ART-0526 Somnath

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Somnath is particularly important for Shaivas, but related sites are closely connected to Krishna. For a picture of a linga, see the Teachers’ Book, page 135.

Somnath near Veraval in Gujarat was once the most revered shrine in the country, for it had one of the twelve pre-eminent Jyotirlingas (the glowing Lingas). They held a special significance for many Hindus, especially followers of Shiva. Somnath’s glory and fame are legendary. It is said that people from the most remote parts of the country came to worship at the shrine; revenue collected from ten thousand villages was spent on the maintenance of the temple. Two thousand Brahmins (priests) served the murti and a golden chain attached to a huge bell announced the commencement of prayers.

Legend has it that the Kalabhairava Shivalinga (also called Bhairavanatha) at Prabhasa was worshipped by the Moon (Soma), and hence Shiva here is referred to as Somnatha (The Lord of the Moon). The Skanda Purana describes the Sparsha Linga of Somnath being ‘as bright as the sun’, and ‘the size of an egg’. The Mahabharata also refers to the pilgrimage site of Prabhasa and the legend of the Moon worshipping Shiva. Prabhasa is also connected with the disappearance of Lord Krishna from this world and the fratricidal war that destroyed the dynasty in which he appeared (the Yadus, the dynasty descended from the Moon).

One story explains how the moon was married to the 27 daughters of Daksha. He was partial to Rohini, and neglected the others. An angered Daksha cursed him to wane into nothingness. A disturbed Chandra, came down to Prabhasa with Rohini and worshipped the Sparsha Linga of Somnath after which Shiva blessed him to grow and shine in the bright half. As the moon regained his light here, this town came to be known as Prabhasa (the city of light).  Brahma, one of the trinity, installed the Brahmashila (stone of Brahma), and paved way for the construction of the temple.

Somnath is also known by several other names – Deo Pattan, Prabhas Pattan or Pattan Somnath – which it acquired during its long and eventful history. Somnath rose and fell many a time and the amazing drama of the iconoclast’s zeal for its desecration and the devotees’ passionate desire for its restoration continued until the Fifteenth Century, when the Hindus finally gave up in sheer despair and built a new temple nearby. Soon after independence (in 1947), India’s first president Rajendra Prasad commissioned the restoration of the Somnath temple remarking, “The Somnath Temple signifies that the power of reconstruction is always greater than the power of destruction.”  It was completed in 1995. There are also the remains of an ancient Sun temple at Somnath.

Somnath is situated on the south coast of Saurashtra.