Konark's Sun Temple is often cited as one of the best examples of religious architecture in the world. Dedicated to the Sun God, the temple, although partially ruined, stands majestic next to the Konark beach.
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LOCATION: Konark is situated at comfortable distance from the famous religious and tourist centre of Puri (35 K.M.) and the capital city of Orissa, Bhubaneswar (65 K.M.)The nearest airport is Bhubaneswar. The nearest rail station is Puri. Sun temple has been declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Sun temple is probably constructed by Narashimhadev I in the mid-13th century. Konark was one of the earliest centres of Sun worshipping in India. It is also called as Black Pagoda to distinguish it from the White temple-the Jagannath Temple at Puri (a near by famous temple). Black Pagoda is well known for its architectural magnificence with images of animals, foliage, men, warriors on horses and other interesting patterns.
The entire temple has been conceived as a chariot of the sun god with 24 wheels, each about 10 feet in diameter. Seven horses drag the chariot with four horses in the left and three in the right. The base part of the Chariot(Temple) is divided into 3 parts with estonishing piece of carvings.. the lowest section consists of images of horses, animals, dolls etc ... this section is meant for children. The middle section is fot the teen and young generation of people wid erotic type of carvings .. And finally the Upper part having sculptures of Gods and Goddesses is dedicated for the older people... The Black Pagoda doesnot exist in its full structure now.
According to the local people there, the temple once had a huge and strong magnet on top of the central structure which disturbed the navigation of the foreign ships sailing towards Calcutta. This made the sailors to destroy it. Because of that the inside part of the temple is totally damaged but still this is a place worth seeing
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| Favourite spots: |
Since Konark is situated at a remote place one wont find any clubs or malls to chill out.
On the way to Konark one will definitly notice the handicrafts and arts shops on either sides of the road at a place called PIPLI. Speciality about these shops is that the stuffs on display are all made from locally available materials and one can see how those crafts take into shape right in front of you.
Then there is an arceological site at KURUMA. Its around 8 kms away from Konark. Its famous for its Buddhist archaeological discoveries.
Then there is a museum goverened by the Archeological Survey of India. The museum has a display of many sculptures and valuable ownings from the sun temple.
There is a beach near by the Sun Temple. There is a fishing harbour called Astranga. Its about a hour drive from Konark. Then the famous Jagannatha Puri Temple is just a hour or two drive away from Konark. One an really experience the diversity of indian tradition out there.
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| What's really great: |
The Architectural wonderness of the Sun Temple is really marvellous. Its a unique temple on top of a chariot which is driven by seven horses. The legend behind the temple is really interesting.
The handicrafts on display at PIPLI is very absprbing. The stuffs are Very much colorful and are unique forms which you ll not find at any other part of the world.
Then I have been told that the temple is constructed using stones and the interlocking is done using iron rods. After all these years one can notice that the iron rods and all are not much decayed. One can rarely find any rust. Its really amazing how these stuffs are preserved all these years. The same is with the Graphite decorated front entrance of the temple.
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| Accommodations: |
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Have to travel either to Puri (1hr journey) or to Bhubhaneshwar (2-3hrs journey) to find a good accomadation.. i recommend to settle down at Bhubhaneshwar
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| Restaurants: |
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Just local small smaall food outlets
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Published on Sunday April 30th, 2006
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Tue, May 02 2006 - 11:26 PM
 by marianne
danjid,
Promising first report. Good photos, but the first and the third are the same. click on: edit this report and you can change them. If ou need some help when writing you may habe a look at this link:
http://www.globosapiens.net/topic-guidelines-report-writing_48_2315_0000.html
Hope you will publish more reports about India.
Marianne |
Tue, May 02 2006 - 10:01 AM
 by sajjanka
Mon, May 01 2006 - 07:12 AM
by davidx
| A very good first report. The general introduction is 5* standard but it is rather short after that. Try to avoid lists and tell more about the favourites and special places. |
Mon, May 01 2006 - 04:34 AM
by ravinderkumarsi
| nice report ,this is world famous temple.thanks for writing report on it. |
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