The Somnath Temple
By editor - 30.1 2025
The Somnath Temple
The holy place of the Aadi Jyotirling Shree Somnath Mahadev (first among the twelve Aadi Jyotirlings) and the sacred place from where Bhagvan Shri Krishna took his last journey to his Neejdham (Prabhas Teerth).
The city of Somnath lies on the west coast of India, near veraval in Saurashtra in the state of Gujarat. The area was formerly called Prabhasa, and it was here that Lord Krishna arranged for the members of His dynasty to leave this world, on the pretext of killing one another in a great battle.
The main temple at Somnath is that of Lord Siva as Somesvara, “the lord of Soma, the moon-god.” (Somnath, from soma-natha, means the same thing). Shri Somnath is first among the twelve Aadi Jyotirlings of India. It has a strategic location on the western coast of India.
It is the most sacred of the twelve Jyotirlingas (lingas of light) phallic symbol of the Lord Shiva. The Somnath Temple is known as ‘the Shrine Eternal’, as although the temple has been destroyed six times it has been rebuilt every single time.
As is common in Siva temples, the deity is a Siva-linga, a phallic representation of Siva as the original progenitor. According to the Siva Purana and Nandi Upa-Purana, Lord Siva is especially present on earth in twelve places. The Siva-lingas in these places are known as Jyotir-lingas (“lingas of light“), and the foremost of these is Somesvara at Somnath.
Somnath Jyotirling
To see Somesvara, one has to pass through two impressive pillared halls. The Jyotir-linga looked like any other Siva-lingas , but the priest tells that a person who has attained a certain degree of spirituality sees the Jyotir-linga as a column of fire piercing through the earth. Many people visit the temple, most of them to perform the sraddha ceremony for the sake of their ancestors.
Timing for Darshan at Somnath Temple : 6.00am to 9.00pm
Timing for Aarti : 7.00 am, 12.00 Noon and 7.00 pm
“Jay Somnath” Sound and Light Show : 8.00 pm to 9.00 pm
Outside, from the back of the temple one can have a beautiful view of the ocean and the beach. Local people sell conch shells and small sculptures of deities, and pilgrims enjoy riding on horses and camels.
Regarding history of the Somnath temple’s repeated destruction, locals compare the temple to be mythical phoenix, a bird that burns up but leaves behind an egg so that another phoenix can rise. Similarly this temple, with the deity whose shape is like that of an egg, has risen eight times after being plundered and reduced to ruins between A.D. 1300 and A.D. 1707.
Somnath Temple (1869)
While excavating for the present temple, workers found the remains of many former temples. Unearthed sculptures, artistic pillars, ceilings, and inscriptions are displayed in the Prabhas Patan museum in town. The original temple is said to have been built in four phases. Soma, the moon-god, built it out of gold; Ravana, the demoniac king of Lanka, rebuilt it out of silver; with sandalwood by Lord Krishna, and with stone by Bhimdeva (Solanki Ruler of Gujarat; Solanki was one of the 5 Rajput kingdoms in India).
References to Prabhasa can be found in the Rig Veda and in several Puranas. The Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) mentions that Lord Balarama came here twice, once when He went on pilgrimage to avoid taking sides in the Battle of Kurukshetra, and again, on the request of sages, after He killed the disrespectful Romaharsana Suta.
Somnath – The Lord of Moon God
Somesvara
The story of Candra’s installation of Somesvara is found in the Skanda Purana and the Mahabharata. Although Candra, the moon-god, was married to all twenty-seven daughters of the progenitor Daksa, he was partial to Rohini, keeping her always with him and neglecting the others.
Annoyed, the other twenty-six wives complained to their father. After repeated warnings, Daksa cursed Candra to suffer from tuberculosis, lose his beauty and radiance, and wane into nothingness. Candra’s affliction disturbed the tides and the growth of vegetation. Sages asked Daksa to withdraw his curse, but he said he didn’t have the power to do so. He advised Candra to take refuge in Lord Siva. Candra came to Prabhasa with his wife Rohini, found the Jyotir-linga here, and worshiped Lord Siva in that form. Pleased, Lord Siva blessed Candra with fortnightly phases of waning and waxing. Because the moon regained his growth and light here, the place became known as Prabhasa (“to shine”).
Nearby from Somnath, one can also visit Pandava-gufa, a cave associated with Pandavas, who according to the Mahabharata did their penance at Prabhasa.
Shri Krishna Nija Dham Prasthan Tirth (Dehotsarg Tirtha)
Shri Krishna Nija Dham Prasthan Tirth
Lord Krishna left earth from this spot. His footprints in marble are installed in a small open shrine. This place is called as Shri Krishna Nija Dham Prasthan Tirth (DEHOTSARG TIRTHA). This Tirtha is exactly located on the banks of Hiran at a distance of 1.5km from Somnath temple. The Local temple suggests that Shri Krishna departed on the first day of bright fortnight of Chaitra month (which corresponds with 18th February of English calendar) in the year 3102 B.C. at 2:27:30 hours.
