History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Activities, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Sun Temple, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
The Sun Temple or Surya Mandir is a Hindu pilgrimage, situated near Bundu of Ranchi district (Jharkhand). The deity of the temple is Surya, the solar god. Surya is portrayed as a god riding a chariot saddled by seven horses that represents the seven days of a week and seven colors of the discernible light. The temple is located on a hilltop, around 40 km away from Ranchi. The temple represents the form of a giant chariot with the support of eighteen gracefully designed wheels and seven energetic horses. The temple also has rooms for other gods and goddesses like Shiva, Ganesha, and Parvati. The temple has a dharmashala attached to it for visitors. It also has an adjoining pond where the devotees take bath in Chhat Puja.
History of Sun Temple, Ranchi
In the medieval period, people worshipped Surya along with Lord Brahma in the day, Lord Shiva in the afternoon, and Vishnu in the evening. Few primeval texts and arts presented Surya with other gods such as Ganesha, Indra, etc. The presence of Surya as a god is also found in Buddhist and Jain literature. Surya is portrayed as the pious father of Lord Rama in Ramayana and Karna in Mahabharata.
Surya persisted as a principal god of Hinduism for a longer period than most of the unique Vedic gods. Although, people stopped worshipping Surya in the 13th century when the Muslims started destroying the Sun temples in Northern India. People were afraid of building new Sun temples, whereas some temples stated worshipping a different God. There are still a few Sun temples linger but most of them do not allow worship.
The derivation of Surya is a topic of contradiction. As described in Rikveda, Surya was born and fostered by several gods such as – Agni, Indra-Varuna, Vishnu, Aditi, and so on. On the other hand, the Atharvaveda states that Surya was instigated by Vritra.
Surya is considered the composer of Mother Nature.
Architecture of Sun Temple, Ranchi
The unique architecture of the temple is greatly influenced by the same of the Konark Sun temple. Some of its features took inspiration from the temples of the Cholan dynasty in South India. The design of the chariot with nine giant wheels on each side and seven lively horses makes it different from the common architecture of the Hindu shrines. The designs of the wheels are generated from the Konark temple. The center of the temple is designed with giant pillars with complex carvings and the floor is delineated with tiles. Sketches on the floor have a detailed finishing.
Festivals celebrated here at Sun Temple
The main festival celebrated here is the Chhat festival. The temple compound becomes overcrowded during this time. Pilgrims from Bihar, Jharkhand, and other neighboring states come to visit the deity at this time. The temple authority organizes some special arrangements to keep the crowd under control. Devotees take a bath in the adjoining pond before worshipping the God of the Sun during the festival. They believe that this could help remove their sins. The temple gets decorated with lights and candles at the time of the festival.
Best time to visit Sun Temple Ranchi
The temple is open throughout the year, so devotees can visit anytime. Although the most crowd occurs at the time of the Chhat festival.
Sun Temple Daily darshan timings
The temple remains open from 6 am to 10 pm every day. Tourists can go there at their convenient time. It takes half to one hour to complete the temple visit.
To have more information about the temple, you can the temple authority at this number – 0651 233 1828.
The exclusive architecture of the temple is the main attraction. People from different places visit the temple because of its magnificent designs. The temple is undoubtedly another famous religious place in Jharkhand.
How to Reach Ranchi, Capital of Jharkhand, India
The nearest railway station to reach the temple is the Ranchi railway station. Buses and cars are also available from the city to the temple. If you are traveling by flight, the nearest airport is the Birsa Munda airport in Ranchi.
Ranchi being Capital of Jharkhand along with important district and city of state, it is very well connected with all major cities of India via road, rail and air network. Thousands of visitors across the India visits here throughout the year which makes Ranchi more convenient in terms of travel, accommodation and other services. Ranchi has major airport which is very well connect with all major cities of India. Ranchi has major railway station which is connected to main cities of India. Also Ranchi is well connect with other cities via state and national highway. Ranchi is located at 190 km from Giridih, 125 km from Jamshedpur, 252 km from Deoghar, 234 km from Gaya, 33 km from Khunti, 282 km from Basukinath, 79 km from Rajrappa.
