Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
Most visitors to the Sun Temple at Konark in Odisha come to see its carvings. Sooner or later a guide stops the group beside one of the stone wheels and points to the shadow a spoke casts on the rim. This wheel, he says, can tell you the time.
The temple was built in the thirteenth century under King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. It was planned as the chariot of Surya, the Sun god, with twenty-four carved wheels and seven stone horses to pull it. Each wheel has eight thick spokes and eight thinner ones. Guides explain that the gap between two thick spokes stands for about three hours, so the shadow gives a rough idea of the hour.
It is a pleasing story, and on a bright morning the shadow does seem to behave. Whether the builders meant it that way is harder to say. A wheel set in a wall faces one direction only, so for part of each day it stands in shade. A clock that works only some of the time is an odd thing to build in stone. The wheels may have been carved first as signs of the Sun’s journey, with the time-telling read into them later.
None of this has harmed the wheel’s fame. The temple was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, and the wheel now appears on the back of the ten-rupee note. Millions who have never seen Odisha carry it in their pockets, and few have tried to read the time from it.
Which of the following best expresses the central idea of the passage?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → The Konark wheels are often shown as sundials, though the builders may not have meant them as clocks.
The passage is about the story that the Konark wheels tell the time, and how far that story can be trusted.
- Guides show visitors the shadow of a spoke on the rim and say the wheel “can tell you the time”. A sundial is a device that shows the time by the shadow the sun makes.
- The writer then says, “Whether the builders meant it that way is harder to say.” A wheel in a wall is in shade for part of the day.
- The wheels may first have been signs of the Sun’s journey, with the time-telling “read into them later”.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The Konark temple was built as a stone chariot of the Sun god, with twenty-four wheels and seven horses. — Incorrect. Too narrow: This is true, but it only gives the basic facts in the second paragraph. The passage is about the sundial story.
Option 2: The Konark wheels were planned as exact clocks, which shows how much the builders knew about the sun. — Incorrect. Contradicted: The writer doubts that the builders planned the wheels as clocks at all.
Option 4: The Konark wheel is well known today mainly because it is printed on the ten-rupee note. — Incorrect. Wrong focus: The ten-rupee note comes up only in the last paragraph. It is a side point, not the main idea.