The temple was in ruins before its restoration.
Speculation continues as to the cause of the destruction of the temple.
Early theories stated that the temple was never completed and collapsed during construction.
This is contradicted by textual evidence and evidence from inscriptions.
The Kenduli copper plate inscription of 1384 CE from the reign of Narasimha IV seems to indicate that the temple was not only completed but an active site of worship.
Another inscription states that various deities in the temple were consecrated, also suggesting that construction of the temple had been completed.
A non-Hindu textual source, the Akbar-era text Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl dated to the 16th century, mentions the Konark temple, describing it as a prosperous site with a temple that made visitors "astonished at its sight", with no mention of ruins.
200 years later, during the reign of the Marathas in Odisha in the 18th century, a Maratha holy man found the temple abandoned and covered in overgrowth.
The Marathas relocated the temple's Aruna stambha (pillar with Aruna the charioteer seated atop it) to the Lion's Gate entrance of the Jagannath Temple in Puri.

Texts from the 19th century do mention ruins, which means the temple was damaged either intentionally or through natural causes sometime between 1556 and 1800 CE.
The intentional-damage theory is supported by Mughal era records that mention the Muslim invader Kalapahad attacking and destroying Jagannath Puri and the Konark temple.
Other texts state that the temple was sacked several times by Muslim armies between the 15th and 17th centuries.
Islamic texts describing the raids of Kalapahar mention his army's first attempt to destroy the temple in 1565, but they failed.
They inflicted only minor damage and carried away the copper kalasa.

The Hindu text Madala Panji and regional tradition state that Kalapahad attacked again and damaged the temple in 1568.
After the Sun Temple ceased to attract faithful, Konark became deserted, left to disappear in dense forests for years.

The natural-damage theory is supported by the nearness of the temple to the shore and the monsoons in the region that would tend to cause damage.
However, the existence of nearby stone temples in the Odisha region that were built earlier and have stood without damage casts doubt to this theory.
According to P. Parya, the number of rings of moss and lichen growth found on the stone ruins suggests the damage occurred sometime around the 1570s, but this approach does not indicate why or by whom.

According to Thomas Donaldson, evidence suggests that the damage and the temple's ruined condition can be dated to between the late 16th century and the early 17th century from the records of various surveys and repairs found in early 17th-century texts.
These also record that the temple remained a site of worship in the early 17th century.
These records do not state whether the ruins were being used by devotees to gather and worship, or part of the damaged temple was still in use for some other purpose.
The temple was in ruins before its restoration. Speculation continues as to the cause of the destruction of the temple. Early theories stated that the temple was never completed and collapsed during construction. This is contradicted by textual evidence and evidence from inscriptions. The Kenduli copper plate inscription of 1384 CE from the reign of Narasimha IV seems to indicate that the temple was not only completed but an active site of worship. Another inscription states that various deities in the temple were consecrated, also suggesting that construction of the temple had been completed. A non-Hindu textual source, the Akbar-era text Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl dated to the 16th century, mentions the Konark temple, describing it as a prosperous site with a temple that made visitors "astonished at its sight", with no mention of ruins. 200 years later, during the reign of the Marathas in Odisha in the 18th century, a Maratha holy man found the temple abandoned and covered in overgrowth. The Marathas relocated the temple's Aruna stambha (pillar with Aruna the charioteer seated atop it) to the Lion's Gate entrance of the Jagannath Temple in Puri.
Texts from the 19th century do mention ruins, which means the temple was damaged either intentionally or through natural causes sometime between 1556 and 1800 CE. The intentional-damage theory is supported by Mughal era records that mention the Muslim invader Kalapahad attacking and destroying Jagannath Puri and the Konark temple. Other texts state that the temple was sacked several times by Muslim armies between the 15th and 17th centuries. Islamic texts describing the raids of Kalapahar mention his army's first attempt to destroy the temple in 1565, but they failed. They inflicted only minor damage and carried away the copper kalasa.
The Hindu text Madala Panji and regional tradition state that Kalapahad attacked again and damaged the temple in 1568. After the Sun Temple ceased to attract faithful, Konark became deserted, left to disappear in dense forests for years.
The natural-damage theory is supported by the nearness of the temple to the shore and the monsoons in the region that would tend to cause damage. However, the existence of nearby stone temples in the Odisha region that were built earlier and have stood without damage casts doubt to this theory. According to P. Parya, the number of rings of moss and lichen growth found on the stone ruins suggests the damage occurred sometime around the 1570s, but this approach does not indicate why or by whom.
According to Thomas Donaldson, evidence suggests that the damage and the temple's ruined condition can be dated to between the late 16th century and the early 17th century from the records of various surveys and repairs found in early 17th-century texts. These also record that the temple remained a site of worship in the early 17th century. These records do not state whether the ruins were being used by devotees to gather and worship, or part of the damaged temple was still in use for some other purpose.
Konark Sun Temple