Somnath temple is an important Shiva stemple, and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. It is situated in Prabhas area near Veraval. Somnath Temple comes in Saurashtra region situated on the western coast of Gujarat. The Somnath Temple can be reached easily from anywhere in Gujarat.
Somnath suggests the word ‘Lord of the Moon God‘, Lord Shiva is shown here as Jyotirlinga, which is in the form of protector. Somnath Temple has a story behind its establishment. It is believed that Lord moon was very proud of his beauty. Due to this reason, his father-in-law cursed him. To get rid of this curse, God Moon prayed to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was pleased with the moon’s penance and reduced the curse to an extent. This incident gave rise to the periodic distortion of the Moon.
The first temple of Somnath is considered as a structure in gold, which the Moon God himself had built. In the 7th century, Somnath temple was rebuilt by the friendly kings of Vallabhi in Gujarat. In 725, the Arab governor of Sindh destroyed the second structure in the name of Junayad. Then in 815, the third structure was made by Nagabhata II, who was the pratihara king. The present temple was built in 1995 in the Company of India Government by Shri Somnath Trust. Today, Somnath temple is under the maintenance of Shri Somnath Trust.
The structure of seven stones of Somnath is 155 feet long looks like a huge building structure. As it is made in Chalukya-style architecture, Somnath Temple shows the expertise of Sompura, the Master politicians of Gujarat. The temple has been told in such a way that no land can be seen from Somnath Beach to Antarctica. This information is presented in an inscription written in Sanskrit on the arrow-column of the wall of the sea-protection wall in the temple. In the words of Dr. Rajendra Prasad (the first President of India), “Somnath symbolizes the time that the power of creation is always greater than the power of destruction”. The great history and religious significance of Somnath temple attract pilgrims and tourists from India and abroad.
