Somnath

The site of Somnath has been a pilgrimage site from ancient times on account of being a Triveni Sangam (the confluence of three rivers: Kapila, Hiran and Saraswati). Soma, the Moon god, is believed to have lost his lustre due to a curse, and he bathed in the Sarasvati River at this site to regain it. The result is said to be the waxing and waning of the moon. The name of the town, Prabhasa, meaning lustre, as well as the alternative name Someshvara ("the lord of the moon" or "the moon god"), arise from this tradition.

The name Someshvara begins to appear in records from the 9th century. The Gurjara-Pratihara king Nagabhata II (r. 805–833) recorded that he had visited various tirthas in Saurashtra, including Someshvara. The Chaulukya (Solanki) king Mularaja is believed to have built the first temple dedicated to Soma ("the moon god") at the site sometime before 997 CE, even though some historians believe that he may have renovated an earlier, smaller temple.

In 1026 CE, during the reign of Bhima I, the Turkic Muslim ruler Mahmud of Ghazni raided the Somnath temple after crossing the Thar desert, desecrated its jyotirlinga, and plundered 20 million dinars, including the temple's and city's gold in caravans to a Friday mosque in Ghazni. The condition of Somnath temple in 1026 CE after Ghazni's raid is unclear because a 1038 inscription of Kadamba king of Goa is "puzzlingly silent" about Ghazni's raid or temple's condition.

Shiva, also known as Mahadeva and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism.

Read more about [Shiva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva).

The floor plan and ruins of a pre-1000 CE temple were unearthed during the archaeological excavations led by B.K. Thapar. Most of the temple is lost, but the remains of the foundation, the lower structure as well as pieces of the temple ruins suggest an "exquisitely carved, rich" temple. According to Dhaky – a scholar of Indian temple architecture, this is the earliest known version of the Somnath temple. It was, what historic Sanskrit vastu sastra texts call the tri-anga sandhara prasada. Its garbhagriha (sanctum) was connected to a mukhamandapa (entrance hall) and gudhamandapa. The temple opened to the east. The stylobate of this destroyed temple had two parts: the 3 feet high pitha-socle and the vedibandha-podium. The pitha had a tall bhitta, joined to the jadyakumbha, ornamented with what Dhaky calls "crisp and charming foliage pattern". The kumbha of the Vedibandha had a Surasenaka with a niche that contained the figure of Lakulisa – this evidence affirms that the lost temple was a Shiva temple. The excavations yielded pieces of one at the western end, which suggests that the kumbhas were aligned to the entire wall. Above the kalaga moulding was an antarapatta, states Dhaky, but no information is available to determine its design or ornamentation.

Somnath means "Lord of the Soma" or "moon". The site is also called Prabhasa ("place of splendor"). Somnath temple has been a jyotirlinga site for the Hindus, and a holy place of pilgrimage (tirtha). It is one of five most revered sites on the seacoast of India, along with the nearby Dwaraka in Gujarat, Puri in Odisha, Rameswaram and Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu.

The Somnath-Prabhasa tirtha has been one of the revered tirtha (pilgrimage) site for the Hindus. It is the famed Prabhasa site found in Brahmi script inscriptions in Maharashtra sites. It is mentioned in the poems of Kalidasa. The new temple is the top pilgrimage site in Gujarat along with Dwarka.

Located in: Veraval, Gujarat.