- Arabian Sea behind Somnath Temple
The legendary shore temple of Somnath is located near Veraval township. It is about 80 kms from Junagadh. The Somnath temple is one of the twelve most sacred shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva in Hindu mythology. The temple contains the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva. This temple has a very long history.
- Somnath Temple
According to the legends, the Somnath temple is very old and was originally built in gold by the Somraj, the Moon God. Later, it was rebuilt by Ravana, in silver; then by Krishna in wood and by Bhimdev in stone.
Mahmud of Ghazni, upon hearing the description of the richness of the Somnath temple by Al Biruni, an Arab traveller, visited this temple in 1024 AD. At that time, this temple had about 300 musicians, 500 dancing girls and 300 barbers to shave off the heads of pilgrims. After a 2 days battle, Mahmud destroyed the temple and carried away jewels and gold to his homeland. Hence, a tradition got started, the Muslims destroy the temples and the Hindus rebuilt them. The Somnath Temple was raided again and again. In all, the Somnath temple was rebuilt and destroyed eight times.
- Lord Shiva
Nidhi KM
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