The
Myth....
In 1225 A.D.
Bhavbruhaspati wrote the pean of Somnath. According
to him, the Somnath temple was first built by Soma.
In another era, Ravana converted It in to a silver
temple, Lord Krishna built the wooden temple, Bhima
built it with stone and ultimately, during the
period of Kumarpal, Bhavbruhaspati, the contemporary
"Mathapati" accomplished renovation of the
temple on a large scale.
The
Somanath temple was invaded and looted several times
in history, first in 1297 by Mahammad Gazani, then
in Samvat 1394 by Afazalkhan, a Sardar (Army leader)
of Allauddin Khilaji; it was also looted in 1390,
1451, 1590, 1530 and then for the last time in 1707
by Aurandzeb. The temple was looted as many as 17
times.
When the
foundation of the new Somanath temple was excavated,
remains of excellent quality of sculptures of the
old temple from the Maitrak period up to Solanki
period were found at the depth of 13 feet. Of these,
the relics of Shiv Tripurantak, Nataraj, Bhairav,
Yogi etc. are remarkable.
One of
the twelve Jyotirlinga of "Aryavarat"
Situated on
the coast of Sindhu sagar (Arabian Sea) in
Saurashtra, Somanath is a world renowned place
of pilgrimage, particularly for the Hindus. It
is believed that the earth originated with the
emergence of the "Lingam" of Somnath.
according to the myth, Soma i.e. the moon god
married with 27 daughters of King Daksha
Prajapati but he favored one particular daughter
named Rohini. This made the other 26 daughters
unhappy. The complained King Daksha, their
father, about this. King Daksha cursed the moon
for the injustice done to his daughters and as a
result, the moon started shrinking which had
disastrous effect on the earth. The moon
performed rigorous penance to please Lord Shiva
in order to regain his power of Light. At last,
Lord Shiva appeared at his place and delivered
the moon from the curse of king Daksha. Pilgrims
flock this place for the 'Darshan' of the
"Lingam" of Lord Shiva who, Pleased by
the worship of the moon good, appeared at this
place. The Somnath Temple located at this place,
was renovated by Ahalyabai Holker, the late
queen of landor in state of M.P.. The temple
achieved its highest glory in the 10th century,
At that time the temple had a bell made of pure
gold and its dome, walls and the doors were gold
plated. Mahammad Gazani invaded the temple for
17 times for the loot of gold. At present, a new
Somnath Temple has been built near by the
ancient temple. The new temple is the result of
the firm resolve made by Saradar Patel, the Iron
man of India.
Somnath is accessible by road from:
Gandhinagar - 434 KMs.
Rajkot -
181 KMs.
Ahmedabad - 409 KMs.
Junagadh
- 79 KMs.
Keshod -
41 KMs.
Veraval
- 08 KMs.
Nearest railway station - Veraval
Nearest Airport - Div and Keshod
Contact Details
Chairman, Shri Somnath
Temple Trust.
Sec.
no.: 19K-12, Phone No. (O) 23254894
Member Secretary,
Shri Somnath Temple Trust.
Shri
Somnath Nivas,
C-12-A Shri OM Villa Nr. Govt. Godawn.
Ghoda Campus Road, Shahibaug. Ahmedabad.
Phone No.: (O) +91 79 22686335, 22686442
Phone No.:
(R) +91 79 23247042
Phone No.:
(M) +91 9825036101
General Manager,
Shri Somnath Temple Trust, Somnath.
Phone No.: (O) +91 2876 231200,
231212
Phone No.:
(F) +91 2876 232694
Phone No.:
(R) +91 2876 233130
Phone No.:
(M) +91 9824285667
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