Ranakpur Surya / Sun Temple — the 13th-century shrine almost no Jain-temple visitor walks to.
Every Ranakpur visit is built around the 1444-pillar Chaumukha Adinath. Less than 200 metres away sits the Surya Narayan temple — a circular shrine with chariot-wheel motifs and a 13th-century core, much smaller in scale but distinctly older. It almost never appears on tour-bus itineraries because guides focus the timed temple-circuit only on the Jain trio.WHY NOBODY KNOWS
Walk out of the main complex's rear gate; the Surya temple is downhill within five minutes. Climb the steps for the wheel-chariot bas-relief and the seven-horse Surya panel — both worth the detour for travellers headed onward to Konark in their head.
