Somnath
The Somnath Temple in the Prabhas Kshetra in Saurashtra,on the western cost of Gujarat, India is one of the twelve Jyotirlings that are most scared to the Hindus. It is as old as creation and its reference is available in the Rig Veda also.
The Somnath Temple is known as the Shrine Eternal as it has withstood the shocks of time and the attacks of the distroyers. It has risen like a phoenix each time it was destroyed or desecrated. The present temple is the seventh temple built on the original site. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the great son of India and its first Deputy Prime Minister took a pledge on November 13, 1947 for its reconstruction which was completed on December 1, 1995 when the President of India, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma dedicated it in the service of the nation. The present temple is built by Shree Somnath Trust which looks after the entire complex of Shree Somnath and its environs.
The Present Temple, Kailash Mahameru Prasada is built in the chalukya style of temple architecture and reflects the inherent skill of Sompuras, Gujarat's master masons.
Such a temple has not been constructed in India during the last 800 years. The Temple is situated at such a place that there is no land in between from Somnath sea-shore to Antarctica, the South Pole. Such an inscription in Sanskrit is found on the ARROW-PILLAR erected on the sea-protection wall at the Somnath Temple.
In 1951, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, who performed the Jyotirling-Pratishthapan ceremony of the new Temple had rightly said, "The Somnath Temple signifies that the power of reconstruction is always greater than the power of destruction."
Categories: Towns and cities of Gujarat | Cities in India | Hindu holy cities