About Temple
The history of Konark temple dates back to the thirteenth century AD. The word “Konark” comes from the Tamil word Kona, which means “lord”, and Arka, which means “Sun”. This refers to the Konark Sun temple, which is in fact, dedicated to Surya, the Sun god. The history of Konark temple talks about the construction and the destruction of the Sun temple of Orissa. Designed in the form of the huge chariot of the Sun god, the Konark Sun temple is one of the major attractions of Odisha. It is believed that the Sun temple of Orissa was built to commemorate the triumph of the Ganga rulers over the Muslim invaders.
The history of Konark temple describes how the Konark Sun temple was attacked in the 15th century by the Muslim Yavana army. But before any harm could be done to the central statue, it was smuggled away by the priests to nearby Puri. The history of Konark temple says that the Muslim army ransacked the place and completely ruined the beautiful stone carvings.
The history of Konark temple describes how Kalapahad, who was the general of Sulaiman Khan Karrani, the Sultan of Bengal, attacked and ruined Konark Sun temple. The Konark temple history says how he attacked and destroyed Konark Sun temple and many other religious structures in Odisha in 1568 AD. He displaced the main archstone and tower and damaged most of the images there.
The Konark Sun temple lost its glory after that. According to the Konark temple history, the place was further ravaged by Nature when the sea receded and the area was totally submerged under sand. Consequently, the stone carvings of the Konark Sun temple were greatly damaged and it was not until the 20th century that the British re-discovered the Sun temple of Orissa. The history of Konark temple goes on to say that restoration work was carried out in great earnest and many parts of the huge structure were restored.
The British archaeologists greatly contributed to the restoration work of the Konark Sun temple. The history of Konark temple says that many trees were planted to shield the temple from the wind and sand from the sea. You can also see a museum there which depicts the remaining relics of the structure according to the Konark temple history.
