Sun temple Stonehenge, Britain

 Following this incident, I decided to do some research on sun worship around the world – its history and its present status. And this is what I found: In most countries of the world, in one age or the other, sun worship was common. In Britain for instance, Stonehenge, UK’s ancient site, was a venue for sun worship more than 500 years before the first stone was erected, say researchers from the Universities of Birmingham and Bradford. Stonehenge has been considered a sacred landscape and history confirms that it was primarily used for sun worship. Research also indicates that religious processions and rituals of worship were conducted at this site. Further, archaeologists found relics of two pits here, one at the enclosure’s eastern end and the other at its western end. When checked for their relationship through a computer on the Stonehenge map, they realized that viewed from the Heel Stone, the Cursus pits were aligned with sunrise and sunset on the day of the summer solstice.

Sun temple Mount Damavand, Iran

Interestingly, sun worship was also common in Iran or Persia from ancient times. Ramona Shashaani, an expert on Iranian culture, suggests that even Christmas may have originated in the Persian tradition of worshipping Mithra (which is the Sanskrit word for the sun) or Mehr, the Sun god. Around the winter solstice, just as Christians look forward to celebrating the birth of Christ, Persians celebrate the Shab-e-Chellaeh or Shab-e-Yalda, the rebirth of the sun. Shashaani believes that eastern nations live more in consonance with nature and its rhythm of seasons. Thus, natural events related to the sun, like equinoxes and solstices, are celebrated in many oriental cultures as the blessings of the sun god. Though modern 21st century perceptions call sun worship as primitive, heathen, pagan or uncivilized (as my guide in Scotland had presumed), great thinkers like Carl Jung have said that the sun rightly represents almighty god, because he is certainly our source of energy and life. Our physiological life, regarded as an energy process, is entirely solar! From ancient times, Zoroastrians in Persia believed that Ahura Mazda is the creator of light and sunshine for the good of the earth. They believed that the winter solstice, the day after which days begin to get longer, signified the rebirth of the sun with its light and warmth on the rise. This event was celebrated by all Aryans in Iran (Iran’s Maga priests were known for their powerful sun worship rituals and were invited to India to officiate at major ceremonies), India and Europe and continues to be celebrated in India to this day. The days are warmer after the winter solstice and it’s time to celebrate rich harvests as food grains ripen in the sunshine.

Sun Termple, Egypt

Many South American and African cultures – particularly those with agriculture as its mainstay – also practiced sun worship in bygone eras. Sun worship was also a prominent ritual in ancient Egypt. Ra, the sun god was one of the most important deities in Egyptian culture as he was considered the first king of Egypt. The pharaoh was considered the son of Ra and was the sun god’s representative on earth. In Mesopotamia, sun worship was common with the sun god Shamash being called the deity of justice.

Sun temple, Ancient Greece

Greece had two sun deities: Apollo and Helios. But there is no evidence of actual sun worship. Belief in the sun god certainly is evident in Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, Hinduism, Buddhism and among the Druids of England, the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of South America.

Sun with seven horses

However, one country where sun worship continues prolifically to this day is India. Surya, Aditya, Mitra or Ravi is the deity venerated in all Vedic texts. Mantras or chants dedicated to his lustre, effulgence and power to create and sustain life, are recited at all religious ceremonies. The Gayatri Mantra, a powerful chant, venerates the sun as the deity who illuminates the intelligence of those who meditate upon his lustre. Recitation of the Gayatri brings enlightenment and knowledge. The sun god, with his golden chariot pulled by seven horses representing the seven days of the week, with Aruna or the dawn as his charioteer, is a popular motif in many of India’s iconic temple sculptures. The most important celebration of the sun’s benevolence in terms of festivals is Sankranti which comes in January, when the earth moves with the Tropic of Cancer facing the sun. Thus the warming of the countries in the northern hemisphere begins after the winter solstice. Further, in India, the Sankranti celebration is also linked to rich harvests of foodgrains and vegetables.

Chhat Puja: Sun worship on the Ganga, Bihar

Another example of sun worship is the massive scale of the Chhat Puja celebrations in north India. Interestingly even after the Vedic period, sun worship continued even though the sun god took the form of Lord Vishnu, the powerful sustainer of the world. Sun worship is copiously mentioned in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata (two epics of India) as well as the Upanishads. Also, there are fabulous heritage temples dedicated to the sun. Thus, the practice of sun worship has been unique to India through thousands of years.

Today, many heritage sun temples stand as testimony to the veneration of the sun in many countries. In India of course, magnificent sun temples have become heritage sites from Kashmir in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south. Smaller sun temples are a part of all temples which are in daily worship.