Blazing love gave Vadodara its only Sun temple

VADODARA: A grand, 118-year-old temple stands at the corner of a road in the bustling Raopura area of Vadodara.It is the city's only Sun temple. Few know that a man's love for his wife led love for his wife led to the construction of this Surya Narayan Temple sometime in 1898.
Talking about the temple's history, art curator Chandrashekhar Patil said Ravji Appaji Fanse was diwan of erstwhile Baroda state between 1893 and 1903.He fell in love with a woman from Rajasthan and the couple got married in 1895. “He loved her very much but couldn't devote enough time to her because of his busy schedule,“ Patil told TOI. “Gulbadanbai was a devotee of the Sun god. She asked Ravji to have a Sun temple built so that she could spend her time in devotion.“
A book, `C K Prabhu ChaItihas Va Phanse Kul Vruttant', by Hemant Phanse describes how Ravji and Gulbadanbai met and got married. Another book, `Rajyakarte Gaekwad: Kaik Aitihasik Prasang' by G K Chitnis also tells their story.
Ravji was on way to Ujjain when he stopped in a village to rest.
“It was there that he first saw Gulbadanbai,“ Patil said. “They fell in love and Ravji decided to marry her. Gulbadanbai, who was already married, separated from her husband according to the laws of the time, and married Ravji.“ When Gulbadanbai requested Ravji to have a Sun temple built for her, he immediately ordered its con struction. However, he came across an unusual problem during the temple's `Pran Pratishta' a ritual for installing the god's idol.
It is believed that if sunlight falls directly on the Sun god's idol, the area around the temple never sees any development, said Patil.
“Hence, a big elephant statue was installed near the temple entrance to neutralize this. A statue of ` Airavat' ­ Lord Indra's elephant ­ was brought from a nearby temple and installed here,“ said Patil. Raopura, named after Ravji Appaji, is now a prosperous commercial centre.
The temple is made of sandstone Its architecture is a mix of Jain and Gujarati styles and is inspired by the Sun temple at Modhera.