ASPECTS OF ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE
ASPECTS OF ARCHITECTURE
AND SCULPTURE
Architectural Features
The Sun temple of Konark is the greatest temple of Orissa
and one of the most notable examples of Orissan architecture at
its phase of culmination.
The temple consists of a deula (sanctuary) with a curvilinear
sikhara and a jagamohana (porch) covered by a pyramid roof.
Both the structures stand on a common plinth 3.9m in height
beyond the eastern end, separated by a short distance stands a
natamandira (dance hall) on a high platform. The layout of only
three structures on east-west axis with natamandira situated at a
y
short distance may be regarded aesthetically more satisfying than
the arrangement which joins the four structures i.e. duela,
jagamohana, natamandira, bhogamandapa, (refectory) in one axial
alignment as at the Jagannatha temple, Puri. The design which
combines the four structures makes the plan more lengthy and
hampers the independent effect ofthe structures.
The Sun temple ofthe Konark is unique as a Sun temple for
it has been designed as a great chariot of the Sun god. The
common platform for the deula and Jagamohana is decorated
with twenty four wheels (2.9m in diameters) and seven horses
on the sides of the eastern staircases to transform the temple
into a chariot. From the Vedic period, mythology relates that the
Sun god moves in Chariot. The Surya Sataka of Mayura (7th
century) composed in honour of Surya, describes the chariot of
the Sun god in stanzas 62-72, while stanzas 44-49 are related to
the horses that draw his chariot and stanzas 30-61 are in honour
of Aruna, the charioteer of Surya. Some scholars believe that the
chariot design was inspired by the verses of Mayura. The texts related to Sun worship, such as the Samba purana and the
Bhavisya purana refer to the car festival of the Sun god. In
iconography the Sungod is shown in a chariot. Thus the chariot
conception ofthe temple is in keeping with the ancient mythology
and the cosmic significance of the SunтАЩs movement in the sky. It
speaks of the creative genius and vision of the architects that
they gave the mythology a visual form by erecting the temple in
the form of a grand chariot. With the Sun god inside the chariot,
three static and splendid images of the Sun god as Parsvadevata
the mighty chariot is pulled by seven prancing horses.
