Sawan 2025: Somnath Jyotirlinga used to float in the air, know the story of this temple being destroyed, looted and then rebuilt

News Topical, Digital Desk : Somnath Jyotirlinga is situated on the seashore in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat. It is considered to be the first Jyotirlinga out of the twelve Jyotirlingas, where Lord Shiva appeared in the form of a light.

The journey of the construction, destruction (Somnath temple destruction) and reconstruction of this temple is very interesting. It is said that the Shivalinga of Somnath temple (Somnath Temple Mystery) used to float in the air.

Mughal invader Mahmud Ghazni was astonished to see this. According to the official website of Somnath Temple, this temple is related to Lord Chandradev, who worshipped Lord Bholenath here to get free from the curse of his father-in-law Daksha Prajapati. 

Chandra Dev got relief from the curse here  

According to mythology, out of the 27 daughters of King Daksha, Lord Chandra loved Rohini the most. When the other daughters of Daksha complained about this to their father, he cursed the Moon to lose its light. 

Saddened by this, Chandra Dev went to Brahma and asked for a solution to get rid of the curse. Then on the advice of Brahma Dev, Chandra reached Prabhas Tirtha area and started doing severe penance of Lord Shiva. Pleased with this, Lord Shiva blessed him with freedom from the curse of darkness and wore it on his head. 

For this reason, this temple is known as Somnath. Som means moon. According to the information given on the official website of Somnath, Chandradev had built a temple here with gold. After this, Ravana built a temple here with silver. Lord Shri Krishna had built the Somnath temple with sandalwood. 

Jyotirlinga is 8 crore years old

Information about the establishment of this temple has been given on the official website of Somnath temple. According to this, Swami Gajanan Saraswati, President of Shrimad Aaj Jagatguru Shankaracharya Vedic Research Institute Varanasi, has told the date of establishment of the temple from the traditions of Prabhas section of Skanda Purana.

According to them, the temple was established 7 crore 99 lakh 25 thousand 105 years ago. Thus, this temple is considered to be a source of inspiration for millions of Hindus since ancient times. 

Home Minister Patel got the reconstruction done 

The modern temple was rebuilt with a resolve by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He visited the ruins of Somnath temple on 13 November 1947. He got this temple constructed and the then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad consecrated this temple on 11 May 1951. 

The first attack took place in 725 

According to the Gujarat government website, Persian scholar Alberuni had given a detailed description of this temple, due to which this temple was very famous during his time. For the first time in 725, the Muslim governor of Sindh, Al Junaid, got the temple demolished. 

The temple was destroyed by Ghazni in 1025 

After this, in the year 1025, the cruel Afghan invader Mohammad Ghazni attacked this temple. It is said that at that time 300 musicians and 500 dancers lived in this temple. In his attack, Ghazni killed 70 thousand guards and captured the city and the temple. He looted the wealth of the temple and destroyed the temple. 

Khilji looted the temple in 1297 

After this, in 1297, Alauddin Khilji's commander Nusrat Khan broke the temple and looted the treasure. After this, Sultan Muzaffar Shah of Gujarat looted and broke the temple in 1394. After this, his son Ahmed Shah broke the temple again in 1412 and looted the treasure. 

Aurangzeb demolished the temple twice 

Finally, Mughal ruler Aurangzeb first demolished the temple in 1665 and looted its wealth. After this, when he saw that the temple had been built there again and Hindus had started going there to worship Lord Shiva, he attacked this temple in the year 1706, demolished the temple and looted its wealth again. 

Ahilyabai got it constructed in 1783 

However, later when the Marathas waged a war against the Mughals and a large part of India came under their control, Queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore rebuilt this temple. After this, in 1950, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was the Home Minister of the country, took a resolution and built a modern temple in the Kailash Mahameru Prasad style.

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