Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty built the temple as the sun god's vehicle: a stone chariot with twenty-four carved wheels along its flanks and seven horses straining at the front. The wheels are not decoration. Each carries sixteen spokes, eight heavy and eight light, and the shadow they throw can be read as a clock accurate to a few minutes. The main tower has collapsed; what stands today is the audience hall in front of where the sanctum used to be.
See Konark Sun Temple on the globe
Opens with the Sky Alignments lens on, so you can see what it connects to.
Notable facts
- Twenty-four wheels for the fortnights of the year, seven horses for the days of the week.
- The spokes are traditionally read as a sundial, and guides still tell the time from them in bright sun.
- The principal axis frames sunrise; the tower it pointed to fell centuries ago.
Through the theories
How each theory reads Konark Sun Temple. Follow a theory to see its verdict and every other site it claims.
Sky AlignmentsEstablished science
An observatory disguised as a vehicle: the timekeeping is built into the ornament rather than bolted on.
Sacred GeometryA spectrum
Wheel, spoke and horse counts all encode calendar divisions, which is sacred number applied at the scale of a building.
