A sun temple (or solar temple) is a building used for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, dedicated to the
sun or a
solar deity. Such temples were built by a number different cultures and are distributed around the world including in
India,[1]China,
Egypt,
Japan and
Peru. Some of the temples are in ruins, undergoing
excavation,
preservation or
restoration and a few are listed as
World Heritage Sites individually or as part of a larger site, such as
Konark.[2]
China
The
Temple of the Sun in
Beijing,
China, was built in 1530 during the
Ming dynasty by the
Jiajing Emperor,[3] together with new temples dedicated to the
Earth and the
Moon, and an expansion of the
Temple of Heaven.[3][4] The Temple of the Sun was used by the imperial court for elaborate acts of worship involving fasting, prayers, dancing and animal sacrifices, as part of a year-long cycle of ceremonies involving all the temples.[5] An important element was the colour red, which was associated with the Sun, including red utensils for food and wine offerings, and red clothes for the emperor to wear during the ceremonies.[5] The temple is now part of a public park.[6]
In
ancient Egypt, there were a number of sun temples. Among these old monuments is the
Great Temple of Ramses at Abu Simbel,[7] and complexes built by the
Fifth Dynasty, of which only two examples survive, that of
Userkaf and of
Niuserre.[8] The Fifth Dynasty temples usually had three components, a main temple building at a higher elevation, accessed by a causeway, from a much smaller entrance building.[9] In 2006, archaeologists found ruins underneath a market in Cairo, which could possibly be the largest temple built by
Ramesses II.[10][11]
Martand Sun Temple Central shrine, dedicated to the deity
Surya. The temple complex was built by the third ruler of the
Karkota dynasty, Emperor
Lalitaditya Muktapida, in the 8th century CE. It is one of the largest temple complex on the Indian subcontinent.
Surya Narayana Temple at
Arasavalli in
Andhra Pradesh built in 7th century by king Devendra Varma, ruler of
Kalinga.[17] The temple is constructed in such a way that on the day of Radhasaptami, the Sun's rays directly fall on the feet of the Sri Suryanarayana Swami, the deity at the temple.
Sun Temple, Madkhera is located in Madkhera, a small village situated on the North-West of
Tikamgarh town at a distance of about 20 km. The entrance of the Sun temple is from the east and the Sun idol is placed inside.[21]
In the
Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, United States, there is a structure which may have been used as a sun temple by the
Pueblo culture,[36] with construction thought to have begun in 1275 AD,[37] although it does not seem to have been completed.[38]
Other usages
The name Temple of the Sun or Sun Temple was given to a
folly which stood in
Kew Gardens from 1761 until 1916. It was designed and built by
William Chambers, who also planted a cedar tree next to the structure earlier, in 1725. In 1916, a storm brought down the cedar tree, which destroyed the folly in the process.[39]
^"Temple of the Sun". Unaahil B'aak:The Temples of Palenque. Wesleyan University. Archived from
the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
^P. Charbonneau; O.R. White & T.J. Bogdan.
"Solar Astronomy in the Prehistoric Southwest". High Altitude Observatory, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Archived from
the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
^"Sun Temple". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 11 January 2014.