The Somnath Temple (Gujarati: Sanskrit: ) located in
the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast o
Gujarat, !ndia, is the "rst amon# the twelve $%otirlin#a shrines o the #od Shiva& !t has currentl% become a tourist spot or pil#rims& The temple is considered sacred due to the various le#ends connected to it& Somnath means 'The Protector o (the) (oon #od'& The Somnath Temple is known as 'the Shrine )ternal', havin# been destro%ed man% times b% !slamic kin#s and rulers&*+, (ost recentl% it was rebuilt in -ovember +./0, when Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel visited the area or the inte#ration o $una#adh and mooted a plan or restoration& 1ter Patel2s death, the rebuildin# continued under K& (& (unshi, another minister o the Government o !ndia&*3,*4, 5ontents + 6istor% +&+ 7e#end +&3 Timeline +&4 8econstruction o the Somnath Temple 3 1rchitecture 4 2Proclamation o the Gates2 !ncident / Galler% 9 See also : 8eerences 0 -otes ; )<ternal links 6istor% 7e#end 1s per Shiv (ahapuran, once =rahma (the 6indu God o creation) and Vishnu (the 6indu God o protection) had an ar#ument in terms o supremac% o creation&*/, To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a hu#e endless pillar o li#ht, the j%otirlin#a& Vishnu and =rahma split their wa%s to downwards and upwards respectivel% to "nd the end o the li#ht in either directions& =rahma lied that he ound out the end, while Vishnu conceded his deeat& Shiva appeared as a second pillar o li#ht and cursed =rahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end o eternit%& The j%otirlin#a is the supreme partless realit%, out o which Shiva partl% appears& The j%othirlin#a shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a "er% column o li#ht&*9,*:, >ri#inall% there were believed to be :/ j%othirlin#as while +3 o them are considered to be ver% auspicious and hol%&*/, )ach o the twelve j%othirlin#a sites take the name o the presidin# deit% ? each considered di@erent maniestation o Shiva&*0, 1t all these sites, the primar% ima#e is lin#am representin# the be#innin#less and endless Stambha pillar, s%mboliAin# the in"nite nature o Shiva, &*0,*;,*., The twelve j%othirlin#a are Somnath in Gujarat, (allikarjuna at Srisailam in 1ndra Pradesh, (ahakaleswar at Bjjain in (adh%a Pradesh, >mkareshwar in (adh%a Pradesh, Kedarnath in Bttarakhand, =himashankar in (aharastra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Bttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in (aharastra, Vaid%anath $%otirlin#a, Ceo#arh in Ceo#har, $harkhand, -a#eswar at Cwarka in Gujarat, 8ameshwar at 8ameswaram in Tamil -adu and Grishneshwar at 1uran#abad in (aharastra&*/,*+D, Timeline The second temple, built b% the Eadava kin#s o Vallabhi in Gujarat, replaced the "rst one on the same site around :/. 5)&*++, !n 039 5) $una%ad, the 1rab #overnor o Sind, sent his armies to destro% the second temple&*++, The Gurjara Pratihara kin# -a#abhata !! constructed the third temple in ;+9, a lar#e structure o red sandstone& Somnath temple, +;:. !n +D3/, the temple was destro%ed b% the (uslim prominent ruler, (ahmud o GhaAni,*+3,*+4, who raided the temple rom across the Thar Cesert& The temple was rebuilt b% the Gujjar Paramara Kin# =hoj o (alwa and the Solanki kin# =himadev ! o 1nhilwara (now Patan) between +D3: and +D/3& The wooden structure was replaced b% Kumarpal (r&++/4?03), who built the temple o stone&*+/,*+9, !n +3.:, the temple was once a#ain destro%ed b% 1llauddin Khilji2s arm%,*++, *+3,*+9, and 8aja Karan o Gujarat was deeated and orced to Fee& 1ccordin# to Taj?ul?(a2sir o 6asan -iAami, the Sultan boasted that '"t% thousand in"dels were dispatched to hell b% the sword' and 'more than twent% thousand slaves, and cattle be%ond all calculation ell into the hands o the victors,'&*++, The temple was rebuilt b% (ahipala Ceva, the 5hudasama kin# o Saurashtra in +4D; and the 7in#a was installed b% his son Khen#ar sometime between +43: and +49+&*+9, !n +409, the temple was once a#ain destro%ed b% (uAa@ar Shah ! o Gujarat Sultanate&*++,*+9, !n +/9+, the temple was once a#ain destro%ed b% (ahmud =e#ada, the Sultan o Gujarat&*++,*+3,*+9, =% +::9, the temple, one o man%, was once a#ain ordered destro%ed b% (u#hal emperor 1uran#Aeb&*+:, 7ater the temple was rebuilt to its same #lor% adjacent to the ruined one& 7ater on a joint e@ort o Peshwa o Pune, 8aja =honsle o -a#pur, 5hhatrapati =honsle o Kolhapur, Gueen 1hil%abai 6olkar o !ndore H Shrimant Patilbuwa Shinde o Gwalior rebuilt the temple in +0;4 at a site adjacent to the ruined temple& 8econstruction o the Somnath Temple =eore independence, Prabhas Pattan was part o the princel% state o $una#adh, whose ruler had acceded to Pakistan in +./0& 1ter !ndia reused to accept his decision, the state was made a part o !ndia, and the Ceput% Prime (inister o !ndia, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel came to $una#adh on -ovember +3, +./0 to direct the stabiliAation o the state b% the !ndian 1rm% and at the same time ordered the reconstruction o the Somanath temple&*+0, Ihen Sardar Patel, K& (& (unshi and other leaders o the 5on#ress went to Gandhi with the proposal o reconstructin# the Somnath temple, Gandhi blessed the move, but su##ested that the unds or the construction should be collected rom the public and the temple should not be unded b% the state& 6e e<pressed that he was proud to associate himsel to the project o renovation o the temple*+;, 6owever, soon both Gandhi and Sardar Patel died and the task o reconstruction o the temple continued under K& (& (unshi, who was the (inister or Jood and 5ivil Supplies in the -ehru Government&*+;, The ruins were pulled down in >ctober +.9D and the mosKue present at that site was shited ew kilometres awa%&*+., o !n (a% +.9+, 8ajendra Prasad, the "rst President o the 8epublic o !ndia, invited b% K ( (unshi, perormed the installation ceremon% or the temple&*3D, 8ajendra Prasad said in his address '!t is m% view that the reconstruction o the Somnath Temple will be complete on that da% when not onl% a ma#ni"cent edi"ce will arise on this oundation, but the mansion o !ndia2s prosperit% will be reall% that prosperit% o which the ancient temple o Somnath was a s%mbol&'&*3+, 6e added 'The Somnath temple si#ni"es that the power o reconstruction is alwa%s #reater than the power o destruction'*3+, This episode created a serious rit between the then Prime (inister $awaharlal -ehru, who saw the movement or reconstruction o the temple as an attempt at 6indu revivalism and the President 8ajendra Prasad and Bnion (inister K& (& (unshi, who saw in its reconstruction, the ruits o reedom and the reversal o past injustice done to 6indus&*3+, The present temple, which was built b% Patel and (unshi, is mana#ed b% Shree Somnath Trust& 1rchitecture sanctum sanctorum o the temple 1rrow Pillar or =aan?Stambh The present temple is built in the 5haluk%a st%le o temple architecture or Kailash (ahameru Prasad St%le*33, and reFects the skill o the Sompura Salats, one o Gujarat2s master masons& The temple2s shikhara, or main spire, is +9 metres in hei#ht, and it has an ;&3?metre tall Fa# pole at the top&*33, The temple is situated at such a place that there is no land in strai#ht?line between Somnath seashore till 1ntarctica, such an inscription in Sanskrit is ound on the 1rrow?Pillar called =aan?Stambh erected on the sea?protection wall at the Somnath Temple& This =aan?Stambh mentions that it stands at a point on the !ndian landmass, which happens to be the "rst point on land in the north to the south?pole on that particular lon#itude&*34, 2Proclamation o the Gates2 !ncident !n +0;3?;4 1C, (aratha kin#, (ahadaji Shinde (8uler o -orth !ndia: BjjainL GwaliorL (athura) victoriousl% brou#ht the Three Silver Gates rom 7ahore, ater deeatin# (uhammad Shah o 7ahore& 1ter reusal rom Pundits o GuArath and the then ruler Gaekwad to put them back on Somnath temple, these silver #ates were placed in temples o Bjjain& Toda% the% can be seen in Two Temples o !ndia (ahakaleshwar $%otirlin#a (andir H Gopal (andir o Bjjain&*3/, !n +;/3, )dward 7aw, +st )arl o )llenborou#h issued his amous 2Proclamation o the Gates2 in which he ordered the =ritish arm% in 1#hanistan to return via GhaAni and brin# back to !ndia the sandalwood #ates rom the tomb o (ahmud o GhaAni in GhaAni, 1#hanistan& These were believed to have been taken b% (ahmud rom Somnath& There was a debate in the 6ouse o 5ommons in 7ondon in +;/4 on the Kuestion o the #ates o the Somanatha temple&*39, 1ter much cross?"re between the =ritish Government and the opposition, the #ates were uprooted and brou#ht back in triumph& =ut on arrival, the% were ound to be replicas o the ori#inal&*3/, So the% were placed in a store?room in the 1#ra Jort where the% still lie to the present da%& !n the +.th centur% novel The (oonstone b% Iilkie 5ollins, the diamond o the title is presumed to have been stolen rom the temple at Somnath and, accordin# to the historian 8omila Thapar, reFects the interest aroused in =ritain b% the #ates