Konark

It was sometime in 1979, as a misfit  in National Defence Academy, that I discovered Konark.

School lessons about the Black Padoga, for that matter any Padoga, tend to be dry.

Perhaps, the teachers themselves had not been fortunate enough to catch their breath at the exquisite sight.
Perhaps, the boredom in the students' faces goads them to get the ordeal of cramming the rotten minds of the brats in front of them, with lessons as quickly and as painlessly as possible, and scramble out of the classroom before the  little vampires got to their throats.

Perhaps, I do a great disservice to the teaching community by such sweeping statements.
Perhaps, I do a great disservice to the vampires mentioned above.

Anyway, the moot point is that the NDA houses a library, which housed a Coffee table book on the Konark. The said book was good enough to kindle my interest in temple architecture.

Not for the reasons that you are thinking.
Go wash your minds with some alkaline detergent.

It was only after I had seen 50 odd summers that I could spend a winter afternoon doodling in front of this magnificient edifice.

Hats off the hands and the heads that made and dreamt up this monument. May this land be blessed with such artisans forever.

Here's my tribute to them. Pen and ink. On the spot. 2XA4 size.