the Sun God, who cured him of leprosy. The place gained its name Konark from the words Kona and Arka i.e. Kona means direction or place and Arka means Surya or Sun—which means to indicate that the place or direction in which the Sun first appears.

 The most important feature of the whole complex is the images of Sun God to represent the morning, the midday and the sunset. The images present a dazzled look brushing with power and grace. The whole temple looks like a celestial chariot of Sun God with seven horses representing seven days of a weak and twelve wheels representing twelve months of a year, seems to be a marvelous conception, unparalled in the history of art tradition of the whole world. An immediate glance on the temple structure conveys the idea as if a chariot is ready to move at any time. The famous temple does attract the attention of the whole world for its beauty and splendor. It is called Black Pagoda by the Europeans.

The conception, of course, makes it charming monument unique in the realm of art. The main temple, which is no more, was said to be 228 feet high. The gigantic Jagamohana or Mukhasala speaks volumes on the attainment of the Kalinga styles of architecture. It is a Pidha Deula heaving a three –tired pyramidal roof in contrast to the two-tired roof as found in case of the Jagamohanas of the Lingaraj and the Jagannath Temples. It possesses three entrances with beautifully carved doorjambs and lintels of finely grained chlorite stone. The Natamandira is a detached structure standing on a richly decorated platform, having profusely ornate pillars.

There are a number of views with regard to the ruins of the main temple. Some eminent art historians believe that the temple had not been completed. On the other hand, a number of historians believe firmly that the temple was completed and was regarded as a great achievement in the part of the great Ganga Moharch Narasimha-I by his successors. But it was the vandalism of Kalapahara, the Oriya general, of the Sultan of Bengal who invaded Orissa in 1568, responsible for bringing down the temple to the ground. However, the temple, with its Jagamhoan (Mukhasala), was visible to the sailors navigating along the coast of Konark during ancient times. They called it “the Black Pagoda”, and the name became very popular among the Europeans for the temple.

Till the beginning of the 20th century this great temple was an abandoned ruin, but in 1904, when the debris and sand around it was removed, this amazing structural gem revealed itself. An eminent English archaeologist after visiting the temple site at Konark has remarked, “There is no monument of Hinduism that is at once so stupendous and so perfectly proportioned as this temple”.