Sun Temple, Modhera

Modhera is mentioned in various Puranas. According to 'Skandapuran' and 'Brahmapuran', in ancient times the entire area around Modhera was known as 'Dharmarnya'. This extraordinary piece of art was crafted even before the Konark Temple of Orissa. This Surya temple of Modhera is also known as 'Khajuraho of Gujarat'. The biggest feature of the architecture of this world famous temple is that there is no lime at all for the ploughing in the construction of the entire temple. To begin with, the whole temple is pillared on a lotus-shaped structure and every inch of its walls showcase edgy, detailed carvings. And those carvings represent every bit of our culture: from Ramayana to Mahabharata, from the human lifecycle to Kamasutra. 1000yrs old 'Chaubeesi Sthara Sthambha' 24 Layered Pillar indicating the 24hrs of a day. There are 52 pillars in the temple's temple hall, on which excellent workmanship has been done. The specialty of these pillars is that they look octagonal when looking down and round when they look upwards. On these pillars, pictures of Gods and Goddesses and the episodes of Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc are carved with wonderful beauty and fine detail.

The entire temple is expertly divided into three segments. 1.surya kund (rama kund) 2.sabha mandapa (assembly halls) 3. guda mandapa (main temple)

1 SURYA KUND: According to literature 'SURYA KUND'is also called as 'RAMA KUND' for the legend of RAMA associated with this place. Surya kund is stylized mirror image of the shikhara that unfortunately no longer exists. Symbolically it brought together the fire and the water. In order to enter this majestic sun temple,we first cross the kund which is built in rectangular form and containing 108 shrines dedicated to various gods and demigods. There are three main shrines placed on the three side of the reservoir (kund), dedicated to Ganesha, Vishnu and image of the god Shiva dancing the 'Tandav' in front of the temple of the sun, which covers the fourth side.

2 SABHA MANDAPA: used to be the place for religious gatherings and conferences.

3 GUDA MANDAPA: The sanctum sanctorum by crossing the passage with pillars and arches. Once, this hall used to bear the idol of the Sun God before being plundered by Mahmud Ghazni. Still one can see the twelve different facets (for each month) of the Sun God on its walls. Myth logically speaking, the walk from the kund to guda mandap via the main temple is observed as the transcending journey from death to moksha.