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"The epic in stone - The art of living"
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| Konark - The sun Temple |
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| At Konark, immortalised in stone , by the sea , is a 13th century paean of victory transformed for ever into the famous sun Temple of Konark.
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| The great building work at Konark is the inspiration of King Narashima of the Ganga dynasty. partly in ruins beacause of its close proximity to sea and the softness of the ground, the sun temple took 1200 masons and sculptors twelve years to build and cost the state exchequer twelve years of revenue. It is little difficult to write about Konark because many poets of India have celebrated it in verse. One can't conceive what it was in its heyday. Now only the Mukhasala or the porch and the Nata Mandap or the Dance pavillion are left. Yet the porch alone rivals the great temple at Bhubaneswar in height and is superior in art to anything else build in orissa or may be else where . . Some of the gigantic statues like the war elephants or the famous horses show the artists' power of expression and carpenters' skill in handling such massive materials. And yet the scenes of love and war, of dance and music have been finished with superb attention to details. The lady with the suggestion of an enigmatic smile on her lips, the amorous copue for whom the rest of world is irrelevant or the horse, brimming with power in every limb is the product of the hands and minds of masters . |
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| The work of art is dedicated to God and the identity or the personality of the artist is irrelevant. |
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| The focal points of the whole complex are the images of Sun God to represent the morning , midday and sunset . The images are bursting with power and grace. The whole temple was conceived by intricately carved out gigantic wheels at the basement . This itself was a revolutionary architectural conceptions. The image of the sun God standing or mounted, wearing knee length riding boots, by the power and majesty.
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| Museum of the Archaeological Survey of India A rare collection of sculpture from the ruins of the Sun Temple.
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| Konark Beach Ebbed by sand dunes, off the Bay of Bengal, is Konark beach, ideal for sunbathing and a glimpse of traditional fishing life. An early morning view of the sunrise here is memorable.
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| Balighai Beach An isolated silver arc, lapped by the sea ,girdled by casuarina forests.
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