Modhera Sun Temple

મોઢેરા સૂર્ય મંદિર

Surya

Modhera, Modhera, Mehsana district, Gujarat · Saura tradition

The temple was built in the early eleventh century under the Solanki (Chaulukya) king Bhimadeva I.

The story begins: “Walk round the shrine and the hall at Modhera and the walls are crowded with figures.”

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Getting there
Train: Mehsana JunctionAir: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad

Not yet confirmed: visiting hours, dress code, phone rules, entry for visitors of other faiths, walking distance. Ask at the temple office or enquiry counter — and if you know, tell us. hello@aalayakatha.com

Full visiting details

Sthala purana

The story of this place

Family note: this story includes violence or death.
Told in: The Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, chapter 30, read against the sculpture programme as described in the ASI guide

Sati, Gauri and the goddesses on the walls

Walk round the shrine and the hall at Modhera and the walls are crowded with figures. Twelve of them are Adityas — forms of the sun, as befits a sun temple, shown with the attendants Dandi and Pingala and a chariot drawn by seven horses. Twelve more are Gauris, forms of the goddess, and the ASI guide to the site connects them to a single myth: that of Sati, Daksha and the Himalaya.

The Devi Bhagavata Purana tells the core of that myth in the chapter it titles On the birth of Gauri, the seats of the Deity, and the distraction of Siva. It opens with Vishnu and Shiva at their austerities in the Himalaya, and with Daksha asking the goddess to be born in his family. She is born as his daughter Sati, and Daksha gives her in marriage to Shiva.

The marriage turns Daksha against his son-in-law. After an offence brought on by a garland the sage Durvasa gives him, Daksha begins to abuse Shiva. Sati, to keep faith with her husband, burns her body in yogic fire. Shiva's anger takes form as Virabhadra, and Daksha's sacrifice is destroyed. Then grief takes over: Shiva lifts Sati's body onto his shoulders and wanders with it, until Vishnu cuts it apart with his arrows. Wherever a part falls becomes a seat of the goddess, and Shiva remains at each in a form of his own.

The guide does not retell the myth; it uses it to read the walls. The twelve Gauris are there because of this story, and they are not the only figures from Shiva's side of the pantheon. The guide also points to Shiva in the three-legged Tripada Bhairava form, alongside the eight Dikpalas, and on the doorways Ganesha and Kubera.

That is why the guide does not treat Modhera as a sun temple and nothing else. On the strength of the Gauris and the Bhairava, it argues that the temple may have been dedicated to both Surya and Shiva — a reading a visitor can test by looking for them on the walls.

Where this account comes from

  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, chapter 30 ("On the birth of Gauri, the seats of the Deity, and the distraction of Siva"), tr. Swami Vijnanananda sacred-texts.com
  • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org

In one minute

Why Modhera Sun Temple matters

Each line says who it comes from and how settled it is. What the labels mean

  1. The temple was built in the early eleventh century under the Solanki (Chaulukya) king Bhimadeva I.

    Source for: The temple was built in the early eleventh century under the Solanki (Chaulukya)
    • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org

  2. The temple faces east and is designed so that the rising sun's rays fall on the image of Surya at the equinoxes.

    Source for: The temple faces east and is designed so that the rising sun's rays fall on the
    • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org

  3. The complex has a deep stepped kunda, a free-standing ceremonial gateway, a dancing hall and the east-facing shrine.

    Source for: The complex has a deep stepped kunda, a free-standing ceremonial gateway, a danc
    • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org

  4. The main complex is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, and the state's Uttarardh Mahotsav of classical dance has been held in the temple premises each January since 1992.

    2 sources for: The main complex is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, and the sta
    • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org
    • Press: DeshGujarat, "Uttarardh Mahotsav 2025 at Modhera Sun Temple on Jan 18-19", 17 January 2025 deshgujarat.com · seen 2026-10-09

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Māru-Gurjara

The ASI guide attributes the temple to the Solanki (Chaulukya) kings of Gujarat, whose capital was Anahilapataka (modern Patan). Māru-Gurjara is the art-historical name for that idiom; we did not find the term itself in the guide.

  • Temple tank

    The stepped kunda

    A deep rectangular tank descending in four main terraces of steps, at the eastern end of the complex.

    Where to stand: On the upper terrace of the kunda, looking west towards the gateway and the temple.

  • Detail

    The free-standing gateway

    A ceremonial torana standing on its own before the dancing hall, partially preserved; two further gateways survive in a more ruined state.

