Sharing a free ebook, "Konark Temple: A Soul’s Symbolic Journey". This book is my humble tribute to the Supreme Sun on Makara Sankranthi:
I am sharing a free book with everyone about the Konark Temple. The book is titled "Konark Temple: A Soul’s Symbolic Journey. A copy of the book can be downloaded from https://archive.org/details/konark-a-souls-symbolic-journey
This is a concise ebook that analyses the symbolism of the Konark Sun Temple, rendering the temple a visual representation of the Upanishads. This article is written from my perspective. The article also focuses on Kalingan Style architecture and the construction methods employed from an engineering perspective.
The article also examines possible reasons that led to the temple's collapse.
Historical Background:
The age of the temple, after much archaeological debate, was assigned to the period of King Narasimhadeva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty, i.e the temple was said to have been constructed in the 13th century. However, Abul Fazl in his work Ain-i-Akbari assigns the date when this temple was completed to 850 AD, 873 AD.
The word Konark is a compound word from Kona + Arka. Kona means angle, and Arka means fire or sun. The word Konarka could refer to the entry of the Sun into the constellation Aquarius, known as Agni-Kona, which is celebrated as Ratha Sapthami.
According to historical sources, the Konark Temple was constructed by King Gajapati Narasingha Deva I of the Imperial Ganga Dynasty. This king ruled from (c. 1238–1264). The Imperial Ganga Dynasty was first established by King Anaṅgabhīma in the year c. 1230. There are two King Anakabhīmas listed under the Eastern Ganga Dynasty. King Anakabhīma II, who ruled from c. 1190–1198 and King Anakabhīma III of the Imperial Ganga Dynasty, who ruled from c. 1211–1238. The time period from c.1190 to c. 1245 coincides with that of the Poet Sri Jayadeva, who composed the famous Gita Govindam for Lord Jagannatha. According to Wikipedia, The Poet Sri Jayadeva lived from c.1170 to c. 1245. The king of that period decreed that Gita Govindam should be sung daily in the Jagannath Temple.
One of the earlier Eastern Ganga kings, King Anantavarman Chodagangadeva, was possibly a follower of Swami Ramanujacharya, and the king assumed the titles of Paramavaishnava and Paramamahesvara.
King Anaṅgabhīma of the Imperial Ganga Dynasty dedicated his kingdom to Lord Jagannatha at Puri. He is said to have acknowledged the divinity of Puri both as the sole state deity of Odisha and as his divine overlord. Anaṅgabhīma and his successors declared that they were carrying out the divine order (adesha) of Lord Jagannatha. They called themselves the Son of Lord Jagannatha or the vassal of Lord Jagannatha.
King Gajapati Narasimha Deva was described as Purushottama-Putra in the Ganga copper plate grants. It can be safely assumed that, as Purushottama-Putra, the King conceived Lord Vishnu as the Sun-God at Konark, thus making a connection to Lord Surya Narayana. There is a stone carving of the king worshipping Lord Jagannatha at Konark.
Oriya literature also confirms the connection of Lord Surya Narayana with Konark. The 15th-century poet Sri Sarala Dasa mentioned in his Mahabarata that Lord Surya Narayana killed the Asura named Arka at Agni-Kona of Jambudwipa. As the Asura was killed at Agni-Kona, the place became Konarka Kshetra. Sri Sarala Dasa composed the Mahabarata from the perspective of a bagawatha (devotee). This composition brings out Lord Krishna as the Supreme Controller.
The ancient Sun Temple at Konarka was constructed in the 13th century for the worship of Lord Surya-Narayana.
In ancient times, Kings built temples on a grand scale. The temples were meant to be the pictorial representation of religious literature. From this perspective, it is my opinion that the Konark Temple was conceived as a pictorial representation of the Upanishads.
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