The consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir (temple) epitomized the culmination of the enduring struggle of Hindus, marked by the sacrifice of countless generations, to revive the indigenous faith of the nation and re-establish Dharma on the holy land of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Likewise, 74 years ago another historic event was written into the nation’s collective memory – the inauguration of the Somnath Mandir, also called Someshvara.
The majestic temple is situated near Prabhas Patan of Veraval, in the Gujarati state of Saurashtra, along the coast. It is one of Lord Shiva’s twelve sacred Jyotirlingas. The Shiva Purana’s chapter 13 also refers to the temple of Somnath. The temple is mentioned as a spot of pilgrimage in ancient Hindu texts. It is known as Triveni Sangam because of the meeting of the Kapila, Hiran and Saraswati rivers. The moon god, Som, bathed in the Saraswati River to restore his lustre after losing it due to a curse, according to Puranic history.
It is believed to be one of the locations where Lord Shiva manifested as a flaming column of light. The identity of the first shrine’s founder is not recorded in history, nonetheless, it was built many years before the Christian era, based on its mention in the scriptures. A Yadava king of Vallabhipura in coastal Gujarat in 649 was one of the first few rulers to participate in the construction of the temple.
The Chaulukya kings Mularaja, Bhima I and Kumarapala were among those who played a role in rebuilding the temple after frequent invasions. The Chudasama king of Saurashtra, Mahipala I, Paramara king Bhoj of Malwa and his son Khengara rebuilt it again after its destruction.
However, the temple also shares a troubled history akin to that of other prominent Hindu religious places including Ram Mandir. The temple has undergone numerous reconstructions after suffering extensive damage from various Islamic invaders, particularly Mahmud of Ghazni, who launched multiple assaults during the eleventh century. Once reduced to ruins, the temple was restored to its formal glory and it continues serve as a symbol of Hindu renaissance in post-independent India.
Somnath Mandir was formally inagurated on 11th May 1951 by late Rajendra Prasad, then President of India. The journey leading to the significant day was marked by painful memories, including attacks by Muslim tyrants and petty vote-bank politics of the Congress party, yet it also narrated a story of the unwavering determination and remarkable resolve of the Hindu community which resulted in the manifestation of its unwavering belief.
First attack on Somnath: 725 CE
During the Umayyad Caliphate, an Arab named Junayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Murri, also known as Al-Junayd, was appointed as the governor of Sindh. He held power until 726 after being appointed in 723. His reign was an important period in the growth of the Umayyad dynasty in India. He invaded Gujarat and Rajasthan and ravaged, looted and destroyed the Somnath Mandir in 725. During his reign in 815, Nagabhata II, a Gurjar Pratihar monarch, visited the location. He discovered the temple was nearly destroyed. Red sandstone was used to rebuild the temple by him.
The rise of Mahmud of Ghazni
Medieval India’s history underwent an unprecedented shift with the advent of the Yamini Turks. The onset of Turkish dominance over Ghazni in Afghanistan forced the Indians to brace themselves for a new phase of barbarism after they had repelled innumerable incursions by the imperious Arabs for many years. The beginning of Turkish rule over the city of Ghazni was the product of Alptigin (Turkic), a slave commander of the Samanid Empire.
The region saw the return of aggressive tactics toward its neighbouring kingdom after the city was secured. The Turks conducted an array of attacks on the northwest regions of India after Sabuktigin took the kingdom of Ghazni later in 977 but they were opposed by Jayapala, the Shahi King of Udabhandapur. However, the Turks won after years of tenacious struggle from the courageous Shahi ruler. The conflict between the Turks and the Indians intensified dramatically when Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin, the former’s son took the throne of Ghazni in 998.
He came to be known as Mahmud of Ghazni and reportedly swore to wage an annual ‘holy war’ against the country of the infidels. He crushed the Shahis after defeating Jayapala’s successors, Anandpala (in 1008) and Trilochanpala (in 1013) and decisively overthrew the Hindu king Jayapala as well as expanding the boundaries of his empire. He conducted at least 12 raids in India, sacking cities and temples just like other Muslim kings and generals.
He attacked Thaneswar in 1011 and destroyed all of the idols there. He burned the temples in Mathura during 1018–1019 and the idols were taken to Ghazni. This devastation persisted for twenty days. Similar to Mathura, Kanauj was pillaged as he increased his fortune due to the loot. However, his siege on Somnath was the most infamous of them all. According to archaeological research, the temple had undergone almost three reconstructions prior to the attack by Mahmud. The temple had been assaulted and destroyed at least six times.
