21 Facts About Somnath

Somnath temple, called Somanatha temple or Deo Patan, is a Hindu temple located in Prabhas Patan, Veraval in Gujarat, India.

Somnath temple was actively studied by colonial era historians and archaeologists in the 19th- and early 20th-century, when its ruins illustrated a historic Hindu temple in the process of being converted into an Islamic mosque.

Somnath temple is located along the coastline in Prabhas Patan near Veraval, Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

Somnath temple is located close to the ancient trading port of Veraval, one of three in Gujarat from where Indian merchants departed to trade goods.

The 11th-century Persian historian Al-Biruni states that Somnath has become so famous because "it was the harbor for seafaring people, and a station for those who went to and fro between Sufala in the country of Zanj and China".

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Somnath temple has been a jyotirlinga site for the Hindus, and a holy place of pilgrimage.

Somnath temple is not mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism, but the "Prabhasa-Pattana" is mentioned as a tirtha.

Somnath proposes that this was done by inventing a Triveni Sangam where rivers Kapila and Hiran met mythical Sarasvati river.

Site of Somnath has been a pilgrimage site from ancient times on account of being a Triveni Sangam.

Post-1950 excavations of the Somnath site have unearthed the earliest known version of the Somnath temple.

Location of the Somnath temple was a little less than three miles west of the mouth of the river Sarasvati.

Somnath expressed that he was proud to associate himself to the project of renovation of the temple.

Great temple of Somnath stands on a rising ground on the north-west side of Pattan, inside the walls, and is only separated by them from the sea.

Cousens states that the Somnath temple is dear to the Hindu consciousness, its history and lost splendor remembered by them, and no other temple in Western India is "so famous in the annals of Hinduism as the temple of Somanatha at Somanatha-Pattan".

Architect of the new Somnath temple was Prabhashankarbhai Oghadbhai Sompura, who worked on recovering and integrating the old recoverable parts with the new design in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The new Somnath temple is intricately carved, two level temple with pillared mandapa and 212 relief panels.

The intricate and detailed artwork inside and on the pillars of Somnath temple were quite similar to those found in the Luna Vasahi temple at Mount Abu.

Somnath temple has inspired different narratives and legacies, for some a symbol of blessed conquest and victories, for some a symbol of fanatical intolerance and persecution.

The Somnath temple has been leveraged to revisit India's history and agitate over its sacred spaces including contested sites such as Ayodhya.

Somnath took all the Rajas and Maharajas by surprise when he attacked Somnath and crushed the Hindu headquarter of political intrigue.

Somnath converted into mosque, partly correct, partly embellished sketch.