The Curse of Konark

India houses legends and myths so old that sometimes the line between reality and imagination fades. You can't believe some stories, yet history proves them true. A place where reality is wrapped in myths and stories may not be just stories. A country filled with temples that are masterpieces of artwork, home of miracles, and sometimes fallen to curses.  

Yes, temples, the holy places of worship, can be cursed too.  

One such temple is the Sun Temple of Konark.  

Built in 1278 CE by King Narasimha Deva, a king of the Ganga dynasty, it was a tribute to the Sun god "Surya." Till now, the ruins of the temple have stood against the harsh trample of time, showcasing the genius minds behind the construction. The temple is built like a sun chariot with seven horses on the side, depicting seven days a week. The wheels of the chariot are sundials made with precision to count minutes. Twelve wheels signify the 12 months of a year. 

But do you know what was the most charming feature of this temple?  

Guess!  

Well, let me tell you, it's the floating idol of the Sun God.  

Yup, you heard me right—a floating idol.  

How is it floating?  

Simple, magnetic levitation. The base of the temple was made with lodestone, creating a strong magnetic field. At that time, Konark was located near the seashore, and the magnetic field was so strong that it posed a great disadvantage to ships sailing nearby.  

The disturbance was so much that some enemies plotted and stole the lodestone.  

Anyway, we will know about it a little later, let's first talk about how the temple became cursed.  

Before we delve into the story, let us know why the temple was built.  

Kona means angle, and ark means Surya Dev. It is said that after Vishnu Dev killed Gayasur, he placed his weapons in four regions of Odisha—Shankha at Puri, Chakra at Bhubaneswar, Gada at Jajpur, and Padma at Konark. So Konark is also known as Padma Khetra. It was also the place where the sun's rays first fell in Odisha.  

The Cursed Son

Now, there are different legends on why the temple was built. One of them was to celebrate the victory of Narasimha in a war.  

Another story portrayed a tale of Lord Krishna's son  Samba, who by mistake, entered Lord Krishna's wife's bed chamber and was cursed with leprosy. To get rid of the curse, he was advised to pray to the Sun God at Padma Khetra. After praying for a long time, he was relieved from the disease and decided to build a temple in honour of the Sun God.  

The First Curse

The first curse took place before the construction of the temple was completed.  

You see, the temple is built with very special rocks like chlorite, laterite, and chondrite from Udaigiri and Kadamgiri, located about 100 kilometres away from Konark. How these rocks were brought is still a mystery.  

Due to the magnetic nature of the rocks, a problem arose during the assembling of the kalasa on top of the temple. No matter how many times the architects tried, they couldn't balance the kalasa perfectly, and it kept falling. This one problem delayed their workflow and caused increased tensions with the King.  

During this tough period, one little boy, named Dharama the son of the lead architect Bisu Maharana around 12 years old, somehow figured out a way to adjust the kalasa on top of the temple. One night, the young boy climbed the roof of the temple and secured the kalasa.  The other workers heaved a sigh of relief but apprehended the fact that they were unable to solve a problem the little boy managed to solve also the king would belittle them and may punish them so they urged Bisu Maharana to choose between his son and the 12,000 workers.

 To save his father's honor and the lives of so many workers. The little boy jumped from the top of  the temple straight into the Chandrabhaga river on whose banks Konark was situated and sacrificed himself.  

Most of the people thought the child was an incarnation of Surya himself, and with his sacrifice, the temple attained the first curse.  

Some rishis warned the king to wait for a certain period before opening the gates of the temple to the public, but the stubborn king did not listen. He opened it on the day he promised, and trouble started.  

The beautifully crafted temple began breaking down. The first structure that fell was a statue of a lion, which fell from the top and is still lying in the exact same place it fell.  

After this incident, the temple was closed, but some people argue that after a certain period of time, the temple was opened again for pujas.  

The Second Curse: Haunting at Konark

The second curse is actually not a curse but the haunting tale of Konark.  

Due to the presence of the lodestone, ships were unable to navigate as the magnetic force interfered with their compasses. It posed a huge hindrance to trade and even prevented attacks on the kingdom. Even after repeated requests, they were unable to convince the villagers to remove the stone.  

So, some stories say that invaders sneaked into the temple at night and removed the lodestone.  

But...  

As soon as the magnet was removed, parts of the temple began crumbling. One of the places that fell prey to destruction was the Mandir, where the devadasis were resting. The whole building crumbled and buried the innocent souls underneath.  

The floating idol also went missing that night along with the lodestone.  

It so happens that after the sun goes down people have claimed to hear the sound of laughter of girls and ghungros (anklets worn by women during dancing) from the temple ruins.

 now of course paranormal activity exists or not is still debated?

The inside of the main temple had crumbled down just after the lodestone and the area is sealed now, so the us tourists would be unable to take a glance inside.

Third Curse: The disappearance of the river

The map of India is everchanging, you will find newly emerging islands, disappearing lands, missing waterbodies, course-changing rivers and a lot more.  Chandrabhaga river that once flowed beside Konark temple also fell prey to such a change. The river whose existence is immensely prominent in history and ancient maps has disappeared from the face of the earth in such a way that today not even its trace is found. To date nobody has deciphered the mystery of what caused the river to disappear.

And yes it is the same river where Dharama sacrificed his life.

Now if you ask me if the river ever existed?"

my answer would be yes

And it's not my assumption based on the old texts.

it's a myth that has been scientifically proven.

So should we visit this cursed temple?

why not?

It's a beautiful place with outstanding architecture. 

As said by Rabindranath Tagore " here the language of stone surpasses the language of man" 

It is indeed true that most people won't believe until you visit the place, the beautiful incarnations of myths, rituals, stories and mythical creatures of ancient India will have one captivated for hours that you won't even understand how quickly the time passed. It's like Lotus Casino for my fellow mystery seekers.

And besides it's not only the sun temple that is the only attraction of Konark do visit the peaceful Chandrabhaga beach which is a home of olive ridley turtles.

Do comment your views and I may personally tell you about another location near Konark that most tourists do not know about. Though some of you may know.

Blue rose belles

Archie