A travelogue to Modhera Sun Temple in Gujarat with travel tips!

Built in the early 11th Century by the Chalukya dynasty, the Modhea Sun Temple in Gujarat is one of the few temples dedicated to the Sun God in India. Located near the river Pushpawati in Mehsana district, it's not a living temple and no worship is offered here anymore. However, if you are planning a visit to Gujarat, do keep this in your itinerary - it's beautiful and not too far from Ahmedabad. Total paisa-vasool!

Here's a story of my trip to Modhera Sun Temple with a bunch of my friends from NID and their friends from other parts of the country and world. The trip was largely unplanned and was one of the best that I did during my stay in Ahmedabad.

Modhera Sun temple

The gang!

Before I proceed ahead with the day, here is a little information about the small group that travelled together to the temple.

Anita: Purva's international friend from Singapore, the most sophisticated of us all
Purva: Three years my junior junior in Product Design, an absolute delight to be with
Rushikesh: Purva's close friend and an extremely easy going and fun-to-be-with guy
Bhavin: (Have written enough about him already on the blog) Bhavin is a perfect house mate, always there when needed. even after almost two years, we've never had a serious argument. I think that says a lot :)
Nirjhara: The girl with the magical voice, she has an infectious smile too
Kiran: (Have written enough about him already on the blog) Kiran is the impossible type, but a true friend at heart. Completely dependable.
and I was, of course, the last member.

The group, Kiran is sadly missing!

Journey to Modhera Sun Temple

The day (rather the night actually) started with Kiran running around the house in Panic and waking Bhavin and me up at two-thirty so that we can catch the bus at four. As expected, Bhavin paid no heed to his urgent requests and I followed him too and we both slept off again. We did manage to reach the main gate by around three-fourty five, but amazingly the girls were late and we missed the bus at four and also the next bus. The chai-wala at the bus stand also fooled us, we had chai for INR 8.00 at a tapri. Kiran loved it, it had only milk and no water in it. I drank it for the lack of any better options.

We all (except Bhavin) tried sleeping in different positions and ended up twisting our necks and backs in weird and complicated postures. But the morning was extremely pleasant nevertheless. We reached Mehsana in about two and half hours and changed into another bus towards Motera, had another round of chai (way better than the Ahmedabad one) and within 45 minutes reached our destination.

Modhera Sun Temple entrance

About the Modhera Sun Temple

Motera Sun Temple is located in the Mehsana district of Gujarat at a distance of about 102 km from Ahmedabad. The temple was built by King Bhimdev I of the Solanki dynasty in 1026 CE and was dedicated to the Sun god or Lord Surya. Some other prominent temples dedicated to Sun God include Konark Sun temple (Orissa), Martand Sun temple (J&K) and Katarmal Sun temple (Uttrakhand). The temple consists of three prominent structures - the Surya Kund right in the front, the Sabha Mandap connected to the Kund by stairs and the Guda Mandap which was the seat of Lord Surya.

Modhera Sun Temple as you enter

Some beautiful carvings at the temple

Monkeys having a field day at the complex

Squirrels are also plenty, often willing to even take food from you

Temple from a few steps down into the kund

Toran at the entrance

Carvings on the walls

I wasn't so keen on going there again as I had visited the temple just last year with my parents, but once we reached I regretted nothing (not even the 2 am Kiran alarm). It was great to walk around the place again and I walked mostly in solitude. I wish I could write more about the temple and its architecture or its history, but I will leave that for some other date. Kiran was keen on a photo-shoot as well and I took some snaps for him, and enjoyed all his expressions.

Kiran modelling for me, he still uses the picture as his profile pic :)

An old man

The last old man!

Anita, Purva, Nirjara and Rushikesh

Temple's reflection in the kund

Steps at the Surya kund

We spent quite a lot of time sitting on the kund stairs and watched the temple getting filled up with the tourists as the morning progressed. It was a perfect time to sit and laze around, take snaps, pull each other's stories and generally talk and enjoy the winter morning sun!

The ex-roommates

And the smiling man himself...

And his lady love :)

The sightseeing was followed by a long breakfast session with numerous pohas, teas, vadas and so on at the Toran restaurant just outside the temple complex (actually there are no options for food anywhere close by). Of course, there was a lot of singing, mostly in Marathi, and a lot of noise too.

After much more waiting at the bus stand, bus travel and quite a bit more of singing (we scandalized as well as entertained the fellow passengers and the conductor), we reached Ahmedabad in the mid-afternoon and a very punishing sun. Lunch was an ordeal in itself and all we could wait for was going home and a long sleep session, and that's exactly what we did.

Here's another nice article about Modhera: The Fire Altar

Practical details:

Entry Fee: Rs 5 (though it have changed by now)
Timings: 07.00 am to 6.00 pm
Food: Toran restaurant just outside the temple

Map for directions:

Modehra Sun Temple is conveniently located at about 100 kilometres from Ahmedabad and the best way to come here is in a cab. If you are willing to do a budget trip, you can also come by bus and auto combo - just like we did.

Here's the Google map if you are looking for directions:



Special thanks to Kiran for helping me out (all the way from Detroit) with the pictures which I lost when my laptop crashed recently!