Sun Temple located at Modhera is one of the shrines here devoted to Lord Surya, which is positioned on Pushpavati River’s bank. This place is simply reachable from Ahmedabad which is the leading city in Gujarat; the nearby station is Modhera which is situated at Ahemdabad covering the distance of one hundred and two kms. The temple was constructed by Bhimdev the king; this temple revitalizes the memories of the Sun Temple located in Orissa at Konark. From history you can find Modhera mentioned in the scriptures like Purana, Brahma Purana and Skanda, it is found that surrounding Modhera was known has Dharmaranya that means forest of uprightness and this place was sanctified by noble Rama. For the Dance festival which is held every year in January, in the premises of the temple, this festival is organized to keep alive the Indian culture and tradition. The dance forms held are the classical forms which are organized by the Gujarat Tourism to promote tourism at this place. Modhera is now the place of several cultural and dance festivals. The temple and the ambience here provide grand surroundings for the exhibition of performing arts.
The most striking feature which the temple bears is that at the time of equinoxes, the first ray of the sun falls on the divinity. The temple consists of number of magnificent buildings in the environs with a unique architecture. The temple emerges has a grandiose that has a grand structure that is erected on the high platform. From the scene the spires are executed, but ‘Toranas’ leading the chief halls overshadows the nonexistence of the spires of the shikhars. Here the walls on the exteriors are carved with daring in relation to the majesty of art and intricate carvings of early times. Each and every part of the structure is covered with sculptural patterns of Gods, beasts, Goddesses, beasts and flowers. In actual, Sun Temple is alienated into 3 parts. Firstly, Surya Kund a deep 100 sq meter rectangular tank used to store pure water which is placed in the temples front side. Here the tank is devoted to Lord Surya; devotees often stop here for ablutions ceremony prior to making a move towards the temple moving . There are more than 108 shrines which mark the step of the tank that includes, the shirnes devoted to Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Sheetala Mata and many other. Secondly,it is the Sabah Mandap right in the front of the tank. This hall mentions the place at the location of religious gatherings and conferences called the assembly hall. Everyone is allowed to visit the hall which has intricately carved pillars they are fifty two in numbers all four sides and has 52 delicately carved pillars. The carvings depict the scene from the Indian Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and also you can have a glance of the snap shots of Lord Krishna’s life. Thirdly it’s the Guda Mandap which is a chamber sanctorum to support the lotus-base podium. This hall is used as a house of the icon of Lord Surya, design of the hall is done in such a way that at the time of equinoxes the idol obtains the opening foretaste of the Sun. Mahmud Ghazni ransacked the idols here, still the walls represents the twelve diverse facets of Lord Surya of each month. Human life is a sadistic circle of death and birth which are depicted on the wall carvings.