Sack of Somnath: 1025-1026 AD
According to many historians, Somnath Mandir was constructed on enormous slabs of stone, with 56 timber pillars supporting its roof which was shaped like a pyramid and had thirteen levels with fourteen golden domes on top. A Shivalinga, measuring 7.6 feet in height and 4.6 feet in width was situated inside the temple. Furthermore, a 6-foot section of linga was concealed beneath the base. The temple accommodated up to 1000 Brahmans at a time for worship and religious rituals. The temple was a treasure trove of gold, silver, pearls and diamonds. The chamber contained a huge chain of gold that weighed 200 mann.
Mahmud of Ghazni, the cruel monarch of the Ghaznavid Empire, planned the military expedition known as the “Sack of Somnath” between 1025 and 1026 against the Chaulukya dynasty of Gujarat. This invasion resulted in the demolition of the sacred temple followed by strategic captures and pivotal battles. His army succeeded despite fierce opposition and heavy losses. The Hindus who fought to defend their lands and temples bravely opposed the onslaught on Somnath Mandir.
He gave his archer orders to assault and drive out the idolaters to force them to leave the temple. Hindus fought valiantly during the siege, which lasted for several days notwithstanding the lack of hope for victory. A sturdy fort that was guarded by Hindus encircled the Somnath temple at the time. Furthermore, half of the Hindus were likely Brahmans who were inside the temple carrying out their last pre-war ceremony.
The defenceless guardians of Somnath put up a brave resistance when Mahmud ordered a violent charge. The people, armed with only a few weapons fought until nightfall. The Hindus within the temple emerged and attacked the Turks following their earlier advance. The devotion of vulnerable Hindus stood firm against the invasion of a highly skilled military leader whose battered army chose to withdraw. The fort wall was damaged by the Turks, but the Hindus swiftly restored it and when the battle started on the second day, the latter fought even harder.
On the third day, an army of Kshatriyas arrived to support the Hindus. There was complete chaos as a result and numerous groups of individuals stormed inside the temple to defend their deities. However, Mahmud’s brutal tactics aided his wicked goals as the Turks killed over fifty thousand people. Muhammad Khandamir, a Persian historian, stated that over 50,000 people died in the mayhem as they fled inside the temple to battle to the end.
Following this slaughter, Mahmud entered the temple, dismantled the Shivalinga and stole all the riches which totalled over 20,000,000 Dirhams. Notably, the invaders nearly lost sight of their true route when they arrived at Kutch and found themselves on a desolate plain where a Hindu offered to help Mahmud’s exhausted army.
Mahmud’s army was led by the guide, a devotee of Somnath, to the hostile region of the desert devoid of water. The forces were tricked for three days by the Hindu who declared, “I had dedicated my entire life to Somnath and you mercilessly plundered it. Now I have brought you here where there is no water and the army of Hind is waiting to crush you,” in response to Mahmud’s question about their whereabouts. He killed the guide afterwards and fled to safety in the Sind region (perhaps to avoid combat with the Bhima I, who was waiting for Mahmud to pursue this route).
Mahmud stayed away from Bhima I and his army, but the Jats assaulted and tormented his troops and he arrived in Ghazni in 1026 with a hefty treasure taken after massacring innocent Hindus. Mahmud gained the notorious moniker “The Idol Breaker” after he ruined Somnath Mandir. After the temple was demolished, the linga fragments were sent to Ghazni and positioned on Jama Masjid’s stairs to further humiliate Hindus.
“When Sultan Mahmud, the son of Sabuktagin, went to wage religious war against India, he made great efforts to capture and destroy Somnath, in the hope that the Hindus would then become Mohammedans. The Indians made a desperate resistance. They kept going into the temple weeping and crying for help and then they went forth to battle and kept fighting till all were killed. The number of the slain exceeded fifty thousand. The king looked upon the idol with wonder and gave orders for the seizing of the spoil and the appropriation of the treasures. There were many idols of gold and silver, and countless vessels set with jewels, all of which had been sent there by the greatest personages in India. The value of the things found in the temples of the idols exceeded twenty thousand thousand dinars,” Persian Geographer Kazvini professed his joy over the cold-blooded murder of Hindus.
An inscription from 1169 revealed that Kumarapala of the Chaulukya dynasty renovated the temple of Somnath in “excellent stone and studded it with jewels,” which was replaced by a decomposing wooden structure by Mahmud.
Alauddin Khalji’s invasion of Gujarat: 1299 AD
The Muslim Conquest of Gujarat, also known as the Alauddin Khalji Conquest of Gujarat, started in 1299 when the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, dispatched an army to pillage the Vaghela king Karna’s Gujarat province. Several important cities, including Anahilavada (Patan), Khambhat, Surat and Somnath were razed by his army. Later, Karna managed to retake at least some of his territories. However, in 1304, the Vaghela dynasty was permanently overthrown by Alauddin’s armies in a second invasion, which led to Gujarat’s accession to the Delhi Sultanate.
