About 5 kilometers west-north-west of Old Town Bhubaneswar (as the crow flies) lie the adjacent hills of Udayagiri and Khandagiri. On them are carved multiple rock-cut caves that constitute a Jain monastery, dating back to the 1st c BC. Continue reading
Chausath Yogini Temple, located in a suburb of Bhubaneswar called Hirapur, is one of the handful of temples dedicated to worshiping sixty four (chausath) forms of Devi/Shakti in India. The only other Chausath Yogini temple I’ve been to is at Mitaoli in Madhya Pradesh. Continue reading
Photos of other structures in the Sun Temple compound. Continue reading
Photos of the Natamandir in front of the Sun Temple. Continue reading
Photos of the temple mandap and remains of the sanctum. Continue reading
The Sun Temple was imagined as the chariot of Surya the Sun God, and the high platform on which the temple sanctum and mandap are built has on its walls the famous sculpted stone spoked wheels of the chariot. The wheels and platform walls are covered with the beautiful sculpture work that this temple is known for. Continue reading
I visited the Sun Temple at Konark around the Christmas break in 2017, and it seemed like half the world had decided to visit at that same time! The Konark temple (13th c) is the third in line of the large Odia temples after Lingaraja (late-11th c) in Bhubaneswar and Jagannath (12th c) at Puri. If the sanctum tower of this huge temple had not collapsed, it would also have been the largest of the three. Continue reading
