Somnath Temple

Overview

Somnath Temple sits on the Arabian Sea coast at Prabhas Patan, part of Veraval town in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district, and is counted as the first among the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva. The name combines "Soma," a name for the moon, and "Nath," meaning lord, and the site is also called Prabhasa Tirtha in older texts. The temple stands close to a Triveni Sangam, a confluence where the Hiran and Kapila rivers are believed to meet the now-invisible Saraswati before reaching the sea.

The current structure was completed in May 1951, built in the Māru-Gurjara style also known regionally as the Chalukya style. Its shikhara, or main spire, rises about 155 feet above the Garbha Griha, the inner sanctum that houses the lingam. A kalash weighing roughly 10 tonnes tops the spire, and the flag mast above it runs about 37 feet long. Sompura craftsmen, a community long associated with Gujarat's temple building, carried out the stonework.

Legend & Mythology

Temple tradition holds that Soma, the moon god, married the twenty-seven daughters of Daksha but favoured one wife, Rohini, over the rest. Daksha cursed him for this and his light began to fade. According to the temple trust's own account, Soma came to this coast and bathed in the Saraswati to seek release from the curse, and his radiance was restored here, which devotees connect to the waxing and waning of the moon each month. This is the origin the temple gives for the name Somnath, lord of the moon.

Local accounts also describe an older sequence of temples at this spot, said to have been raised first by the moon god in gold, then by Ravana in silver, by Krishna in wood, and by a king named Bhimdev in stone. Historians treat this as devotional narrative rather than a verified building sequence, since there is no archaeological record confirming a temple existed here in the earliest period the legend describes. The Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana do refer to Prabhasa as a pilgrimage site on this coast, which is part of why the tradition runs so deep locally.

Historical Journey

Documented temple construction at this site is generally traced to the Chaulukya king Mularaja, who is credited with building a temple to Soma here before 997 CE, possibly on the foundation of an earlier structure. In 1026 CE the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud of Ghazni raided the temple and looted its wealth; the Persian scholar Al-Biruni, writing around the same period, recorded the attack. The temple was rebuilt afterward, and in 1169 CE the Chaulukya king Kumarapala reconstructed it in stone, replacing what had become a decaying wooden structure.

Further destruction followed under Alauddin Khalji's forces in 1299, and the temple was restored again in the early fourteenth century under the Chudasama rulers of the region. It was destroyed once more in 1395 by Zafar Khan, who later founded the Gujarat Sultanate, and Mughal emperor Aurangzeb ordered its demolition again in 1706. In 1783 the Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar built a Shiva temple near the original site to give pilgrims a place to worship after the repeated destructions. The temple as it stands today was reconstructed under the direction of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel following independence, with the project overseen by K. M. Munshi, and completed in May 1951.

Architecture & Sacred Geography

The rebuilt temple follows the Māru-Gurjara idiom common to western Indian shrines, with a seven-tiered shikhara over the Garbha Griha and a Sabha Mandap, or assembly hall, along with a Nritya Mandap for ceremonial dance, in front of it. The ceiling inside carries painted work over stone. On the seaward side of the complex stands the Baan Stambh, a pillar bearing a Sanskrit inscription stating that no landmass lies between this point and Antarctica along that line of sight; whatever its precision as a claim of geography, the pillar itself is a documented and much-photographed feature of the temple grounds.

The temple's coastal position is part of what pilgrims come for along with darshan of the lingam itself: the Arabian Sea runs right up to the boundary wall, and the evening light and sound show projected onto the temple facade draws on this setting. Prabhas Patan around the temple carries other layers of history too, including a small museum that displays sculpture fragments recovered from earlier phases of the site.

Devotee Experience

Aarti is performed three times daily at the temple, and a light and sound program runs most evenings except during the monsoon months, narrating the temple's history against the temple facade. Nearby sites are commonly combined with a Somnath visit as part of the same trip.

• Triveni Sangam, about 1.5 km away, the river confluence where pilgrims traditionally bathe before darshan
• Bhalka Tirth, about 4 km away, held in local tradition as the place where Krishna's final moments occurred
• Prabhas Patan Museum, about 2.5 km away, housing carved stone fragments from earlier temple structures at the site

Photography and videography are not permitted inside the temple complex; visitors wanting a photograph can buy one at the trust's souvenir shop. Modest, respectful clothing is expected; the temple trust specifically asks that visitors avoid mini skirts or otherwise disrespectful dress, and smoking is prohibited on the grounds. Footwear must be removed and can be left free of cost at the shoe house near the cloakroom, and mobile phones and other electronic items must be deposited in the free cloakroom before entering, since electronic gadgets are not allowed inside. Wheelchairs and golf carts are available on the premises for visitors with mobility needs.