SUMERU PARVAT
SOMNETH
SOMNETH PHOTO MADE BY KAILASH MANSAROVAR FOUNDATION, SWAMI BIKASH GIRI , www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com
The Somnath Temple (Gujarati: સોમનાથ મંદિર Sanskrit: सोमनाथ मन्दिर) located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India, is the first among the twelve Jyotirlingashrines of the god Shiva. It has currently become a tourist spot for pilgrims. The temple is considered sacred due to the various legends connected to it. Somnath means "The Protector of (the) Moon god". The Somnath Temple is known as "the Shrine Eternal", having been destroyed many times by Islamic kings and rulers.[1] Most recently it was rebuilt in November 1947, when Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel visited the area for theintegration of Junagadh and mooted a plan for restoration. After Patel's death, the rebuilding continued under K. M. Munshi, another minister of the Government of India
As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) andVishnu (the Hindu God of protection) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation.[4] To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.[5][6]Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy.[4] Each of the twelvejyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva.[7] At all these sites, the primary image islingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva] .[7][8][9] The twelve jyothirlinga areSomnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andra Pradesh,Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Bhimashankar inMaharastra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharastra, Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, Deogarh inDeoghar, Jharkhand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar atAurangabad in Maharastra
SOMNETH
SOMNETH PHOTO MADE BY KAILASH MANSAROVAR FOUNDATION, SWAMI BIKASH GIRI , www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com
The Somnath Temple (Gujarati: સોમનાથ મંદિર Sanskrit: सोमनाथ मन्दिर) located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India, is the first among the twelve Jyotirlingashrines of the god Shiva. It has currently become a tourist spot for pilgrims. The temple is considered sacred due to the various legends connected to it. Somnath means "The Protector of (the) Moon god". The Somnath Temple is known as "the Shrine Eternal", having been destroyed many times by Islamic kings and rulers.[1] Most recently it was rebuilt in November 1947, when Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel visited the area for theintegration of Junagadh and mooted a plan for restoration. After Patel's death, the rebuilding continued under K. M. Munshi, another minister of the Government of India
As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) andVishnu (the Hindu God of protection) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation.[4] To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.[5][6]Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy.[4] Each of the twelvejyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva.[7] At all these sites, the primary image islingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva] .[7][8][9] The twelve jyothirlinga areSomnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andra Pradesh,Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Bhimashankar inMaharastra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharastra, Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, Deogarh inDeoghar, Jharkhand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar atAurangabad in Maharastra