365bet娱乐

Jan. 1966] THREE ANCIENT FAMOUS TEMPLES OF THE SUN 41 6 The second temple of the Sun was situated at Sut墨ra (or the
beautiful shore of the ocean). In the forementioned passage from
the Varahapur膩峁嘺 it is said to be on the eastern mountain. In the
Skandapura峁嘺 this place is called Mun岣嵞玶a. In the Sambapur膩峁嘺
it is called Surya-kanana or Raviksetra, while the Brahma-pur膩峁嘺
is more explicit in that it calls it Ko峁嚹乨itya or Ko峁嚹乺ka in Utkala
(or Odra-de艣a). This is evidently modern Kon膩rak, a famous
temple of the Sun, about thirty miles from the town of Puri in
Orissa. The existing temple was built by the Ganga king Nara-
simha I in the thirteenth century A. D. About its architectural
importance Sir John Marshall says. "If the question were put to
me, which are the noblest monuments of ancient India, I should
name without hesitation the following: among Muhammadan
monuments, the Taj Mahal at Agra; among Hindu, the Black
Pagoda at Ko峁嚹乺ak and the Kail膩sa temple at Ellora ; and among
Buddhist, the frescoed cave-temples of Ajanta and the St奴pas of
S膩帽c墨." The temple at Kon膩rak is built on the sandy shore in a
solitary place. The site was evidently held sacred from very
early times and the present temple was evidently erected in place
of an earlier one which had fallen in ruins.
Dr. P. V. Kane has objected to this identification on the
following grounds'-(1) There is another reading Mundire for
Sutire. This is very important, Mundire would be the Sun-temple
of Modhera, which is about 18 miles from P膩峁璦n in North Gujarat
and which was built about A. D. 1026. The passage of the
Bhavisyapura峁嘺 mentioning it would then have to be referred to
the 11th century or later and would be of no use in establishing
the existence of these Sun-temples before A. D. 700. (2) The
Varahapur膩峁嘺 mentions that the temple of the Sun was on the
rising mountain. None can say that the temple of the Sun at
Ko峁嚹乺ka is situated on the rising mountain.
These objections have no force. As regards the first,
Mu峁囜笉墨ra cannot be identified with Mo岣峢er where a temple of
5. R. C. Hazra, Studies in the Upa-puranas, p. 106.
6. The Monuments of Sanchi, p. 1.
7. P. V. Kane, Uttararamacharita of Bhavabhuti, Fourth Ed. Introd., p. 13,
6