Close by is the Gita temple, where you can see the Deity of flute-playing Krishna. On the right side of the temple in a small attached shrine is a Deity of Lord Balarama with Ananta Sesa, His expansion. This is considered the site where Lord Balarama departed from the earth from here in his original serpent form. This is marked by an ancient holy cave called “Dauji-ni Gufa”
Next to Balarama’s shrine is a Laksmi-Narayana temple. A room used by Vallabhacarya, founder of the Pusti Marga spiritual line, is in a courtyard nearby. His followers worship this place.
Opposite to Laksmi-Narayana temple is the confluence of three rivers: the Hiranya, the Kapila, and the now dried up Saraswati. This is well known confluence for Bathing known as TREEVENI SANGAM SNAN GHAT
Bhalka Tirtha
Bhalka Tirtha, Temple Hall - Somnath
Lord Krishna inside the Temple
On the way to Veraval, a larger city six kilometers northwest of Somnath, is the place “Bhalka” where there is a Krishna temple known as Bhalka Tirtha. The temple is built around the tree under which Krishna was sitting when Jara, the hunter, shot an arrow into His foot. Lord Krishna was resting in meditation under a peepal tree when the hunter misread the foot of Lord Krishna as a deer and hit from a distance. Lord generously pardoned and blessed him & sent him to Vaikuntha. This divine lila of Lord Krishna is immortalized by a beautiful temple and an ancient peepal tree. Lord Krishna then arrived at the holy banks of river Hiran from where he took his last journey to his own abode in spiritual world.
On the left side of the tree is a white marble altar on which Lord Krishna is sitting. His pink foot points toward Jara, who kneels with folded hands. At this spot Lord Krishna spoke His final instructions to Uddhava. [Srimad Bhagavat 11th canto]
How to Reach Somnath
The nearest airport, in Keshod, about sixty kilometers away, has daily flights from Mumbai.
A train from Ahmedabad takes about twelve hours and from Mumbai about eighteen hours.
There are buses to Somnath from all over Gujarat. Dwarka is seven hours by bus.
Where to Stay
Somnath is a small town with basic rooms available in a few hotels. Visitors usually stay in nearby Veraval.
Lord Krishna’s Disappearance
“Sukadeva Gosvami said: Then Lord Brahma arrived at Prabhasa along with Lord Siva and his consort, the sages, the Prajapatis, and all the demigods, headed by Indra. The forefathers, Siddhas, Gandharvas, Vidyadharas, and great serpents also came, along with the Caranas, Yaksas, Raksasas, Kinnaras, Apsaras, and relatives of Garuda, greatly eager to witness the departure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As they were coming, all these personalities variously chanted and glorified the birth and activities of Lord Sauri [Krishna].
“O King, crowding the sky with their many airplanes, they showered down flowers with great devotion. Seeing before Him Brahma [the grandfather of the universe] and the other demigods [who are all His personal and powerful expansions], the Almighty Lord closed His lotus eyes, fixing His mind within Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead”.
“Without employing the mystic agneyi meditation to burn up His transcendental body, which is the all-attractive resting place of all the worlds and the object of all the worlds and the object of all contemplation and meditation, Lord Krishna entered into His own abode”.
“As soon as Lord Sri Krishna left the earth, Truth, Religion, Faithfulness, Glory, and Beauty, immediately followed Him. Kettledrums resounded in the heavens and flowers showered from the sky”.
“Most of the demigods and other higher beings led by Brahma could not see Lord Krishna as He was entering His own abode, since He did not reveal His movements. But some of them did catch sight of Him, and they were extremely amazed”.
“Just as ordinary men cannot ascertain the path of a lightning bolt as it leaves a cloud, the demigods could not trace out the movements of Lord Krishna as He returned to His abode”.
“A few of the demigods, however notably Lord Brahma and Lord Siva could ascertain how the Lord’s mystic power was working, and thus they became astonished. All the demigods praised the Lord’s mystic power and then returned to their own planets”.
“My dear King, you should understand that the Supreme Lord’s appearance and disappearance, which resemble those of embodied conditioned souls, are actually a show enacted by His illusory energy, just like the performance of an actor. After creating this universe He enters into it, plays within it for some time, and at last winds it up. Then the Lord remains situated in His own transcendental glory, having ceased from the functions of cosmic manifestation.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.31.1-11)
Unfortunately, nowadays some people and some tourist publications try to diminish Lord Krishna’s glories by treating His disappearance pastimes like the activities of an ordinary human being and using phrases like “breathed his last” and “renounced his mortal human form.” By such disinformation, they misguide sincere pilgrims to Somnath. Guided by pure devotees like Srila Prabhupada, we should value and glorify the Lord’s departing pastimes, which are as inconceivably wonderful as all His other acts.
Modern History of Somnath
The Someshwar Mahadev temple stands tall among the temples of India. The construction of the present temple in Junagadh district began in 1947. It is the seventh temple built to commemorate the glory of Lord Somnath who is said to have known as Bhairaveshwar in the Satya Yuga, Shravanikeshwar in Treta Yuga and Shrigaleshwar in Dwapar Yuga.
