Konark Sun Temple

The Story

In the 13th century, King Narasimhadeva I of the Ganga dynasty raised the Sun Temple at Konark on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. Built as a giant chariot of Surya, it was meant to ride the sky, drawn by seven galloping horses — the seven days of the week — on twelve pairs of wheels, the twelve months.

Each wheel is a sundial carved in stone, its spokes marking the hours so precisely that modern astronomers can still read the time from their shadows. The temple walls teem with sculpture: musicians, dancers, elephants, and the legendary erotic carvings that crown Odisha's artistry.

Seafarers called the temple the Black Pagoda — its dark silhouette guiding ships home. The main sanctum has partly collapsed, but the great wheel — the national symbol of Bhārat's tourism — still turns the imagination of every visitor who circles it.