By road
~35 km from Puri, ~65 km from Bhubaneswar
East India · Odisha
Konark, Odisha
The sun god's stone chariot · ~35 km from Puri, ~65 km from Bhubaneswar
Getting there
By rail
Konark has no station of its own; Puri (~35 km) or Bhubaneswar (~60-65 km) are the nearest
By air
Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar, ~60-65 km
Best time to visit
October to February; the December dance festival under the temple
Don't miss
The Sun Temple's wheels and horses
ASI museum
Chandrabhaga beach
Things to do
Sculpture study with a guide
Dance festival evenings
Beach mornings
Where to eat
What to pack
Sun protection (fittingly), guide budget, early-morning start
A quieter corner
Chandrabhaga beach's sunrise — the temple's axis points at it
About Konark
- Coastal
Where it is
Konark is a small town on the Bay of Bengal coast of Odisha, about 35 km north-east of Puri and 65 km south-east of Bhubaneswar.
History
The Sun Temple was built around 1250 by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty as a colossal stone chariot for the sun god Surya. European sailors called it the Black Pagoda, its main tower collapsed in the following centuries, and in 1903 the British filled the surviving hall with sand to stop it falling; it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
People
Konark's people speak Odia and live by farming, fishing and the visitors drawn to the temple. Stone carvers in the area keep Odisha's sculptural tradition alive, and each December Odissi and other classical dancers perform against the temple at the Konark Dance Festival.
Known for
- The Sun Temple, carved as a stone chariot
- Twenty-four carved stone wheels
- The Konark Dance Festival
- Chandrabhaga beach
Did you know?
The carved wheels of the Sun Temple work as sundials: the shadows cast by their spokes can be read to tell the time of day.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.