The magnificent Sun Temple of Konark is the culmination of Orissa`s temple culture, which is well described by Rabindranath Tagore "where the language of stone surpasses the language of man". This masterpiece architecture is dedicated to the Sun God or Surya. This colossal temple is constructed as an entire chariot consisting of seven horses and twenty-four wheels carrying the Sun God Surya across the heaven. It is located near Puri and was built during the reign of King Narasimhadev.

The Sun Temple of Konark is situated in the eastern state of Orissa, located sixty-five kilometers away from Bhubaneswar and thirty-five kilometers away from Puri. The name Konark comes from `Kona` means `Corner` and `Arka` means `Sun` depicting Sun in the corner. It was one of the earliest centres for Sun worshipping. In Purana the reference of this place is found as `Mundira` or `Mundirasvamin` which was later replaced by `Konaditya` or `Konarka`. Apart from Puranas, several other religious texts give indication of this old sun temple, even before the existence of the present temple. In legends it is told that Lord Krishna cursed his son, Samba and he suffered from leprosy for twelve years, which was cured by the Sun God and Samba made Sun temple to pay homage. However, the present Sun Temple was built by King Narasimhadev(1238-1264 AD) of Ganga dynasty to celebrate his victory over the Muslims.

The Konark temple is widely known for its brilliant architecture and intricate and enriched sculptural work. Each wheel is ten feet in diameter and has several spokes, on which extensive delicate sculptural works have been engraved. The spokes of the wheels serve as sundials as the shadows formed by them can give precise idea about the time of the day. The pyramidal roof of the temple made of sandstone soars over thirty metres in height. Two ferocious lions guard the entrance, each crushing a war elephant, each in turn lying on a top of human body. A flight of steps leads to the main entrance.

At the entrance of the temple there is `Natamandir`, where the temple dancers or `Devdasi`s used to perform dance on the deference to Sun god. The Natamandir is also intricately curved. There are three distinct sculpture of Sun God, which are intelligently positioned to catch the rays of sun at dawn, noon and sunset. All around the temple, there are various floral and geometric patterns carved. Konark Sun Temple is famous for its human, divine and semi-Divine figures in erotic poses like Khajuraho Temple. The sensuous poses of amorous couples are derived from KamaSutra. There are also images of men, warriors on horses, animals and other patterns.

The Sun Temple of Konark is now partly in ruin and the collection of its sculpture is housed in the Sun Temple Museum, which is run by Archaeological Survey of India. UNESCO declares the temple as World Heritage Site.