All About World Heritage Sites
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Not far from Puri, around 35 km away, and an hour’s drive is the Konark Sun Temple, an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a structure which has inspired awe in the hearts and minds of all the enlightened souls who have witnessed its sublime architecture.
Source: Travel Diaries 2019: Things you must do when visiting Konark | travel | Hindustan Times
While the temple witnesses a heavy footfall on Sundays and holidays with more than 5,000 tourists, entry tokens can be issued to only 1,000 tourists as per the norms.
Source: Shortage of entry tokens sparks tension at Konark Temple in Odisha
Odisha has on offer a unique perspective on culture and history.
Source: Waterfalls, wildlife sanctuaries, acres of lush green: Here’s a glimpse of rustic Odisha
From Madhya Pradesh to Odisha, Karnataka to Rajasthan, these are India’s top UNESCO sites.
Source: Top UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India Every Traveller Must Visit
The Konark Sun Temple which had suffered minor damages in cyclone Fani was reopened for visitors today. Visitors were allowed entry inside the UNESCO World Heritage site, 11 days after cyclone Fani, through manual tickets.
On a cultural heritage of Odisha, exploring some of the places to see in Odisha with Times Passion Trails…
India is a land of mysticism, and ancient sun temples in India only add to its glory. Dedicated to the Sun god Surya, there are quite a few Sun temples in the country.
In the fifth edition of this series on Indian monuments by Sahapedia, we look at the magnificent Sun Temple of Konark. Built in the 13th century, this tribute to Surya in the form of a massive celestial chariot continues to awe visitors with its architectural depiction of the Sun’s journey through time.
BHUBANESWAR, India (RNS) — The uncertain fate of a 13th-century temple to the Hindu sun god has many demanding that the government re-examine its approach to cultural preservation.
Asserting that not a single stone of the temple has been replaced after 1997, the Union Minister said preservation works of the temple is being done as per the UNESCO guidelines.
Reiterating his claim that the Sun Temple in Odisha’s Konark is in a good state of preservation, Union Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma today.
It is deeply unfortunate in terms of cultural history that Odisha’s Konarak Sun Temple, declared as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, should now be at the centre of an unseemly controversy.
Source: Dodgy over Konarak
The Sun Temple is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites in the country.
Source: Konark Sun Temple Neglect: Odisha CM Asks ASI To Probe Theft Of Carvings
An Odia newspaper has reported that the Archaeological Survey of India has replaced the original Konark stone carvings with plain stones…
Source: ASI replaced Konark stone carvings? Odisha CM urges Centre to order probe
India’s eastern state of Odisha, which stretches along the Bay of Bengal, overflows with architectural and cultural gems. Learn more about its secrets.
(CNN) — The eastern India state of Odisha, stretching for more than 300 miles along the Bay of Bengal, bristles with architectural and cultural gems.
Tropical, remote and home to some of the subcontinent’s most striking temples, much of the state was off-limits to foreign travel for some years because of Maoist unrest but reopened in 2016.
Vast tracts of Odisha still never see any foreign visitors and even the state’s main destinations remain refreshingly untouched by mass tourism.
India is a country with a rich heritage. As such, it has some impressive buildings which reflect its ever evolving culture. Over the years, India has become a country where religion has been a defining factor and has contributed to some incredible architecture.
Some of the world’s most prominent religions originated in India, including Buddhism and Hinduism. If you take a look at some of India’s ancient architecture you will be met with beautiful Buddhist monasteries and stupas, forts built as means of protecting Hinduism, and buildings influenced by the Middle East, Afghanistan and Persia after the Muslim invasion in the 11th century.
Later when the Portuguese, French, Dutch and British invaded India, they too left footprints on the country.
As a result, India’s architecture is a melting pot of different cultural influences.
“Combining the myths with scientific and historical evidence, the identified palaeo-channel may be correlated to the lost river Chandrabhaga,” they say.Almost all myths regarding Konark, including illustrations and photographs, indicate the presence of the Chandrabhaga river in the proximity of the temple, they say.Called “Chandrabhaga”, this ancient river is believed to have existed at a distance of about two km from the 13th century Sun Temple at Konark, a Unesco World Heritage Site in the eastern state of Odisha.Bengaluru: After an expert panel recently confirmed the existence of the mythical Saraswati river in India’s northwest, scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-KgP) now claim they have found evidence of another “lost” Indian river.The existence of a palaeo-channel was further corroborated through profiling the surface using “ground penetrating radar” that showed the existence of a V-shaped subsurface river valley, the scientists report.
Scientists have found evidence of the mythical Chandrabhaga river near the UNESCO world heritage site of Konark Sun Temple in Odisha. A team of geologists and social scientists from IIT Kharagpur recently undertook a scientific study to investigate whether the ancient river existed close to the 13th century temple built by King Narasimhadeva. The scientists used various satellite images and then validated it with other field data to identify and trace the channel of the river which is believed to have gone extinct.
“An aerial examination of the area through satellite imagery depicts the trail of a lost river which is otherwise difficult to identify in the field,” said geophysics professor William Kumar Mohanty.
The existence of a palaeochannel at some locations is further corroborated through shallow surface geophysics using ground penetrating radar.
Sixty-five kilometres from the capital city of Bhubaneshwar, and thirty-five kilometres from Jagannath Puri, with even the last hamlet a few miles away, the Sun Temple in Konark gives ‘in the middle of nowhere’ an all-new meaning. Built in the 13th Century by King Narasimhadeva of the Ganga dynasty, by the now-vanished Chandrabhaga River, this UNESCO World Heritage site is often compared with Khajuraho for its form and feature, especially erotica.
Having been to Khajuraho recently, I had a similar picture of Konark in mind.
