In the coastal town of Prabhas Khetra, in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat stands the magnificent Somnath Temple. It is one of the most sacred Hindu pilgrimage site in India. Somnath Temple known as "Shrine Eternal" is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India, where Shiva is believed to have appeared as a fiery column of light. Somnath means "Lord of the Soma (Moon)", an epithet of Lord Shiva.
Somnath Temple due to its sacredness among Hindus and also because of its immense wealth was looted and destroyed several times in history by invading muslim armies. But each time the Temple of Shiva was reconstructed and restored to its glory. The present temple was reconstructed in Chaulukya style of Hindu temple architecture and completed in May 1951, after India gained Independence.
According to popular tradition documented by J. Gordon Melton, the first Shiva temple at Somnath is believed to have been built at some unknown time in the past. The second temple is said to have been built at the same site by the Yadava rulers of Vallabhi around 649 AD. In 725 AD, Al-Junayd, the Arab governor of Sindh is said to have destroyed the second temple as part of his invasions of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Gurjara-Pratihara king Nagabhata II is said to have constructed the third temple in 815 AD, a large structure of red sandstone.
Mularaja, the ruler of Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty ruler renovated and expanded the temple in 10th Century AD. In 1024, during the reign of Bhima I, the prominent Turkic Muslim ruler Mahmud of Ghazni (present day Afghanistan) raided Gujarat, plundered the Somnath Temple and broke the gilded Jyotirlingam with his own hands. He is said to have looted and carried away a booty of 20 million dinars. Turko-Persian records regarding Mahmud's raid, mention that the raid "electrified" the Muslim world. They later boasted that Mahmud had killed 50,000 devotees who tried to defend the temple.
The temple at the time of Mahmud's attack appears to have been a wooden structure, which was rebuilt in excellent stone and studded in jewels during the reign of Kumarapala of Solanki dynasty in 12th Century AD. Then again in 1299 AD, Alauddin Khalji, Turkish muslim invader (and later ruler) of Delhi, sent an army to invade Gujarat. Turkish army, led by Ulugh Khan, defeated Karnadeva, the ruler of Vaghela dynasty, and sacked the Somnath temple - to teach lesson to infidels (Hindus). Vaghela capital Anahilpataka was destroyed and thousands were massecred. Several sources such as contemporary and near-contemporary texts including Amir Khusrau's Khazainul-Futuh, Ziauddin Barani's Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi and Jinaprabha Suri's Vividha-tirtha-kalpastate that the Jyotirlingam was taken to Delhi where it was thrown to be trampled under the feet of Muslims.
The temple was again rebuilt by Mahipala I, the Chudasama king of Saurashtra in 1308 and the lingam was installed by his son Khengara sometime between 1331 and 1351 AD. As late as the 14th century, Gujarati Muslim pilgrims were noted by Amir Khusrow to stop at that temple to pay their respects before departing for the Hajj pilgrimage. In 1395, the temple was again destroyed by Zafar Khan, the last governor of Gujarat under the Delhi Sultanate (and later founder of Gujarat Sultanate). In 1451, it was desecrated by Mahmud Beghada, the Sultan of Gujarat.
In 1665, the temple, one of many, was ordered to be destroyed by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. In 1702, he ordered that if Hindus revived worship there, it should be demolished completely.
After India became Independent in 1947, Deputy PM Sardar Patel, native of Gujarat, ordered the reconstruction of Somnath Temple. After his death, the task was taken over by KM Munshi, inister for Food and Civil Supplies, Government of India. The ruins were pulled down in October 1950 and the mosque present at that site was shifted few kilometres away by using construction vehicles. In May 1951, Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Republic of India, invited by K M Munshi, performed the installation ceremony for the temple.
The President said in his address, "It is my view that the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple will be complete on the day when not only a magnificent edifice will arise on this foundation, but the mansion of India's prosperity will be a reality; that prosperity of which the ancient temple of Somnath was a symbol." He added: "The Somnath temple signifies that the power of reconstruction is always greater than the power of destruction."
The present temple is built in the Chaulukya style of temple architecture or "Kailash Mahameru Prasad" style and reflects the skill of the Sompura Salats, one of Gujarat's master masons. The temple's Shikhara, or main spire, is 15 metres in height, and it has an 8.2-metre tall flag pole at the top.
The temple is situated at such a place that there is no land in a straight line between Somnath seashore until Antarctica, such an inscription in Sanskrit is found on the Banastambha (meaning arrow pillar) erected on the sea-protection wall. The Banastambha mentions that it stands at a point on the Indian landmass that is the first point on land in the north to the South Pole at that particular longitude.
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