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#SomnathSwabhimanParva: From Mahmud Ghaznavi to Aurangzeb, this Dargah was targeted again and again
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his first visit to Somnath Temple in Gujarat. (narendramodi.in)
Somnath Temple Swabhiman Parv: Celebrating 1,000 years of worship and unwavering faith
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Somnath temple in Gujarat on January 11 on the occasion of year-long activities of #SomnathSwabhimanParva. Many spiritual and social activities will be organized at Somnath from January 8-11.
The Somnath temple is not just a stone structure or a place of worship; It is a living proclamation of the civilizational soul of India, ancient beyond memory, repeatedly attacked, yet never conquered in spirit.
From Mahmud Ghaznavi to Aurangzeb, this temple was targeted again and again, not just to destroy a temple but to shatter the civilizational trust of Hindu society.
The year 2026 holds a double and deep significance for India. It marks exactly one millennium since the first major attack on the temple in 1026 AD, and also celebrates the platinum jubilee, the 75th anniversary of its modern consecration in 1951. This convergence of dates highlights a thousand-year journey from the depths of destruction to the heights of national revival.
PM Modi’s op-ed This is the moment in history when the temple has been revived as glorious as before. In a post on Twitter, the PM wrote: “2026 marks 1000 years since the first attack on Somnath. Despite subsequent repeated attacks, Somnath stands strong! This is because the story of Somnath is about the unwavering courage of the countless children of Mother India who protected our culture and civilization…”
Jai Somnath! In 2026, 1000 years have passed since the first attack on Somnath. Later, despite repeated attacks, Somnath stands strong! This is because the story of Somnath is about the unwavering courage of countless children of Mother India who protected our culture and…
-Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 5 January 2026
Repeated Destruction, Repeated Resurrection
The story of Somnath Temple is not just the story of a temple, but the story of a civilization’s relationship with time, faith and memory. In KM Munshi’s seminal work “Somnath: The Shrine Eternal”, Somnath has been presented as a temple as ancient as the universe itself. But that same description records a sobering but revealing pattern. Thus, Somnath is unique in world history: a temple that was destroyed and rebuilt several times over almost a millennium, without the faith it represented ever dying out. KM Munshi, a freedom fighter, incidentally was the Agriculture Minister in the Nehru cabinet.
Somnath: KM Munshi in The Shrine Eternal records that Mahmud of Ghazni began his march towards Somnath on 18 October 1025 and attacked the fortified temple town about 80 days later, on 6 January 1026. Contemporary accounts cited by Munshi estimate that approximately 50,000 defenders lost their lives while defending the temple. Mahmud later looted the temple and desecrated the sanctum sanctorum, and broke the linga into pieces.
- In 1299 AD, Alauddin Khilji’s general Alf Khan again destroyed the temple, and took the pieces to Delhi. Once again the Hindu rulers rebuilt it.
- In 1394, Muzaffar Khan, the governor of Gujarat, again destroyed the temple. Some type of shrine must have been rebuilt. In 1459 AD, Mahmud Begada or Muzaffar II again desecrated the Somnath temple.
- The temple still served as a holy shrine of Hindus until 1669 AD, when Aurangzeb ordered its demolition along with other Hindu temples in the country. In 1702 AD, Aurangzeb ordered the Somnath temple to be destroyed beyond repair. In 1706 AD, on the orders of Aurangzeb, this Dargah was converted into a mosque.
- Queen Ahilyabai Holkar, recognizing the sacred continuity, built a new temple nearby in 1783. To protect it from destruction, the Linga was placed in a secret underground temple just below the normal upper temple.
It is Somnath’s blood-stained history, marked by destruction and renewal over centuries, through which the temple comes to symbolize India’s resurgence. While the invaders who wanted to destroy Somnath have now become mere footnotes in history, the glory of the temple continues to grow.
Al-Biruni’s comments
The eleventh-century Persian scholar Al-Biruni, who came to India with Mahmud of Ghazni, stayed in the subcontinent for about thirteen years. During this period, he composed his seminal work Kitab al-Hind, a systematic and sympathetic account of Indian society, religion, science and culture based on direct observation.