  • Dance hall

    The dancing hall (ranga-mandapa)

    A roughly octagonal hall built around a central octagon of very tall, slender pillars.

  • Great hall

    The closed hall (gudha-mandapa)

    Eight decorated columns forming an octagon at the centre of the hall before the shrine. The main temple, in yellow sandstone, faces east.

  • Sanctum

    The lower chamber beneath the shrine

    The guide describes a lower chamber below the shrine that may represent an earlier phase of the temple. The shrine doorway remains closed.

    depth of the lower chamber below the shrine: 4 m
    • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org

  • Sculpture

    Twelve Adityas, twelve Gauris

    On the shrine and hall walls: the twelve Adityas with the attendants Dandi and Pingala and a seven-horse chariot; twelve Gauris; the eight Dikpalas; and Shiva as Tripada Bhairava. Ganesha, Kubera and apsaras appear on the doorways.

  • Sacred water

    The kunda

    The deep stepped tank before the temple; the ASI guide calls it a kunda without giving a proper name.

Yatra

Plan your visit

Darshan times

We could not confirm the opening times from the temple’s own notice, so we are not printing any. Please check with the temple office or the devasthanam before you travel.

Before you go

  • The ASI guide states the complex opens daily from sunrise to sunset.

Walking, steps and access

We have not yet confirmed how much walking or climbing is involved, or whether there is wheelchair access. If you are travelling with elders, ask at the temple office or the devasthanam enquiry counter before you set out.

Getting there

  • By air: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad
  • By train: Mehsana Junction
  • By road: MehsanaRoad connection via Mehsana town.

Routes are general guidance and not yet checked against an official source.

PIN 384212 (not yet checked with India Post)

The order of darshan

No published source gives the order in which to visit the shrines here, so we have not invented one. Follow the queue and the temple staff.

Festivals

  • Uttarardh Mahotsav

    January, after Uttarayan · 2 days

    A state-run festival of classical dance — Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, Kathak, Kathakali, Manipuri and Sattriya — held in the temple premises to mark the sun's northward course. The 2025 edition ran on 18 and 19 January.

Itihasa

Through time

Two registers, kept apart on purpose: what the Puranas tell, and what the historical record shows. They answer different questions and we do not force them to agree.

In the Puranas and tradition

No events in this register have been sourced.

In the historical record

  1. 942–997

    Solanki kingdom founded at Anahilapataka

    Mularaja founds the Solanki (Chaulukya) kingdom with its capital at Anahilapataka, modern Patan. His dates per the ASI guide are 942–997.

    Source for: Solanki kingdom founded at Anahilapataka
    • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org

  2. c. 1016–1027

    Sun temple built under Bhimadeva I

    The ASI guide dates the temple to the first quarter of the eleventh century under the Solanki king Bhimadeva I. It gives his reign inconsistently — 1016–27 in one place and 1024–1066 in another — so the range here is approximate.

    Source for: Sun temple built under Bhimadeva I
    • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org

  3. 1992

    Uttarardh Mahotsav begins

    The state government begins an annual classical dance festival in the temple premises, held after Uttarayan.

    Source for: Uttarardh Mahotsav begins
    • Press: DeshGujarat, "Uttarardh Mahotsav 2025 at Modhera Sun Temple on Jan 18-19", 17 January 2025 deshgujarat.com · seen 2026-10-09

  4. A possible earlier phase

    The ASI guide suggests the 4 m deep chamber below the shrine may represent an earlier phase of the temple. No date is offered for it.

    Source for: A possible earlier phase
    • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org

Around here

Worth the detour

  • Place

    Modhera stepwell

    A small stepped well near the temple, maintained by the Gujarat state Directorate of Archaeology.

  • Place

    Patan (Anahilapataka)

    The Solanki capital under whose kings the temple was built.

Sources

Where this page comes from

  • Archaeological Survey of India: K. Mankodi, Modhera, Archaeological Survey of India, 2015 (guidebook) archive.org
  • Press: DeshGujarat, "Uttarardh Mahotsav 2025 at Modhera Sun Temple on Jan 18-19", 17 January 2025 deshgujarat.com · seen 2026-10-09
  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, chapter 30, tr. Swami Vijnanananda sacred-texts.com

Cite this page

Aalaya Katha Foundation, “Modhera Sun Temple”, Aalaya Katha, version last reviewed 2026-10-09. https://www.aalayakatha.com/temple/modhera-sun-temple (accessed ).

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How we label sources and confidence