Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c28.36

c28.36

There now remains the grandest achievement of this Eastern School of architecture, the Temple of the Sun at Koṇārak, standing entirely by itself, some twenty miles in a north-easterly direction along the sea-coast from Puri Built in the reign of King Narasimha-deva (1238-64), it has become a deserted ruin, a great mass of masonry, rising like a pyramidal mound above the sand-dunes, and forming from the sea a prominent landmark known as the Black Pagoda. Although so much of it has fallen, enough remains to make a conjectural reconstruction possible, and to show it in its finished state. Abul Fazl, who was the Emperor Akbar's official historian, and who appears to have seen the temple before it became a complete ruin, eulogizes it, about 1585 in the Ain-i-Akbari as follows : "Even those whose judgement is critical and who are difficult to please stand amazed at the sight." Yet it is doubtful whether it ever actually attained the appearance as depicted in Plate LXXXVIII for there are fairly clear proofs that it was never quite completed as before the ponderous stones that formed the upper portion of the tower could be put into position, the foundations began to give way. Some of the large sculptured blocks intended for the summit lie at the foot, not only unbroken, but unbruised, whereas had they fallen from such a height they could not fail to show signs of serious damage or fracture. The conception of this temple was that of a genius, but its colossal grandeur outstripped the means of execution, for its materialization was beyond the capacity of its builders, its scale was too great for their powers, and in the constructional part they failed. It was, however, a magnificent failure, for without unduly straining the imagination, it is possible to see even in its ruin, that it was one of the finest architectural efforts the Indian master-mason ever made.