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| "Konark" The sun Temple |
Me and my friend planned a tour Konark, the abode of the famous Sun Temple. We stared our journey at 5.30 in the early morning from Bhunaneswar, the Capital city of the state of Odisha.
We know our destination and the rout there to. Konark is situated 64 KM away from Bhubaneswar. Our journey was from Bhubaneswar to Konark enroute Pipili followed by Nimapada. It is about a couple of hours journey by motor bike.
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| Handicraft of Pipili |
I feel the journey to Konark will remain incomplete, if I do not say something about Pipili. Pipili is renowned for its handicrafts, significantly the "Chanduas". Chanduas are made of colored cloth with embroidery designs of flowers, leaves, elephants etc., with multiple utility as well decorative, garden umbrella or other. These handicrafts have very good demand in the country and abroad, and the demand is consistently on the increase.
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| Dancing Fairy of Konark Temple |
After the two-hours journey from Bhubaneswar via Pipili and Nimapada we arrived at our destination, the Sun Temple, also known as the "Black Pagoda". Soon I found myself standing in front of a dome, carved on rock and designed like a chariot. The premises are full of rocks and stones and stones only, and with sculptures of artistic talent, elephants, lions, horses, dances and singers. It was really an amazing sight with art and sculptures all around.
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| Wheel of Konark |
The Sun Temple is around 230ft. high in the shape of a chariot with 24 giant wheels each of 10 feet diameter. These 12 pairs of wheels happen to be the main attraction of temple, exquisitely designed and decorated. Amazing engineering skills of the ancient era are visible here. The entire temple is made out of naturally oxidized sand stone also called "mankada stones".
The sun temple was built by Narasingha Deva-I, the mighty king of "Ganga" dynasty in 1278 CE. The ruins of this great masterpiece were excavated in the late19th century. The main entrance ( Jagamohan ) is in tact, while the tower over the main temple is missing. Two gigantic stone carved lions are seen at the main entrance, as if guarding the temple, with crushing elephants sculptures seen nearby.
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| Warrior horse of Konark Temple |
In front of the Sun Temple, there is ( Natya Mandap ) the dance hall. This is full of stone sculptures and carvings of men, women, animal, dancers, warriors, horses, elephants, in various pattens despicting all about our mythological and geometrical creations. Each of the piece is an art of excellence and carnival speaking of life.
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| Sun God of Konark Temple |
We forgot time and everything else and viewing the scenery dumb-founded. It was only with the chirping of birds returning to their nests that we hastened up for a retreat. In the melee, we did a blunder, i.e. forgetting about a visit to the famous " Chandrabhaga" beach adjancent to the Sun Temple. Thus we have to make another trip to the place in the not too far future.
