Historically, religion, art, and creativity fused in a manner that preserved the expressive life of the ancient world. Modern generations draw useful insights of the lives of their predecessors through features of art that stood the test of times. Observations of historical places led to the conclusion that, “Monumental churches, mosques, synagogues, Hindu or Buddhist temples, religious shrines and other spiritual sites often include impressive art work” (Kuppinger, 2017). Over the years, historians and philosophers struggled to place such forms of art, some of which board on controversy, in the context of its creators and influence on the modern populations interacting with the art. Kuppinger (2017) observed that it is important to examine the ways in which faith inspired creative works and practices leading to sartorial expressions and religious versions of different genres of art. The Konark Sun Temple is one of the most iconic spiritual sites whose impressive art works made it a key attraction to historians and researchers intent on deciphering the meaning behind the works. This essay contributes to the cause through informed criticism of the art features in Konark Sun Temple to enhance understanding of their implied meaning.
The Konark Sun Temple is a feature of historical and religious significance in India and the Hindu culture. Its importance draws from the impressive artistic expressions spread throughout its architectural structures. According to UNESCO (2019), the Konark Sun Temple was built in the 13 th century, and remains one of India’s most famous religious sanctuaries. The universal value of the temple, located in the shores of the Bay of Bengal, is linked to the symbolism that went into its conception in relation to scale and proportion, and the exceptional narrative in the sculptural embellishment. The Konark Sun Temple was constructed to personify the divinity of the Indian Sun God, Surya , whose ideological concept was prevalent in the kingdom of Orissa at the time. The implication for the architects and artists charged with the role was that they had to put in the effort to express the religious beliefs associated with Surya , through art sculptured on the surfaces of the temple structures. The Surya cult had strong association to materialism of the Brahmanism and tantricbelief systems (UNESCO, 2019). The temple is heralded as an artistic masterpiece for its representation of the chariot of the God Sun, whose twelve wheels, drawn by seven horses, evokes the movement across the heavens. On the other hand, the features of the temple that stand out are the complex and iconographic depictions of numerous aspects of contemporary life and practices.
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The impressive artistic designs in the Konark Sun Temple are the genius depictions of the mythological ideologies of Surya . Conception of the temple took into consideration the Orissan Temple Architecture that dominated between the 7 th and 13 th centuries, and drew from unique representations of the Kalingan style of temple architecture, under the Northern style or Nagara style (Chand, 2005). The uniqueness of the Konark Sun Temple is a result of the constructive peculiarities of the Orissan architecture. According to Chand (2005), the architects visualized the temple in the form of a male human figure. This is the reason most sculptural designs in the temple take the forms of human physical divisions such as leg, face, thigh, head, neck, and chest. Simply put, the Konark Sun Temple was constructed to personify and glorify the Surya deity and represent the link shared by the Sun God with humans through depiction of diverse aspects of human lives and other natural phenomena.
The Konark Sun Temple stimulates the sense visually. Just by looking at the artistic designs, one feels the beauty of the sculptures that it almost induces a tactile response. However, the true essence of the art in the structure lies in the perceived meanings it symbolizes. The entire Konark Sun Temple has decorations of reliefs depicting fantastic lions, erotic groups, and musicians and dancers (UNESCO, 2019). The sculptures coalesce into an impressive visual trope that has come to be associated with the Indic culture.
Scholars have advanced different theories in relation to the meaning of the art in the Konark Sun Temple architectural designs, which they have linked to different Indic cultures. Most interpretations of the art centers on praising the deity and culture it represents. However, it is evident that the architects and sculptors of the temple wanted to depict the reality of the lives of the people at the time, rather than the mythology concept that has been advanced by different factions. The themes of dominance and vulgarity stand out in the artistic impressions. Whether the God of Sun who was personified through the temple was a violent and promiscuous deity, remains an issue of contention. However, the sexuality evident in the sculptures is a reflection of the imbedded perceptions on the same in the Indic culture. Besides the impressions of the chariot and the sun, there is no apparent semblance of the fusion of religion and art in the temple architectural structures. The lions and erotic sculptures may have been intended to depict a cult in the Indic culture rather than religious beliefs.
However, the art undoubtedly expresses the intentions of the artist in a clear and concise manner. By observing the sculptures on the structures of the temple, one becomes apprehensive to the unlimited meaning that can be generated from interpretation of the art. For instance, the visual trope of a triumphant lion vanquishing an elephant is a common artistic feature in India, often used for the prominence of the lion in the Indic culture. As depicted by Sohoni (2017), the art may have developed at the time the Indian emperors embraced Buddhism and shifted to non-violent approaches of solving conflict. The lion became a symbol of royal strength rather than domination. The representation has little to do with the God of Sun, which leads to the conclusion that the artistic features in the temple capture lived experiences of the ancient Indic culture, though religion was a central factor at the time. The artists concisely integrate the different elements of the ancient culture in a diversely representative manner.
The art in Konark Sun Temple stimulates the observers’ interests in a very complicated manner. It triggers an emotional response because of the sophisticated features whose meaning can only be speculated. The most notable features of the art are the erotic sculptures that pique the interest in terms of what the artistes intended to convey. Interest of the viewer is also capture when trying to contextualize each single sculpture as an entity of the whole structure, the temple. While it is difficult to decipher the true meaning of the art in the Konark Sun Temple, there is no doubt that it expresses the message of its creators. Hiding the meaning in the art forms represents a genius approach at communication, which has led to years of research in an attempt to understand its meaning. Nevertheless, Kuppinger (2017) and Sohoni (2017) observe that the art conforms to particular architectural designs. However, most of the art is a representation of the practices of the Indic culture at the time.
References
Chand, S. (2005). Orissan Temple Architecture. Orissa Review , 45-47.
Kuppinger, P. (2017). Religion, art and creativity in the global city. Culture and Religion, 18 (4), 343-352.
Sohoni, P. (2017). Old fights, new meanings: Lions and elephants in combat. Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics , 67 (1), 225-234.
UNESCO. (2019). Sun Temple, Konârak. Retrieved from https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/246.