In AD 1026, Mahmud of Ghazni first looted the temple, and then came Afzal Khan, the commander of Ala-ud-din Khilji and later Aurangzeb. It is said that the temple was looted and destroyed as many as seventeen times.
The following extract is from “Wonders of Things Created, and marvels of Things Existing” by Asaru-L- Bilad, a 13th century Arab geographer. It contains the following description of Somnath temple and its destruction: The following is a long quotation:
“Somnath, celebrated city of India, situated on the shore of the sea, and washed by its waves. Among the wonders of that place was the temple in which was placed the deity called Somnath. This deity was in the middle of the temple without anything to support it from below, or to suspend it from above. It was held in the highest honor among the Hindus, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement, whether he was a Musulman or an infidel. The Hindus used to go on pilgrimage to it whenever there was an eclipse of the moon, and more than a hundred thousand would then assemble there. They believed that the souls of men used to meet there after separation from the body, and that the deity used to incorporate them at its pleasure in other bodies, in accordance with their doctrine of transmigration. “The ebb and flow of the tide was considered to be the worship paid to the deity by the sea. The most precious of everything was brought there as offerings, and the temple was endowed with more than 10,000 villages. There is a river (the Ganges) which is held sacred. They used to bring the water of this river to Somnath every day, and wash the temple with it. A thousand brahmins were employed in worshipping the deity and attending on the visitors, and 500 damsels sung and danced at the door–all these were maintained upon the endowments of the temple. The edifice was built upon fifty-six pillars of teak, covered with lead. The shrine of the deity was dark but was lighted by jewelled chandeliers of great value. “When the Sultan Yaminu-d Daula Mahmud Bin Subuktigin 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 Muhammadans. He arrived there in the middle of Zi-l k’ada, 416 A.H. (December, 1025 A.D.). “The king looked upon the deity with wonder, and gave orders for the seizing of the spoil, and the appropriation of the treasures. There were many deities of gold and silver and 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 deities exceeded twenty thousand thousand dinars.
(Elliot’s footnote: The enormous treasures found at Somnath have been a theme of wonder for all who have written on that conquest.) “When the king asked his companions what they had to say about the marvel of the deity, and of its staying in the air without prop or support, several maintained that it was upheld by some hidden support. The king directed a person to go and feel all around and above and below it with a spear, which he did, but met with no obstacle. One of the attendants then stated his opinion that the canopy was made of loadstone, and the deity of iron, and that the ingenious builder had skillfully contrived that the magnet should not exercise a greater force on anyone side-hence the deity was suspended in the middle. Some coincided, others differed. Permission was obtained from the Sultan to remove some stones from the top of the canopy to settle the point. When two stones were removed from the summit the deity swerved on one side, when more were taken away it inclined still further, until at last it rested on the ground.”
Restoration of temple after Independence : Before Independence, Prabhas Pattan was part of the Junagarh State, ruled by the Nawab of Junagarh. On the eve of Independence the Nawab announced the accession of Junagarh, which had over 80% Hindu population, to Pakistan. The people of Junagarh rose in revolt and set up a parallel government under Gandhian leader and freedom fighter, Shri Samaldas Gandhi. The Nawab, unable to resist the popular pressure, bowed out and escaped to Pakistan. The provincial government under Samaldas Gandhi formally asked Government of India to take over. The Deputy Prime Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel came to Junagadh on November 12, 1947 to direct the occupation of the state by the Indian army and at the same time ordered the reconstruction of the Somanath temple.
When Sardar Patel, K M Munshi and other leaders of the Congress went to Gandhiji with the proposal of reconstructing the Somnath temple, Gandhiji blessed the move, but suggested that the funds for the construction should be collected from the public and the temple should not be funded by the state. He expressed that he was proud to associate himself to the project of renovation of the temple. But soon both Gandhiji and Sardar Patel died and the task of reconstruction of the temple was now continued under the leadership of K M Munshi, who was the Minister for Food and Civil, supplies in the Nehru Government.
The ruins were pulled down in October 1950 and the mosque was moved to a different location. In May 1951, Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Republic of India, invited by K M Munshi, performed the installation ceremony for the temple Rajendra Prasad said in his address “The Somnath temple signifies that the power of reconstruction is always greater than the power of destructon”
This episode created a serious rift between the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who saw in movement for reconstruction of the temple an attempt at Hindu revivalism and the President Rajendra Prasad and Union Minister K M Munshi, saw in its reconstruction, the fruits of freedom and the reversal of injustice done to Hindus.
Architecture: The Present temple, Kailash Mahameru Prasada, is built in the Chalukya style of temple architecture and reflects the skill of the Sompuras, Gujarat’s master masons. The temple is situated at such a place that there is no land in between from Somnath seashore to Antarctica. Such an inscription in Sanskrit is found on the ARROW-PILLAR erected on the sea-protection wall at the Somnath Temple. The Darshani Gates of the Golden Temple in Amritsar are the Somnath Temple Gates, which were brought back by the army of the mighty Sikh King Maharaja Ranjit Singh from Afghanistan.