Konark’s Surya mandir, popularly known as the sun temple, is a marvel of world architecture. It is a temple of Lord Soorya, Hinduism’s deified form of the soorya or sun. The iconography is housed within a temple built to resemble a chariot, of which the wheels are the most striking aspect.
The sculpture that you see on this page is a reproduction of the wheel at the Soorya mandir at Konark. While it is far from the finesse of the original, it is a superb example of contemporary handiwork. Carved from pink stone and balanced on a bed of lotus petals engraved in stone, which in turn is held up on the backs of a pair of elephants.
The motifs contained in the composition borrow heavily from the 13th century temple in present-day Odisha. A horse with its forelegs raised, on either side of the wheel. Each accompanied by a groomsman. Such a work would be a tasteful addition to the home decor of the art- and architecture-loving devotee.
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