Somnath Temple – The Religious Haven of the Jyotirlingas

As I got into the train, I couldn’t believe I had actually managed it. I had come to the point where I finally did live up to my expectation of travelling to a place and then write about it. It is a nice experience to travel just for the sake of enjoying and writing about it. Yes now I have become a travel blogger in the real sense. Have you ever tried to write down your own experiences? If you have, then you are doing the right thing. If you haven’t, then it is not a bad idea to start now. It not only makes you feel worth your time but also gives you firsthand information of what you did during your travel.

Last time I went to Gujarat I had told myself the next time I would visit Gujarat I would surely go to Somnath temple. Located in the Junagadh district of Gujarat, this temple was certainly the most sacred place to visit. One of the famous 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva, this temple surely is a perfect calm place to be visited during one of our pilgrimages.

Even if I am not an Indian, the country has so grown into me, that I have stopped feeling the stares that are thrown towards me when I enter a temple. So when I set upon my visit to Somnath temple, none of my friends were surprised. Rohan just sent the car to me and soon I was speeding to Delhi to take the flight to Mumbai. I used to love to travel second class by train but age has caught up on me and my son no longer allows me to travel by train. He has told me that I have the permission to travel only if I promise I would travel by flight. So now I have but to agree to his request and soon the flight to Mumbai got over safely and when I took the train to Veraval, I was almost fagged out. But the urge to reach Somnath was what kept me going. Somnath is approachable from Veraval by bus or car. It is just around 5 km from the station. As I got out of the train, and called my son, I saw the driver come up with the placard with my name on it. I had reached Somnath!

I could also have taken the flight from Mumbai to Diu, but I wanted to travel by train at least once. Diu is around 95km from Somnath. I stayed at a guest house given by the Shree Somnath Trust. The charges were between Rs. 250 to Rs. 600. I chose to stay in the Rs.600 one as there were not Rs. 200 accommodations available. There were lot of rooms here and the Trust ensured that the people staying here are comfortable. It was night by the time I had settled down so I just decided to have dinner and plan my itinerary here next day.

A good night’s sleep and the tiredness wore out. I went to the Bhalka Tirth first. Legend says that this was the place where Lord Krishna was hit by a hunter named Jara and walked some steps away and then embarked on his journey to Nijdham on the banks of the River HIran.  This was the place where Lord Krishna is believed to have got affected by his wound. Bhalka Tirth is also known as Mahaprabhuji’s Bethak. Here I saw a tulsi tree which is believed to have been planted here in memory of Lord Krishna.

The next place I went to was Dehotsarg Tirth. This is the place where Shri Vallabhacharya was believed to have given discourses on Shrimad Bhagavat Gita. This went on for seven days. As I walked through the temple I saw pillars. They were made of marble.  I counted the number of pillars. There were 18 of them. Each pillar had the Bhagavat Gita inscribed on it.  As I walked along I was struck by the architectural intelligence of the temple. Then I saw the idol of Lord Krishna playing the flute. This was a beautiful tribhangi idol which really enthralled me. I was so glad I had come here.

From here I went to a cave called the Baldev Gufa. This again was a legendary place. This is the place where Baldev, Lord Krishna’s elder brother is believed to have vanished. It is said that he went to the netherworld from here. Baldev, according to Hindu mythology was supposed to be Sheshnag’s incarnation. Sheshnag is the king of snakes.

Seeping in the surroundings and accepting that Somnath temple was a good bet in a travelogue, I gathered as much information as I could to write my blog well. The next place I went to was the Laxminarayan Mandir. There was an idol of Bhagwan Laxminarayan here.

After the two temples and the lovely ambience I was filled with pleasure and joy to visit this place. I then went to the Shree Parshuram temple. This was a sacred place which lay on the banks of the River Triveni. It is believed that Bhagwan Parshuram, did his penance here thus relieving himself from the curse they were in. Bhagwan Somnath is believed to have responsible for relieving Parshuram of the Kshatriya killings. I went to a Parshuram temple here and was filled with awe seeing the kunds.

It was a wonderful feeling to be in a religious place and it is not certainly the same as being on a vacation. The mind gets calmed, the body gets disciplined and the soul is cleansed. I felt all this and actually felt rejuvenated and energetic. The next place I went to was the Triveni Sangam Snanghat. The rivers Hiran, Kapila and Saraswati met here and the Hindus consider this to be salvation. I just loved the arrangement made by the Shree Somnath Trust for bathing here.

