History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c46.145

v2.c46.145

We have now reached a phase in the history of the sacred architecture of Orissa in which want of specimens compel us to stop tracing the evolution of the temple type. After the temple of Jagannātha, the only other temple in Orissa, the history of which is known, is the Sūrya Deul or the Sun Temple at Konarak. The Vimāna of this great temple collapsed sometime between the date of the completion of the Ain-i-Akbarī and the British conquest of Orissa. Even Fergusson saw a portion of it, about 120 ft. in height in the second quarter of the 19th century. According to tradition the great temple of Konarak was built by Narasimha I, a far more powerful monarch than the builder of the temple of Jagannātha, Anantavarman Choḍagaṅga. Further, the tradition prevalent in Orissa about the erection of the Sun Temple is corroborated by statements to the same effect in the inscriptions of his descendants Narasimha II and Narasimha IV. It is said locally that Narasimha I was cured of leprosy and dedicated this temple out of gratitude to the god. It is difficult to find out now for what reason the temple was built so far away from all centres of population in Orissa. There is no port close to this spot, which is about nineteen miles due north along the sea-coast from Puri. There is a metalled road for the first six miles from Puri after which the only road as far as Konarak is the trackless waste of sand of the sea-coast. Now another road has been constructed from Gop, a village about three miles W. N. W. from Konarak, and all sorts of wheeled vehicles can approach the great temple.