About Place
Somnath temple is situated at the intersection of Kapila, Hiran and Saraswati rivers. The uncommon carved honey-coloured Somnath temple on the western edge of the state is believed to be older than 600 BC. It is also believed that this is the place where the first of the twelve holy jyotirlingas emerged in India. In the history of Somnath, it is said that the temple was first built by the moon god(Somraj) in gold, the same was rebuilt by Ravana in silver, by Lord Krishna in wood, and lastly by Bhimdev in stone. One can see the traditional architecture along with cream colour paint with fine sculpting.
The temple was visited by the legendary looter Mahmud of Ghazni from Afghanistan in 1024. During that time, the temple had around 300 musicians, 500 dancing girls and even 300 barbers. He took the entire town along with the temple in a battle where around 70,000 defenders died. The temple was finally won over by Aurangzeb, the Mughal ruler in 1706. Even though the site is open throughout the year, the best time to visit the temple is from October to February due to cooler weather conditions.
Image credits: Brifly News, Trawell.in (Thumbnail image)
