Somnath Temple in Gujarat

Somnath Jyotirlinga Temple is situated in Somnath Patan (the south coast of Saurashtra), near Veraval in (Prabhas Kshetra) Kathaiwad district in Gujarat. Somnath is the first Jyotirlinga from 12 Jyotirlingas ofLord Shiva and is a revered pilgrimage center in India.

Legend of Somnath Temple

In Skanda Purana, ther is a story on Prabhasa Khanda, describes the emergence of this Jyotirlinga in Somnath. Legend goes that the moon was married to the 27 daughters of Daksha Prajapati. Amongst all his wives, he  special loves towards Rohini and neglected  others. This negligence of Chandra towards his other wives Prajapati Daksha cursed Chandra, he would lose his beauty and radiance. But because of a moon devoid of radiance and beauty the entire world became lifeless. A disturbed Chandra, came down to Prabhasa with Rohini and worshipped the Sparsa Linga of Somnath, after which he was blessed by Shiva to grow and shine in the bright half. As the moon regained his light here, this town came to be known as Prabhasa. Brahma, one of the trinity, installed the Brahmashila, and payed way for the construction of the temple. On the request of the Chandrama and other gods Bhagwan Shankar owned name as Somchandra (Jyotirlinga) and resided there in Somnath eternally. He became famous by the name Somnath in the three worlds. Since, it was the Prabhas Kshetra where Bhagwan Shri Krishna performed all his Lilas. A small cave in In this temple, in which a lamp(Jyoti) burns continuously.

It is believed that the Somnath temple here was originally built by Somraj, the Moon God himself, out of gold, and then rebuilt by Ravana in silver and then by Krishna in Wood, then by Bhimdev in stone.

 The Skanda Purana describes the Sparsa Linga of Somnath Temple as one bright as the sun, the size of an egg, lodged underground. The Mahabharata also refers to the Prabhasa Kshetra and the legend of the moon worshipping Shiva.

 Ransacking and Rebuilding of Somnath Jyotirlinga

 Somnath Jyotirling has been destroyed and rebuilt at a number of times in the history:

The first Mahmud of Ghazini who ransacked and destroyed the temple in 1025 CE, due to glory and wealth of Somnath.

which was immediately rebuilt by King Bhima of Gujarat and King Bhoja of Malwa.

Somnath temple was destroyed again by Alaf Khan, the general of Allauddin Khilji in 1300 CE.

It was rebuilt again by King Mahipala of the Chudasama dynasty.

Somnath shrine was destroyed yet again in 1390, 1490, 1530 and finally in 1701 by Aurangazeb.

It was rebuilt with perseverance each time after it was destroyed

Palitana Jain Temples

Palitana is located in Gujarat, 51 km south west of Bhavnagar Gujarat India.Palitana is a Cluster of famous Jain temples. Amongst all the Jain temples, Palitana temples are considered to be the most sacred. Palitana was the capital of a princely state of the Gohil Rajput clan. It is also one of the greatest tourist attractions in Gujarat State to foreign tourists. Digamber Jain Temple where 9 shrines of all  Trithankaras are being placed. Among all is the 1008 Bhagwan Shantinath which is the principal deity. On the top of the hill 873 temples  were built of white marble, the work beginning in the 11th century and continuing for 900 long’ years. However, destroyed by the Muslim invasions in 14th and 15th centuries, the temples were rebuilt a new in the year 1500. They are unique- in their architecture and sculpture. The ornamented temples look like ivory miniatures in the sunlight, seems to be wedding cake. Notable among the temples are Adinath, Kumarpal, Sampriti Raj, Bimal Shah. The holiest temple among the cluster, according to the Jain pilgrims, is the temple of Adishwar, the first Jain Tirthankar. It is also the most beautifully wrought. The marble image of the deity is bedecked with gold ornaments studded with precious jewels. The largest temple built in 1618 is that of 4-faced Adinath, the first Tirthankara.Bhagawan AdishvarJain Teerth:

This temple is made of white stone that can be seen in Padmasana temple.  There are also some beautiful idols of Yudhishthir, Bheem, Arjun and other Bhagwan Parsavanth idol. On the northern gate of the temple there are foot print of Bhagwan Adinath and Bhagwan Sambhavnath. There are 3745 steps to reach the temple. The town has a good road and rail network that connects it to the other cities of Gujarat. Bhavnagar, the nearest airport lies at a distance of 60 kilometer from Palitana.  Siddha Kshetra Shri Shatrunjaya Teerth is situated on a hill, which is decorated by 3500 temples. Spires of the temples attract pilgrims from a far distance. Nagarjuna founded Palitana, which derives its name from Guru Padalipta or politta. The chief attraction here is the holy Jain shrine Shatrunjay Hill, 3 km away from the railway station. It is on the Shetrunjaya Mountain at a distance of nearly six kilometers near the city of the bank of the river Shetrunjaya. This mountain has 3800 steps. On it, there are 700 temples with summits. 7000 idols are installed in them. The artistry and sculpture of these temples aptly illustrate the ancient art.

The Digamber Jain temple

 The Digamber Jain temple on Shatrunjaya Teerth is an ancient temple, has 9 shrines with various Teerthankaras idols installed. On the main shrine of temple, the magnificent idol of principal deity 1008 Bhagwan Shantinath is installed, this is 42 inch in height; in Padmasana posture made of white stone & was installed in V.S. 1686. According to the inscription on idol, a famous businessman of Ahmedabad installed this.
In this temple, beautiful standing idols of Yudhishthir, Bheem and Arjun are also installed in V.S. 2025, these three Pandavas attained salvation from here. Two another idols of Bhagwan Parshvanath each 24 inch in height in Padmasana posture are installed here, one is called Chintamani Parshvanath and other is called Vighnaharan Parshvanath. Both were installed in V.S. 1734.  On the both sides of northern gate of temple foot images of Bhagwan Adinath and Bhagwan Sambhavanath are installed. On the inner shrine with attractive spires, there are three foot images of three Pandavas are also installed.