Somnath is the holy place of the Aadi Jyotirling Shree Somnath Mahadev and the sacred soil where from Bhagvanji Shri Krishna took his last journey to his Neejdham. The temple is built at the shore of the Arabian ocean on the western corner of Indian subcontinent. Somnath pilgrimage is one of the oldest and finest its reference in the ancient texts like Skandpuran, Shreemad Bhagvat, Shivpuran etc. Somnathji, Someshwar Mahadev temple stands tall among all the temples of India. The construction of the present temple in Junagadh district area began in 1950. It is the seventh temple built to remind people of an event from the past and the glory of Lord Somnathji
The Somnath Temple located at a location in Prabhas Patan Kshetra, 7 kms from Veraval in Saurashtra peninsula on the western coast of Gujarat.
History:-
It is said that Brahma advised Daksha Prajapati to build the temple in honour of Shiva.In the first phase of construction the shikhar portion, the sanctums sanctorum and the assembly hall were built. The dancing hall was built later.
The pinnacle rides to a height of 155 feet. The Kalash atop the Shikhar have weight of 10 tonnes. The flag- mast is 37 feet long. These details give an idea of the size of the temple. In historical times the temple, the third to be precise, was raged to the ground by Sultan Mohmad of Ghazni. Then Sultans Allauddin and Mohmad Begda too desecrated it. After the Maraths took over Gujarat Rani Ahalyabai of Indore constructed a temple near the old temple and worship is offered there ever since.
Legend
According to Skanda Purana, moon was married to the 27 daughters of Daksha Prajapati. Amongst all his wives, he had special love towards Rohini and neglected the others. Seeing the negligence of Chandra towards his other wives Prajapati Daksha cursed Chandra that 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 paved way for the construction of the temple. On the request of the Chandrama and other gods Bhagwan Shankar assumed the name Somchandra (Jyotirlinga) and resided there 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. In this temple there is a small cave in which a lamp burns continuously.
The Skanda Purana describes the Sparsa Linga of Somnath 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.