The Sun Temple of Konark was built around 13th century by King Narasimha Deva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. It took 12 years to build and required 12000 artisans. The Konark temple is not only famous for its beautiful temple architecture but also for various magnificent sculptures. Konark temple is dedicated to Surya, the Sun God. According to Hindu mythology, Sun God travels across the sky in his chariot pulled by seven horses. Konark temple is designed as the heavenly chariot of Sun God with twelve pairs of decorated wheels, drawn by seven galloping horses. Four horses are on the right side and three are on the left side. Yes, you read it correctly and this is what my guide explained to me, the number of horses on each side are different, it means one side moves faster than the other, so the Sun Temple as a chariot is moving in circular direction, exactly as the Sun moves. Konark temple resembles like a chariot only due to these wheels and seven horses.

Four pulling horses on the right side

Unfortunately, most of these seven horses are either destroyed completely or ruined over the time. Even the remains of these horses are very limited and scattered, but there is one good specimen out of the four horses on the right side (marked with number 2 in above picture and also shown in below picture) and we can still see remaining parts of it.

Second horse out of the four horses on the right side

Three pulling horses on the left side

The representation of these seven horses has been explained in different ways by many.

• The seven horses, which pull the sun temple eastwards towards the dawn, represent the seven days of the week
• The seven horses, have been named in Bhagawat Gita, as 'Gyatri', 'Usnika', 'Anustuv', 'Vrihati', 'Pangti', 'Tristup' and 'Jagati' which possibly stand for the rhythmic representation of the sacred verses of the Vedas
• These seven horses at Konarak are the seven colours visible in a rainbow - VIBGYOR. The seven horses are named after these seven colors: Sahasrara (Violet), Indra-nila (Indigo), Nila (Blue), Haritaha (Green), Pita (Yellow), Kausumbhaha (Orange) and Rakta (Red)

For your information, these seven horses are different from the two war horses located at the southern side of the Konark temple. These seven horses are located on both side of the staircase leading to the Jagamohana.

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