𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐒𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚

Konark Sun temple, Orissa 

Konark Sun Temple (Konark Surya Mandir) is a medium town in the Puri district in the state of Odisha, India. It lies on the coast by the Bay of Bengal, 60 kilometers from the capital of the state, Bhubaneswar. It is the site of the 13th-century Sun Temple, also known as the Black Pagoda, built in black granite during the reign of Narasimhadeva-I. The name Konark comes from the combination of the Sanskrit words Kona (corner or angle) and Ark (the sun), in reference to the temple which was dedicated to the Sun God, Surya. The Uniqueness of the Sun Temple at Konark lies in the fact that it was built using the concept of magnets. The peak of the temple was said to be a giant 52 ton magnet. A massive magnet was placed at the temple top and each two stones of the temple are inserting by iron plates. 

The statue of the Sun inside the temple was said to be floating free in air based on the unique arrangements of the main magnet and the reinforced magnets around the temple walls. Between every two stone pieces in the temple there lies an iron plate. Sun Temple of Konark is renowned throughout the world for its stone sculptures. The temple was designed in the shape of a huge chariot drawn by 7 mighty spirited horses on 12 pairs (total 24 wheels) of gorgeously decorated wheels at its base. The size of the wheel is of 9 feet 9 inches in diameter and each one of them having 8 wider spokes and 8 thinner spokes. Out of these 24 wheels 6 are in either side of the main temple, 4 wheels are on each side of the Mukhasala and 2 wheels on each side of steps at eastern front. The huge wheels of the Konark Temple are one of the major attractions for visitors. I visited Konark temple several times. During my last visit, I hired an experienced guide who explained me that the Konark wheels are used as Sun dials in ancient times to know the time of the day. He also explained me that out of these 24 wheels, 2 wheels will show you the time accurately from sun rise to sun set. When I asked about other 22 wheels, he told me that he is not sure about them but he will definitely explain me the technique to calculate the time using these 2 wheels. He took me to one of the wheel and put his finger at centre of the axel and I along with other tourists was surprised that the finger's shadow showed the precise time of the day.  The Konark wheel has 8 wider spokes and 8 thinner spokes. The distance between two wider spokes is of 3 hours (180 minutes). The thinner spoke between two wider spokes is of 1.5 hours (90 minutes). There are 30 beads between one wider spoke to the next thinner spoke and each bead represents 3 minutes. The Sun dial shows time in anti-clockwise and the top centre wider spoke represents 12 o' clock midnight.