What do the carved wheels on the Konark Sun Temple represent?

Correct — B. The Sun Temple at Konark is carved as the chariot of Surya. UNESCO counts twelve pairs of wheels, 24 in all, drawn by seven horses, and notes motifs on its sides referring to the cycle of the seasons and the months.

The Odisha government's Konark website said what the wheels stand for: they probably represent the 12 months of the year, and the horses the seven days of the week.

Wheels that mark the months are divisions of time → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Planets — The navagraha, the nine planetary deities, are carved at Konark on a separate architrave, not on the wheels. The wheels belong to Surya's chariot and mark the calendar.
• (c)
  Festivals — The wheels stand for the months in the Odisha government's reading, and UNESCO links the temple's motifs to the seasons. That is the calendar itself, not the festivals held within it.
• (d)
  Weapons — These are chariot wheels, part of the vehicle that carries the Sun god across the sky. Nothing about them is a discus or any other weapon.

In Vedic iconography Surya crosses the sky in a chariot drawn by seven horses. Konark turns that image into stone: the whole temple is the chariot.

UNESCO counts 24 carved wheels, each about 3 m across, on its north and south sides.

Built in the 13th century and attributed to Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, the temple is, in UNESCO's words, the culmination of Kalingan temple architecture.

Key facts

• UNESCO inscribed the Sun Temple, Konarak, as a World Heritage Site in 1984.
• UNESCO describes twelve pairs of wheels, 24 in all, each about 3 m in diameter.
• The temple is attributed to King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, 13th century.
• European sailors called Konark the Black Pagoda, and the whitewashed Jagannath temple at Puri the White Pagoda.

Common traps

• Choosing planets because Surya is a planetary deity. The navagraha appear on a separate architrave at Konark, not on the wheels.
• Answering from the horses instead of the wheels. The Odisha government reads the seven horses as the days of the week.

No directly related past PYQ was found.