Sri Somnath (Jyotirlinga) Temple- Gujarat

Address

Sri Somnath (Jyotirlinga) Temple, Somnath Mandir Rd, Veraval, Gujarat 362268

Diety

Moolavar: Somnath (Shiva)

Introduction

The Somnath temple, also called Somanātha temple or Deo Patan, is located in Prabhas Patan, Veraval in Gujarat, India. One of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for the Hindus, they believe it to be the first among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. Reconstructed several times in the past after repeated destruction by several Muslim invaders and rulersit is unclear when the first version of the Somnath temple was built. Estimates for the first Somnath temple vary between the early centuries of the 1st-millennium to about the 9th-century CE. The temple’s history is a subject of disputes and remains controversial. After India’s independence, those ruins were demolished and the present Somnath temple was reconstructed in the Māru-Gurjara style of Hindu temple architecture. Presently the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is the chairman of Shree Somnath Mandir trust.

Puranic Significance

Somnath means “Lord of the Soma” or “moon”.The site is also called as Prabhasa (lit. “place of splendor”).Somnath temple has been a jyotirlinga site for the Hindus, and a holy place of tirtha (pilgrimage). It is one of five most revered sites on the seacoast of India, along with the nearby Dvaraka in Gujarat, Puri in Odisha, Rameshvaram and Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. The site of Somnath has been a pilgrimage site from ancient times on account of being a Triveni Sangam (the confluence of three rivers: Kapila, Hiran and Saraswati). Soma, the Moon god (Chandradeva), is believed to have lost his lustre due to a curse, and he bathed in the Sarasvati River at this site to regain it. The result is said to be the waxing and waning of the moon. The name of the town, Prabhas, meaning lustre, as well as the alternative names Someshvar and Somnath (“the lord of the moon” or “the moon god”), arise from this tradition. The name Someshvara begins to appear starting in the 9th century, which suggests an association with Lord Shiva. The Gurjara-Pratihara king Nagabhata II (r. 805–833) recorded that he has visited tirthas in Saurashtra, including Someshvara. Romila Thapar states that this may or may not be a reference to a Shiva temple because the town itself was known by that name.The Chaulukya (Solanki) king Mularaja possibly built the first temple at the site sometime before 997 CE, even though some historians believe that he may have renovated a smaller earlier temple.

Special Features

Many Hindu texts provide a list of the most sacred Shiva pilgrimage sites, along with a guide on how to visit and the mythology behind each site. The best known were the Mahatmya–genre of texts. Of these, Somnatha temple tops the list of Jyotirlingas in the Jnanasamhita – chapter 13 of the Shiva Purana, and the oldest known text with a list of Jyotirlingas. Other texts include the Varanasi Mahatmya (found in Skanda Purana), the Shatarudra Samhita and the Kothirudra Samhita. The floor plan and ruins of a pre-1000 CE temple were unearthed during the archaeological excavations led by B.K. Thapar. Most of the temple is lost, but the remains of the foundation, the lower structure as well as pieces of the temple ruins suggest an “exquisitely carved, rich” temple. According to Dhaky – a scholar of Indian temple architecture, this is the earliest known version of the Somnath temple. It was, what historic Sanskrit vastu sastra texts call the tri-anga sandhara prasada. Its garbhagriha (sanctum) was connected to a mukhamandapa (entrance hall) and gudhamandapa. The temple opened to the east. The stylobate of this destroyed temple had two parts: the 3 feet high pitha-socle and the vedibandha-podium. The pitha had a tall bhitta, joined to the jadyakumbha, ornamented with what Dhaky calls “crisp and charming foliage pattern”. The kumbha of the Vedibandha had a Surasenaka with a niche that contained the figure of Lakulisa – this evidence affirms that the lost temple was a Shiva temple.