My Somnath

  

Somnath, a highly revered temple is first among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of India. It has a tactical prime location on the western coast of India.

As per our Ancient Indian traditions it was believed that this temple was built to leave go of Chandra (Moon God) from the curse of his father-in-law Daksha Prajapati. Moon was wedded to Twenty-Seven daughters of Daksha. Although, he favored Rohini and neglected other queens. The other despaired queens complained Daksha, and he cursed Moon and the Moon lost power of light. With the advice of Prajapita Brahma, Moon arrived at the Prabhas Tirth and worshipped Lord Shiva. Pleased with the great forfeit and devotion of Moon, Lord Shiva blessed him and relieved him from the curse of darkness.

Attraction

The main attraction here is Somnath Temple dedicated to Moon Goddess. It was the wealthiest temple when Mohd. Gazni looted it in 1026 AD. The daily pooja was performed with flowers from Kashmir and sacred water was brought from Ganga. Heavy golden chains were used to ring the huge temple bell. Earnings from ten thousand villages were spent on the offerings and one thousand Brahmins worshipped the shivalinga shrine everyday. It is said that the temple was first constructed by the goddess (Moon) with gold. Later on Ravana and Bhima constructed it with silver and rocks respectively. The prosperous temple was looted seventeen times and destroyed six times, every time becoming greater and firm. Later on after independence, the temple was reconstructed in 1951 with the efforts of Shri Sardar Patel. Thousands of pious pilgrims throng the temple to get a glimpse of the sacred Jyotirlinga shrine of Lord Shiva. The current temple reminds visitors of the original splendor of Somnath temple

Present Structure

The present temple, Kailash Mahameru Prasad is built in the Chalukya style of temple architecture and reflects the inherent skill of sompuras, Gujarat’s master masons. It has the shikhara, the Garbhagriha, the sabha mandap and the nritya mandap. The peculiarity of the temple is that there is no land between Somnath temple and Antartica.  his fact was found from the protection wall of the temple. This was represented by Arrow Pillar or Ban Stambh.