THE SECRET OF THE SUN TEMPLE The magnificent Sun Temple at Konark is the culmination of Odisha temple architecture, and one of the most stunning monuments of religious architecture in the world.Built by the King Narasimhadeva in the thirteenth century, the entire temple was designed in the shape of a colossal chariot with seven horses and twenty four wheels , carrying the sun god, Surya, across the heavens.It is thought he built the temple to commemorate military successes against Muslim invaders. According to local legend, the temple has a great aura of power that comes from two very powerful magnets said to have been built into the tower - magnets that allowed the kings throne to hover in mid-air. European mariners sailing off the coast used the temples tower for navigation, but dubbed it the Black Pagoda for the frequent shipwrecks that occurred along the coast. They attributed the disasters to the legendary magnets effect on the tidal pattern. Konarak was sacked by the Muslim Yavana army in the 15th century. The central statue enshrined in the temple was smuggled away to Puri by priests, but the Sun Temple was badly damaged in the attack. Nature took over the destruction from there. Over the centuries, the sea receded, sand engulfed the building and salty breezes eroded the stone. It remained buried under a huge mound of sand until the early 20th century, when restoration began under the British. British archaeologists uncovered the lower parts of the temple that had remained well preserved beneath the sand and restored what they could of the rest of the ruins. Trees were planted to shelter the temple from the damaging winds and a museum was opened to display whatever sculpture wasnt left in situ or sent to Delhi, Calcutta and London. The Sun temple is full of ancient secrets and unsolved mysteries. However, a simple method used by the ancient Indians to calculate time using the sundials is explained in the video. A must watch ! ~ Poonam Patil Kalra poonampatilkalra.blogspot.in https://youtube/watch?v=K9RF9lLBIMs
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 05:10:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015