AN UNWORSHIPPED TEMPLE
AN UNWORSHIPPED TEMPLE
Declared a
world heritage site in 1984, by the UNESCO, the Konark Sun Temple stands
bravely amid the tempests of time for about seven hundred years now. It is a 13th
century sun temple portraying the expertise of engineers and sculptors of the
bygone era.
On 17th
of June, during our much awaited summer vacations, we slipped off to Puri for a
break from our daily chores. It was a time when the cyclone- Fani had struck and ravaged the vegetation and
civilization at Odisha. After visiting the Puri hallmark- the Jagannath
Temple-we had no choice but to loll, slop and lounge about the sea beach whose
topography had now changed due to the catastrophic cyclone. The next day we
called on the legendary Sun temple in Arka Kshetra of Odisha. It reminded me of
what Keats once said, ”Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” -true indeed-
beholding the Black Pagoda is a treat to the eyes.
The majestic
lions at the entry to the natamandira(dancing stage) seemed to reveal
some incomprehensive mystery. The whole temple is built iun the form of a
chariot, driven by seven horses – depicting the seven days of the week or the
seven spokes of the Sun. The temple
complex also has a kitchen at one side which is inconceivable to many. The most
extraordinary aspect of the temple is the exquisite carvings on its walls and
on its wheels which reveal the accuracy of the artists and the art and culture
of the Kalinga king Narasimhaverma Deva II. The garbhagriha of the temple – a
perfect application of the principles of physics – surpasses all comments. It
is said to have contained the main statue of the Sun God which was said to have
been raised from the ground by magnetic levitation. Well, I got this
information from the museum adjacent to the temple. No one knows anything about
the masterpiece after the garbhagriha was sealed by the British in the 1900s.
The
scaffoldings on the temple, established by the Archaeological Department in 1992 so as to protect the tottering and fragile
ancient monument continuously exposed to the saline winds reminded me of the
well known proverb- “ Time spares none
!”
According to
some legends, the temple was never a centre of worship as the local people say
that the temple has been enveloped by some unknown curse, which repelled all
worship. This slowly led to the abandoning of the temple complex – lost in the
tide of time and covered by thicket until it was discovered by the British.
THis is so good
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