Ulugh Khan, his brother and general, commanded the Islamist army as they advanced on the Somnath Mandir with the hopes of stealing wealth, however, they encountered opposition there. Two “Vaja” warriors, Malasuta and Padamala, were killed at the entrance of the temple on 6th June 1299, while battling the Turushkas (the Turkic people), according to an inscription.
Alauddin’s forces destroyed the temple after slaughtering the Hindus on his order. Amir Khusrau, gleefully claimed that the temple was angled toward the Kaaba to imply that the Hindu God was subservient to Muslims. Persian poet and historian Hasan Nizami, who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries, also boasted about the looting of Somnath in his book Taj-ul-Maasir, the first official history of the Delhi Sultanate, about Alauddin Khilji. He noted that “more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors,” and that “fifty thousand infidels were dispatched to hell by the sword.”
The Rajput Prince Biram Dev of Jalore targeted the Muslim army as they were making their way back to Delhi with the Shivling, Hindu prisoners and the spoils. They defeated Ulugh Khan and took the Shivling and the treasure. The Hindu inmates were also released. Firoza, Alauddin’s illegitimate daughter, fell in love with Biram Dev. The Sultan pointed out that he should convert to Islam while simultaneously demanding his hand in marriage to his daughter. The marriage proposal was, however, rejected by him after which he attacked Alauddin’s army and seized the Shivling and the loot.
A furious Alauddin dispatched a large force to Jalore. The fight went on unabated for two arduous years. Biram Dev and his father Kanhadadev lost their lives protecting Jalore as many Rajput women committed jauhar. Alauddin’s forces killed all Hindus and ruined the entire Jalore fort as well as demolished all temples. He looked extensively but was unable to find the Shivling or the stolen goods from the Somnath Mandir. The destroyed fort was later transformed into a Muslim monument by him. According to other accounts, after stealing the temple’s riches, he took the main idol to Delhi where the pieces were dumped for Muslims to walk on. Somnath Mandir was then again reconstructed in 1308 by Mahipala Deva, the Chudasama king of Saurashtra.
Zafar Khan’s assault on Somnath: 1395 AD
Muzaffar Shah I, often called Zafar Khan, was the monarch of the Gujarat Sultanate from 1407 to 1411 and belonged to the Muzaffarid dynasty. He was selected as the governor of Gujarat by Tughluq of the Delhi Sultanate, and when Delhi was in disarray after Timur’s assault, he declared independence and formed the Gujarat Sultanate. He was a Khatri or Tank Rajput who converted to Islam. He went to Somnath in 1395 AD, when he destroyed the temple, constructed a Jumma mosque, spread Islam and set up a thana in the city of Somnath Patan, alias Deva Patan.
Mahmud Begada desecrated Somnath: 1451 AD
The Sultan of Gujarat, Mahmud Begada, also called Mahmud Shah I, desecrated the Somnath Temple in 1451. He had also launched an attack on Dwarka.
Portuguese assault on Somnath: 1546 AD
The Portuguese who first landed in India in 1498, when Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut and ruled over the country from 1505 to 1961 also attacked the Somnath Mandir and took away its riches.
Last destruction of Somnath by Aurangzeb: 1665 AD
During his rule, Aurangzeb, the Mughal despot who captured the throne over the dead bodies of his family members, had ordered temples all around his empire to be destroyed. Although the temple of Somnath was repeatedly destroyed and its valuables plundered by invaders and malevolent foreign forces, it was rebuilt by succeeding emperors to regain its former splendour and grandeur. Hence, Aurangzeb mandated that any temples, including the Somnath, that were rebuilt must be destroyed so that Hindus would not be able to resume worship there.
The Somnath Mandir was vandalized by local Muslims of Prabhas and some of Aurangzeb’s troops under his orders, based on SH Desai’s book Prabhas and Somnath. Hindus flocked to the site in great numbers just as they were ready to demolish the temple. A Muslim official responded by killing two temple priests and butchering a calf. A confrontation broke out between the two groups. When Aurangzeb’s forces were outnumbered by Hindus, they departed the area. Only later, with a larger army, did they manage to demolish the temple and plunder the treasury.
“Local Muslims when came to know about Aurangzeb’s order directing vandalization of idols and closure of temples, tried to implement it with the help of a (local) official named Muhammad Afzal. One day, Muhammad’s troupes and local Muslims together attacked the Somnath temple and started dismantling it. As soon as this news spread Hindus, Desais, Brahmins, Mahajans etc rushed to the spot and asked Muslims not to do this. One Muslim official named Malek Zia insulted Hindus and slaughtered a cow in response. He killed a Brahmin and one priest too,” the book read.
