"James Burgess and Henry Cousens were the first archaeologists to properly survey the temple. They noted images of solar deities outside and inside, and identified it as a Sun temple. According to them, the structure had originally all the parts of a first-class temple, was built according to injunctions of the shilpa shastras, in good proportions, and richly decorated. They stated that the shikhara was blown up, The Muhammadans, not content with defacing the figure sculptures of this Modhera temple, are said to have placed bags of gunpowder in the underground shrine, and blew it up with the upper cell, destroying the Sikhara or tower .... The shrine is now a wreck: nothing but the bare walls remaining ... this must have been of two storeys... The floor separating them, with part of the roof, had fallen into the pit. On clearing out of the debris, the seat of the image of Surya was found in the middle of the floor, with other blocks connecting it with the side walls. On the front of the seat are carved seven horses (the saptasva-vahana) of the god, their fore-quarters projecting and prancing forward ..."