Somnath temple is one of the famous religious and tourist sites in India and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is located in Junagadh district in Gujarat. Somnath temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India.
There are many stories about the origin of the temple in Indian mythology according to one such story this temple was built in gold by Moon God Som to get relief from the curse given by his father-in-law, Daksha Prajapati. We can find mentions of this temple in epic, Mahabharata and Puranas. It is also believed that the sacred Saraswati river meets the sea at this place.
Somnath temple was destroyed and rebuilt many times. Islamic invader Mahmud of Ghazni plundered this temple in 1025 AD and destroyed it. Recently in 1947, Sardar Vallabhai Patel took a great initiative to restore the temple and we see the present temple which was rebuilt by him.
This temple is built is Solanki style. The temple has a shikhara which is 15 meters tall and has a flag pole which is 8.2 meter in height. The Kalash on the top weighs about 10 tonnes. There is also a sabha mandap, nritya mandap and sanctum sanctorum in the temple.