I returned to my guesthouse after going to all these places. It was already dusk and the car that I had hired would be available only for 8 hours. So I came back and rested and contemplated on what to see the next day. Dinner was a simple affair of rotli and sabzi with kadhi and chaas. A good night’s sleep and the next morning I was ready to do some more sightseeing. I took a car on hire and then went to the Shree Shashibhushan Mahadev temple. This temple is around 4km from the highway. Located on the banks of the sea, this too has a legendary story. The Jara poacher is believed to have aimed from here when he tried to shoot Bhagwan Sri Krishna. I was quite curious to know who built this temple and tried to find out information on my cell phone. Information said that Shri Bhav Brihaspati built this temple. The Gods worshipped here are Bhagwan Shashibhushan and Bhidbhanjan. There are apparently lot of spiritual traditions followed in this temple.

Filled with a lot of piety and respect I went ahead to the Shree Veneshwar Mahadev temple. Again , as with other temples there is a legend attached to it. The story goes that the story of princess Veni is dedicated to this temple. As I went to the temple I saw the fort of Prabhaspatan. This was the place where the Mughal Mahmud Ghazni tried to adbuct the princess Veni  when she came to this temple to worship. It is also believed that when he tried to do this, the Shivling was split into two and the princess was buried in this Shivling. Thus the temple came to be known as the Veneswar temple. Quite a story and a great legend to live with. I felt good I came to see  this temple.

All this over and it was already evening. I had dinner at a local hotel and then waited for the sound and light show. The entire show was very mesmerizing and enchanting. I liked it and felt I should have brought my son who would have certainly enjoyed the show. The show started at 8 in the night and ended after an hour. The charges were Rs. 20 per head.

AS I walked back, I purchased some small items, like an idol of Somnath, some photos and I loved the dolls which were there on sale. It was really nice to shop for small things like these. I had dinner at the Prasadam Hotel, again run by the Somnath Trust. After dinner, I had buttermilk at the Amul Counter which was near the Shopping Complex.

I was impressed with the tall shikharas dotting the entire city. These shikharas devoted to Lord Shiva and completely respecting the 12 Jyotirlingas are a complete booster for the locals.

I did love the city Somnath which means the land of moon. Did you know that earlier this place was known as the Prabhas Patan. Hindus throng here just to have a glimpse of the Lord. It is also believed that Somnath was the place where Moon worshipped Lord Shiva. So Shiva is known here as Somnath. The place looks beautiful lying on the Arabian coast in the State of Maharashtra. The River Saraswati flows here into the sea while Somnath is located on the same bank.

I had read through Somnath temple the previous night on the Internet and was quite impressed to know that the temple is made of gold, silver and wood. The God of Moon Soma and the God of Sun Ravi got it constructed together. The Rajputs of Solanki added the stones in 11th century. Mahmud of Ghazni wanted to take all the wealth here and plundered the place. Mahmud destroyed the temple and took away all the wealth from here. Thus Mahmud started the trend of destruction of temples. It is sad that the temple was destroyed eight times. It was thanks to Sardar Vallabhai Patel that the temple got reconstructed.

I loved the 50 m tall shikhara of the temple and also of the lovely scene of the Arabian Sea pouring its waves into the place. Besides the temple architecture of the Chalukyan style was a real beauty. The carvings and the idol of Nandi along with the Shiv ling rendered a person completely mesmerized. As I entered the courtyard of the temple the hall was huge. Called the mandapa this was witness to many testing times in history. The coiled pyramid here was conspicuous all over the place. The sea nearby enhanced the beauty.

I walked still further and saw the Deep Stambha. This was placed at the edge and the en tire experience was ecstatic. The conch shell on the side completed the beauty of the place and the arrow pointing towards the South Pole was the cherry on the pie of my travel here.

What I really liked about the place was that the whole place had a very calm and serene look and the Shiv bhajans which rendered the air with a charm took you away completely to another world. As I returned to my guest house and decided to sit with my laptop to write this blog I only felt that one should have time and one should have the patience to know what to do with the time available. A visit to Somnath temple is a good way to use time and knowledge.