The SunTemple at Motera

On 16th September, we went to the Sun Temple at Motera, which is 102 kms away from Ahmedabad. Divya,Sonam,Rashi,Shruti,Shubha,Katyayini and myself : seven of us were out to see some beauty carved out a thousand years ago.

The night before, all of us slept late or did not sleep at all. I slept at 1.30am, Rashi and Divya too slept around the same time, Shruti and Sonam did not sleep at all. Shruti was just coming from her placecomm treat when we all woke at 3.30am and found that Shruti was not in the room!! We all had to bahte really quickly as the car (a Travera) was to come by 4am at the main gate. Divya got loads of chips and water from CT. By and large Rashi, Divya, Shruti and Sonam planned the whole trip and executed it well.

We all trooped to main gate but the car was nowhere to be found. Rashi called up and the driver had just woken!! He came in 15-20 mins, and we hit the road. I sat at the back(my favourite place) alongwith Katy(Katyayini) and Shruti. We had a great time discussing gossip. Nano(Sonam) was sitting in the front and doing a good job conversing very sweetly with the driver and keping him awake.

We reached the Sun Temple well in time. There was a dhaba outside. Some of us had tea there. It was the best tea I had in Gujarat. (It reminded me very much of the Amarkantak trip and tea!). We went walkiing a small distance to SunTemple. There was a local old man, very keen on showing us around ofcourse for a fee. But we did not mind it as we had come to know and enjoy the place. He said that there was some time before sunrise. So he showed us the temple.

There are three parts of the Sun Temple, the Surya Kund, Sabha Mandap and Guda Mandap. Surya Kund is stepped tank that was named after Sun God It has beautiful carvings and 108 temples at various spots all inside the tank. Sabha mandap is the hall in front of the actual temple. It has 52 pillars. Each pillar has exquisite carvings which tell stories from our mythology. Guda Mandap is the actual temple. The story goes that there was an idol inside which had a diamond on its head. When the sun used to rise,its rays used to fall on the diamond and the whole Guda Mandap would be lighted by the reflected light of this diamond. The King of Gazni took away all the treasures including the idol and diamond from the temple. There is a secret passageway at the side of the temple, which leads to an underground tunnel, which then opens at some distant location. Kings in the earlier period would escape in such a manner from its enemy.

There is a small Shiva temple besides the Guda Mandap. The whole area has a lot of greenery. We went right to the bottom of the tank of Surya Kund. We took brillant snaps at all possible places.

However the sunrise was a dampener. We went there so early to see the majestic sunrise. But then the day was cloudy and that area has a lot of trees on horizon and also is not much on a height. So I guess it is not a very good spot for Sunrise view. After spending an hour or so, we decided to get back. On the way we would see the stepped-well, which is a famed stone well. The stepped well was a great place. although it had a very different kind of stink, the carvings there were amazing. It looked more or less like the ones at Sun Temple. Me and Rashi did some precarious ledge-walking, but it was fun. There were small arches with a little space inside, probably used by the watchman. We used them as photoframes, all of got our photos clicked there.

On the way back we stopped at an eating joint, to have some parathas and Amul Cool milk. Shubha (who is US born and brought up) had a great learning time the whole trip as we told her all we could about India,Ahmedabad, IIMA and many more things. Most of us fell asleep while coming back.

I saw a power plant on the way and my heart skipped a beat. There it was so close, my fisrt job,my first love!! I craned out my neck to see as much as I could.

We reached the campus back by 10am. We all were sleepy and exhausted but were thrilled by the trip. It was great fun in the car and also the places we went to were amazing. All in all a wonderful trip to remember.

Thanks to all, D3Basement and Katy!!