Surya temples are found in many parts of India. More common than Surya temples are artwork related to Surya, which are found in all types of temples of various traditions within Hinduism, such as the
Hindu temples related to Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha, and Shakti. Reliefs on temple walls, forts and artwork above doorways of many Hindu monasteries feature Surya. These temples, states Michael Meister, do not glorify one god or goddess over the other, but present them independently and with equal emphasis in a complex iconography. For example, the 6th century carvings in the
Ellora Caves in Maharashtra as well as the 8th and 9th century artworks there, such as Cave 25, the
Kailasha Temple (Cave 16) and others feature complete iconography of Surya. Hindu temples predominantly have their primary entrance facing east, and their square principle based architecture is reverentially aligned the direction of the rising Surya. This alignment towards the sunrise is also found in most Buddhist and Jaina temples in and outside of India.
Dedicated temples A prominent temple dedicated to Surya can be found in
Arasavalli, which is in the
Srikakulam district of
Andhra Pradesh, India. The coastal district temple is peculiar with its latitude aligned to the
minor lunar standstill. Also the transition from
lunar calendar of north India to
solar calendar of south India can be seen in the
local culture. This is probably the eastern most coastal sun temple in the peninsular India, where prayers are offered until date. The place,
Chicacole, has a significance in the
Kalinga (historical region) kingdom with their port at
Kalingapatnam, making it to
Megasthenes dairy (
Calingae). The diaspora is spread in the present day south east Asia at historical
Kalinga (province),
Kalingga Kingdom etc. Other most worshiped Surya temple is the
Deo Surya Mandir. Sun Temple of
Deo is one of the most remarkable, major crowd-puller and notable temple and religious place in
Deo, Bihar, India for chhath puja. Deo Sun Temple Built in during the 8th century. Similarly in the
Mithila region of Bihar, there is
Kandaha Surya Mandir also known as
Markandeyark Surya Mandir at Kandaha village in the
Saharsa district dedicated to
Lord Suryanarayana. It is believed to be built by
Samba, the son of
Krishna. In the
Sitamarhi district of the Mithila region, there are two major Surya temples. They are
Surya Mandir at
Punauradham and
Navagraha Surya Mandir at Mangaldham. In the
Madhubani district, there is an ancient Surya temple known as
Kamlark Surya Mandir at the campus of the Kamaladitya Sthan. In
Tamil Nadu,
Navagraha temples are world famous.
Suryanar kovil situated in
Tanjore district of
Tamil Nadu is one among the
Navagraha temples and it is dedicated to Surya. Here lord Surya is called as Sivasurya Perumal. It is the first among the Navagraha temples of Tamil Nadu. The most famous Surya temple is the
Konark Sun Temple, a World Heritage Site in
Orissa. Constructed in the 13th century by the Eastern Ganga dynasty, on a pre-existing pilgrimage site for Surya god, the temple architecture mimics a grand chariot with twelve wheels pulled by seven horses. The temple features Surya in three representations, with the main large Surya destroyed and the temple damaged over the course of repeated Muslim invasions. Besides Konark, there are two other sun temples in Orissa called
Biranchi Narayan Sun Temple. There are sun temples in many parts of India, such as
Modhera, Gujarat. It was sponsored by King Bhimdev of the
Chaulukya dynasty. Other major Surya temples are found in Kanakaditya Temple in Kasheli (Dist ratnagiri) –
Maharashtra, near the famous
Galtaji's temple in Jaipur, Rajasthan and
Assam.
Adithyapuram Sun Temple is a
Hindu temple located in Iravimangalam near
Kaduthuruthy in
Kottayam district in the Indian state of
Kerala dedicated to Surya. It is noted as the only Surya shrine in the
Kerala state. The
Martand Sun Temple in
Jammu and Kashmir was destroyed by Islamic armies. A surviving Surya temple in northern India is Kattarmal Surya mandir in
Almora District,
Uttarakhand created by King Kattarmal in the 12th century. The Indian rulers were essentially worshipers of the sun and some of the sun temples were erected by them during the medieval period. The sun temple known as
Jayaditya was constructed by king of
Nandipuri, Jayabhatta II. This temple is situated at Kotipura near Kapika in the Bharukachha district. The Surya temple of
Bhinmal known as
Jagaswami Surya temple was also erected during this period.
Surya temples outside India featuring Surya. Gandhara, 2nd century CE. The
Sun Temple of Multan (in modern-day Pakistan) contained a revered statue of Surya. It was one of the focal points of Hindu-Muslim religious conflicts. After 871 BCE, Multan (Panjab) was under the rule by Arab princes, who kept the Surya temple hostage and desecrated it, in order to threaten its destruction if the Indian Hindu rulers attacked them. The early Muslim rulers taxed Hindu pilgrims for the privilege to visit the Surya temple, and this provided these rulers an important source of revenue. The Surya temple was destroyed by
Ismaili Shia rulers in the late 10th century, who built a mosque atop the site, abandoning the Sunni
congregational mosque in Multan. This Ismaili Shia mosque atop the Sun Temple's ruins was then destroyed by the Sunni ruler
Mahmud of Ghazni, the Surya temple was not rebuilt and an empty space left in place, actions that helped re-establish the importance of the Sunni mosque in Multan. In Kabul
Khair Khāna, there is a Hindu temple dedicated to Surya, of two distinct periods. The first period consisted of a mud-brick temple with possible human sacrifice remains dedicating it. This was then superseded by three distinct sanctuaries built of schist slabs, surrounded by subsidiary buildings of diaper masonry construction and an open-air altar in a semi-circular enclosure. The most important finds were two marble statues of Surya, the first example found during the original excavations (1934, Delegation Archaeologique Française Afghanistan), the second example found by accident in 1980. In Nepal, many Surya temples and artworks trace to the medieval era, such as the 11th-century Thapahiti and Saugal-tol, and 12th century Naksal stone sculptures. Artifacts discovered at the
Sanxingdui culture founded , about 40 km from present day
Chengdu, capital city of
Sichuan province China reveal an ancient worship of sun-deity, similar to Surya. The artifacts include a gold sheet with design of four birds flying around the sun deity, and a bronze sculpture of the surya-chakra. ==In cultures, arts and other religions==