Where the Clouds Pray

An engineering and architectural marvel, Konark Sun temple, has much more in store than just what the eye meets. It associates tales that span multitude domains and harbor significance in every walk of life and can mesmerize any soul who wishes to seep in the enigmatic charisma of this masterpiece. Many a times, I have thought of jotting down my thoughts on this. However, I have always found myself mesmerized by its enchanting mystery so much so that I end up forgetting the line of thoughts. Its happening now as well, but I will try my best to capture as much as I can.

The stories wrapped around the temple have situations of varied fields in them, which includes but are not limited to Philosophy, Science, astronomy, cosmology, architecture, and engineering. Primarily, one tale surfaces around this. For the uninitiated, I would try to give a quick preview of it without going into much details of the play of emotions, sacrifice, motherly love, and the likes. 

The construction of the mighty sun temple was entrusted to 1200 artisans (some texts suggest 12000) by the king Langula Narasingha Deva I. The artisans led by the chief architect Bishu Maharana had already invested 12 years to the construction. In these 12 years, as per contract, none of the artisans could leave the construction area, let alone visit their homes. Dharmapada, the son of the chief architect , who was born after his father departed for the temple work (and thus had never seen him), requested his mother on his 12th birthday to be allowed to meet his father. He arrived near the temple site, met his father, only to know later that the 1200 artisans are facing a grave difficulty. The temple was almost complete, however the last step of placing the kalasa still couldn't be accomplished. The king had given an ultimatum (till the next dawn) to complete the temple, failing which all artisans will be sentenced to death. Dharmapada volunteered and through his understanding and talent completed the task. However, that raised concerns among the other artisans. The word would spread that a 12-year old could complete such a difficult task in such a short time which even the accomplished and talented artisans couldn't do. This would be shameful and may also invoke the wrath of the king. As Dharmapada heard about this, he sacrificed his life for the safety and honor of the artisans. He jumped from the temple top, which he had recently completed, and jumped to the deep waters of Chandrabhaga (river).

The story has variations from place to place and from family to family, but Dharmapada's sacrifice still shines in a glorified manner in all hearts.

Let us dwelve into some of the magic associated with it. The sun temple is built in the form of the grand chariot of Surya, the Sun God. The temple includes seven galloping horses, signifying the seven colors of the sunrays and represents the seven days of the week. The temple also includes gigantic and intricately designed 12 wheels, each representing a month of the year. Every wheel has 8 spokes indicative of the 8 prahars (1 prahar =3 hours) and carvings in the perimeter of the wheel which shows time to the precision of a minute. Owing to the carefully chosen location (kona-ark literally translates to angle-sun), the first rays of the rising sun falls in the idol of Surya, the Sun God. From stories that I have heard (carried forward through generations, but I am not sure of the documentation), the idol of Surya was levitated mid-air. The kalasa was believed to have immense magnetic properties or probably was a huge magnetic rock, coupled with the magnetic rocks used on the four sides created a strong magnetic field and thus made the levitation possible. The rocks used in the construction were believed to be bought through the sea route from other places.

We know that the rays of sun change direction, uttarayan and dakshinayan marking the movement towards north and south respectively. The nata mandir, or the dance hall has arches which facilitates the first rays to touch the idol first irrespective of the movement, uttarayan or dakshinayan. Even the iron pillars that still lie in the temple perimeters are majorly rust-free even after centuries of exposure to rust creating elements. There's lot more to Kalinga architecture and engineering involved in the construction of the temple than this single post can encompass. However, the building and construction plans and records are still preserved, Konark temple being only a few temples to have so. Additionally,  there are some books and journals (plus some internet sources) where one can find many more interesting facts.  The more you look the more mystical and amazing it becomes. Sorcery level ideation and creation or even better!

From art perspective, the less said the better. Because words will fail if one attempts to describe the exquisite beauty and the thoughts (and life) of the artisans engraved in the rocks. How would one describe the intricacies carved in rocks, intricacies that would even make fine jewelry look subpar! The view at dawn, especially when the temple was in its full glory, has been described as ethereal. Some say that it felt as if the sun itself is inside the temple and not just the idol. What thought process must have gone to create such a marvel! A marvel that made the rays of the sun falling on the temple look like the glorious blazing sun! The structure in its entirety gave the appearance of an enchanting, massive chariot emerging from the waters carrying the sun, driven by galloping and flying horses.  Even the name of the seven horses are based on the seven meters of Chandas (Sanskrit prosody). Chandas are also well known to include mathematical patterns. Additionally, the temple is rich with mines of  associated symbolisms; a popular symbolism being the difficulties a human faces during a lifetime. The idol of a lion (power) crushing an elephant (money) crushing a human speaks of it. Every inscription, every carving, minutely and precisely define the different aspects and stages of human life. One just needs to read between the lines and observe with the heart of a poet... for there's more to the art than could be understood in just  a single glance.

The temple that once stood tall at an approximate height of 70 metres (several accessible documents may suggest several different figures) is now in ruins. Again, as per local tales, the temple was destroyed (but now records say it got destroyed; there's a difference between "got destroyed" and "was destroyed"). The reason cited was the strong magnetic field hampering the navigation of ships. A mammoth structure which was once the guiding "light" is void of the glory that it deserves. The river too, that once embraced the temple, has receded, and so have the enthusiasts who truly want to know about the magnanimity of the temple. Now to the visitors, it's just another tourist spot (it has been declared as UNESCO world heritage site) great for taking breathtaking pictures. Even now, in ruined state, it is a sight to behold. The place which holds divine power, divinity being the knowledge of being, the place which symbolized the beginning of time, the place where once clouds prayed is still a place of seraphic beauty. All one needs is a heart to assimilate the beauty of the tales and a keen sight to behold the tales of beauty.

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P. S. Though the initial part of this post was written sometime during the last year, it could not see the light of completion until last evening. On this day, the 14th day of April, which happens to be the Odia New Year, as this is getting posted, it still feels incomplete. How do I write and express years of appreciation and thoughts in a few lines! Probably, with time, some additional perspectives will be posted in the comments. Please share your views too in comments. May the sun shine upon all of us.

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