KONARK SUN TEMPLE (1243-1255 A.D.)

"here the language of stone surpasses the language of man."

Konark Sun Temple was designed in the form of a gorgeously decorated chariot mounted on 24 wheels,
each about 10 feet in diameter,
and drawn by 7 mighty horses

The word 'Konark' is a combination of two words 'Kona' and 'Arka'. 'Kona' means 'Corner' and 'Arka' means 'Sun', so when combines it becomes 'Sun of the Corner'.

District : Puri/Odisha/India
Geo Coordinates : 19.90°N 86.12°E
King Narasimhadeva I {Ganga dynasty}
[1243-1255 A.D.]

There are three(3) images of the Sun God at three different sides of the temple,
positioned in proper direction
to catch the rays of the sun at morning,
noon and
evening.

In the Vedas, Surya is conceived as an unified manifestation of the Brahmanical Trinity.

the Morning Sun being identified with Brahma, the creator;

the Mid Day Sun with Mahaswara, the destroyer and

the Evening Sun with Vishnu, the preserver.

It is probably this conception that the artist had wanted to express in the three images of Surya, on the three sides of Konark Sun Temple.

Pravhata Surya(Mitra) - Morning Sun - The Creator

It slightly makes an angle with the cardinal directions,expression of youth & activity.

Madhyanha Surya - Mid Day Sun - The Destroyer

The second image of Sun God on the Western side wall called 'Punsanï", standing with full vigour and personality.
Decoration of the panel, the seven horses and the figure of Aruna are almost similar to the Prabhata Surya.

Astachala Surya - Evening Sun- The Presever

The third image of Sun God on the the Northern side wall called "Haritasva"
when all the other horses are completely tired,completing his journey by riding on the back of the last horse, also found to be stooping with its folded legs.

KONARK WHEEL

The wheels of the temple r sundials,which can be used to calculate time accurately to a minute

The temple was designed in the shape of a huge chariot drawn by 7 horses
on 12 pairs(total 24)of gorgeously decorated wheels @ its base
size : 9 feet 9 inches in diameter

7 horses represent the days of the week or colours of Sun light.
12 pairs of represent the 12 M of the Y.
24 signifies 24 H of a day and the 8 major spokes signifies prahars (3 H period) of a day.

'Wheel of Life'
cycle of creation,preservation & achievement of realisation.

The Wheel of Karma, The Wheel of the Law.
24 wheels is same but each one of them has been differently carved all over.
designs of foliages with various birds & animals,medallions in the spokes are carved with the figures of women in various luxurious poses,mostly of erotic nature

The Konark wheels are used as Sundials in ancient times to know the time of the day.
Put your finger @ centre of the axle.
Finger's shadow will show the precise time of the day.
It's difficult to explain the technique in writing so check following image based on explanation.

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.

The most popular theory associated with Konark temple is its magnets & the floating idol in the air. The uniqueness of the Sun Temple of Konark lies in the fact that it was built with an architectural setup of various magnets.

During the construction of the main tower of the temple the artisans put an iron plate between every two stone pieces. There is a lodestone at the top of the temple was said to be a massive 52 ton magnet.

According to legend,the statue of the Sun God inside the temple was built of a material with iron content&was said to be floating in air without any physical support,due to the unique arrangements of the top magnet,the bottom magnet&the reinforced magnets around the temple walls.

source of the information :
http://www.thekonark.in/index.html 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konark_Sun_Temple