Somnath Temple The Somnath Temple (Gujarati: સોમનાથ મંદિર Sanskrit: सोमनाथ मन्दिर) located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India, is the first among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of the god Shiva. It has currently become a tourist spot for pilgrims. The temple is considered sacred due to the various legends connected to it. Somnath sacred due to the various legends connected to it. Somnath means The Protector of (the) Moon god. The Somnath Temple is known as the Shrine Eternal, having been destroyed many times by Islamic kings and rulers As per Shiva Mahapurana, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of protection) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creatio To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy. Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva. At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of ShivaThe second temple, built by the Yadava kings of Vallabhi in Gujarat, replaced the first one on the same site around 649 CE. In 725 CE Junayad, the Arab governor of Sind, sent his army and destroyed the second temple. The Gurjara Pratihara king Nagabhata II constructed the third temple in 815, a large structure of red sandstone. Somnath temple, 1869 In 1024, the temple was destroyed by the Muslim prominent ruler, Mahmud of Ghazni, who raided the temple from across the Thar Desert. The temple was rebuilt by the Gujjar Paramara King Bhoj of Malwa and the Solanki king Bhimdev I of Anhilwara (now Patan) between 1026 and 1042. The wooden structure was replaced by Kumarpal (r.1143-72), who built the temple of stone. In 1296, the temple was once again destroyed by Allauddin Khiljis are and Raja Karan of Gujarat was defeated and forced to flee. According to Taj-ul-Masir of Hasan Nizami, the Sultan boasted that fifty thousand infidels were dispatched to hell by the sword and more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors,. The temple was rebuilt by Mahipala Deva, the Chudasama king of Saurashtra in 1308 and the Linga was installed by his son Khengar sometime between 1326 and 1351. In 1375, the temple was once again destroyed by Muzaffar Shah I of Gujarat Sultanate. In 1451, the temple was once again destroyed by Mahmud Begada, the Sultan of Guja By 1665, the temple, one of many, was once again ordered destroyed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Later the temple was rebuilt to its same glory adjacent to the ruined one. Later on a joint effort of Peshwa of Pune, Raja Bhonsle of Nagpur, Chhatrapati Bhonsle of Kolhapur, Queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore & Shrimant Patilbuwa Shinde of Gwalior rebuilt the temple in 1783 at a site adjacent to the ruined temple. The last time this temple was rebuilt was 1947 Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia somnath.org
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 03:39:03 +0000
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