Other States - Orissa   

Unravelling Konark mysteries

BHUBANESWAR: When Shiva has been the dominant motif in the 1,000-year-old temple building tradition of ancient Orissa, how come that a temple was exclusively made at Konark for the Sun God? Can the Sun worship of Konark be linked to similar practices found elsewhere in human history? And is the story of Dharmapada, the boy who could complete the construction of the magnificent edifice and sacrificed his life to save his entire community of masons, is a fact or fiction? If it is a myth, how old is it, who told it and why?

These were some brain-storming questions raised during a workshop on documenting intangible cultural heritage of the world heritage site of Konark in the city here on Friday that was hosted by the Bhopal-based Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) . “While documenting the cultural history of 21 villages in the buffer zone around the most ancient rock art sites of Bhimbetka, we realised that there is an urgent need to look at the heritage sites in a more holistic manner. Thus we decided to document the intangible cultural heritage of Konark and Hampi in Karnataka during the 11th five-year-plan period.” explained AGRMS director Professor K.K.Basa, the man behind the mission.

The workshop was an attempt to chalk out a strategy to duly document the various aspects of cultural heritage associated with the temple like the oral traditions, communities, rituals, festivals, arts and craft practices, he added.

Offering rare and significant insight into the issue, Jnanapeeth awardee writer and former union culture secretary Sitakant Mohapatra suggested for evolving both local and global perspectives while digging into the history and the myths revolving round this magnum opus of Orissan temple architecture. “Korark was created towards the end of the 1,000-year-old unbroken temple building tradition of Orissa, the longest in the world. While majority of the temples built during this period were for Shiva, the scholars must scan why Konark was an exception,” he pointed out. Narrating stories of the Sun worship from different civilisations, the poet-scholar lucidly linked the medieval Oriya literature to study of the myths associated with Konark.

Appreciating Dr. Mohapatra’s stand, renowned art historian and director of the southern regional centre of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Professor S. Settar felt that unravelling the myth of the Sun worship at Konark would pose a challenge for the historians and scholars.

“Although Konark and Ellora are the two amazing creations in the history of Indian temples, unfortunately both have been attracting people in huge numbers for wrong reasons - the erotic aspects. Holistic study of such sculptural marvels would change the people’s perspective towards such temples that has much more to offer,” he felt.

The day-long deliberations saw scholars dwell on five aspects; each getting a separate session -- myths, art and craft, performing arts, fairs and festivals and the cults and rituals associated.

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