In Kitab al-Hind, al-Biruni also records some of the more gruesome incidents of plunder committed by Mahmud Ghaznavi, particularly in Mathura and Somnath. He writes that Mahmud “completely ruined the prosperity of the country, created hatred towards Muslims among the local people, and sent Hindu science back to places far away from the parts of the country we had conquered, to places where our hands cannot yet reach.”
Al-Biruni further describes the extraordinary wealth of the Somnath temple: its golden pinnacles, gem-studded statues, and coffers filled with offerings from pilgrims and rulers. He portrays Somnath not only as a place of worship, but also as a major cultural and economic centre, home to scholars, artists, musicians, dancers and artisans, and an important node in maritime trade linking India with East Africa and China.
Somnath’s lasting message
Swami Vivekananda captured this essence perfectly during his travels in the 1890s, he saw how these temples bear the marks of hundreds of attacks and hundreds of regenerations, constantly emerging from the ruins, revived and strengthened.
When Swami Vivekananda visited Somnath in the 1890s, he clearly understood the essence of Somnath. He said, “Some of the old temples of southern India and temples like Somnath in Gujarat will teach you a lot of knowledge, will give you a deeper understanding of the history of caste than any book.”
According to Swami Vivekananda, Somnath is not just about the past, as he said, “Notice how these temples (like Somnath of Gujarat) bear the marks of hundreds of attacks and hundreds of regenerations, constantly destroyed and constantly rising out of the ruins, revived and strong as ever!”
Somnath in Modern Indian History: Efforts of Sardar Patel
The story of Somnath does not end in medieval history; It is strongly prevalent in modern Indian history. After independence, the reconstruction of Somnath became a matter of national consciousness.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel played a decisive and historic role. On 13 November 1947, Sardar Patel announced the decision to rebuild the Somnath Temple, seeing it not as communal revivalism but as civilizational healing after centuries of dereliction.
KM Munshi stood firmly with Patel. Munshi carefully documented the history of Somnath and supported its reconstruction, emphasizing that: “No temple of this scale and design had been built in India for nearly 800 years.”
Nehru’s opposition to the revival of Somnath temple
However, this national revival was not without opposition. In a shocking incident in post-independence India, Prime Minister Nehru had opposed President Dr. Rajendra Prasad’s participation in the inauguration of the temple in 1951.
Just before the inauguration of the Somnath Temple in 1951, Nehru wrote to President Rajendra Prasad and strongly opposed his participation. He wrote, “I confess that I did not like the idea of you associating yourself with the grand inauguration of the Somnath temple.”
In the early months of 1951, a few weeks before the inauguration of the temple, KM Munshi recorded that Nehru told him directly: “I do not like your attempt to restore Somnath. This is Hindu revivalism.”
In another letter to the Chief Minister on 1 August 1951, Jawaharlal Nehru said that “the inauguration of the Somnath Temple has created a very bad impression about India abroad.”
Here is another letter in this series which clearly highlights how uneasy Jawaharlal Nehru was about stopping or diluting the historical celebrations at the Somnath Temple. Nehru was apparently unhappy with the idea of rebuilding Somnath and opening it with grandeur.
His uneasiness is evident in the letter written to RR Diwakar. He wrote that he was “concerned about the ceremonies taking place at Somnath”, and most tellingly, he also tried to censor national pride, directing that radio broadcasts should “tone down” the details of what happened at Somnath.
His concern was not the feelings of millions of Hindus, but how India’s civilizational resurgence might be viewed by foreign audiences – an attitude that many saw as dismissing India’s own historical and spiritual heritage.
Despite this opposition, President Rajendra Prasad went ahead with the inauguration and said that respecting the heritage of a civilization does not violate secularism but strengthens national self-respect.
pilgrimage eternal and soul immortal
Somnath stands today not just as a renovated temple, but as a civilizational expression built in stone and faith.
Every destruction was answered not with silence, but with renewal; Every fall became the foundation of rise. The true greatness of Somnath lies in this unbroken cycle of destruction and resurrection.
The story of Somnath highlights a deep truth about India, that civilizations rooted in spiritual faith cannot be ended by force.
05 January, 2026, 14:06 IST
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