It further read, “Agitated Desai Ganpat Sarangdhar killed Malek Zia followed by an attack on Muslims by Hindus. A clash erupted in Somnath Mandir itself. As the Muslims realized they had fewer armed soldiers, and the entire town had stood up against them, they left the place. Hindus conducted the cremation of dead bodies at Triveni( a ghaat nearby). Hindus were very well aware of the fact that this incident would result in an even bigger attack. Then arrived Fauzdar Sardarkhan who brought an end to turmoil but destroyed the dome and vandalized the Somnath temple.”
“The temple of Somnath was demolished early in my reign and idol worship (there) put down. It is not known what the state of things there is at present. If the idolators have again taken to the worship of images at the place, then destroy the temple in such a way that no trace of the building may be left, and also expel them (the worshipers) from the place,” he released another order in 1704 during his end days.
Nehru’s opposition to Somnath Mandir
One might have assumed that Hindus would at least be allowed to freely practice their religion after a century of their rights and beliefs being restricted under the repressive rule of imperial forces. However, former Prime Minister Jawarhar lal Nehru did not want them to have the authority to reclaim their most revered religious places, even after the nation suffered through a brutal religiously motivated separation. More importantly, if former home minister Sardar Patel hadn’t been actively involved in the revival of Somnath Mandir, Hindus would have been compelled to endure a rigorous struggle, just like the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
On 13th November 1947, Sardar Patel reached Junagarh to a roaring welcome from the state’s citizens, promising to restore the Somnath Mandir. After his return to Delhi, a cabinet meeting decided to reconstruct the temple and determine that the state would cover the costs. However, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wanted people to cover its expenses which led to the decision being overturned. He was killed in 1948 and Sardar Patel passed away in 1950 after which Kanhaiyalal Maneklal (KM) Munshi, the cabinet minister at the time became chairman of the trust’s advisory committee, which was tasked with restoring the temple.
“I don’t like your trying to restore Somnath. It is Hindu Revivalism,” Nehru reportedly told Munshi. Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani described in detail the latter’s correspondence with Jawaharlal Nehru which read:
“Yesterday you referred to Hindu revivalism. You pointedly referred to me in the Cabinet as connected with Somnath. I am glad you did so; for I do not want to keep back any part of my views or activities. I can assure you that the ‘Collective Subconscious’ of India today is happier with the scheme of reconstruction of Somnath sponsored by the Government of India than with many other things that we have done and are doing. The intention to throw open the temple to Harijans has evoked some criticism from the orthodox section of the Hindu community. However, the objects of the Trust Deed make it clear that the temple is not only to be open to all classes of the Hindu community but, according to the tradition of the old temple of Somnath, also to non-Hindu visitors.”
“Many have been the customs which I have defied in my personal life from boyhood. I have laboured in my humble way through literary and social work to share or reintegrate some aspects of Hinduism, in the conviction that that alone will make India an advanced and vigorous nation under modern conditions. It is my faith in our past which has given me the strength to work in the present and to look forward to our future. I cannot value India’s freedom if it deprives us of the Bhagavad Gita or uproots our millions from the faith with which they look upon our temples and thereby destroys the texture of our lives. I have been given the privilege of seeing my incessant dream of Somnath reconstruction come true. That makes me feel – makes me almost sure – that this shrine once restored to a place of importance in our life will give to our people a purer conception of religion and a more vivid consciousness of our strength, so vital in these days of freedom and its trials.”
When the Somnath Mandir underwent reconstruction in 1951 Dr Rajendra Prasad was invited by KM Munshi to officially inaugurate the temple and install the Jyotirlingam. There are multiple accounts of Jawaharlal Nehru’s strong opposition to his participation in the occasion. Madhav Godbole, a former Indian bureaucrat, in his book “The God Who Failed: An Assessment of Jawaharlal Nehru’s Leadership” remarked:
Nehru’s contempt for the renovation of the Somnath Temple is further defined on page 53 of RNP Singh’s book, “Nehru, a Troubled Legacy.”
The letter Nehru addressed to Dr Prasad explaining his reasons for not wanting him to attend the Somnath Mandir’s inauguration can be read in another book by Rajnikant Puranik. “I confess that I do not like the idea of your associating yourself with a spectacular opening of the Somnath Temple. This is not merely visiting a temple, which can certainly be done by you or anyone else but rather participating in a significant function which unfortunately has several implications,” the former wrote.
Somnath Mandir suffered through numerous instances of destruction and plunder in the most severe manners and it even encountered opposition from the Prime Minister of independent India. Nevertheless, those who have opposed and attacked the temple have been muted by the relentless passage of time, as it stands proudly, esteemed by countless Hindus across the globe.
