SARDAR PATEL , KAIFI AZMI AND SOMNATH TEMPLE

                           

                                                                             

SARDAR PATEL  RE-ESTABLISHED THE GLORY  OF  SOMNATH..

" Wahshat-e-Buut  shikani dekh ke hairaan hoon mein,
Buut -parasti mera sheva hai ki insaan hoon mein,
Ekk na Ekk buut  to har ekk dil mein chhupa hota hai,
uskay  sau naamon mein ekk naam khuda hota hai.." 

( Kaifi Azmi)

Dumbfounded i am ,
Looking at  the cruelty of  the idol breaker ,
A human being that i am ,
My profession is to worship .
Every heart conceals
at least
one image ,
One idol within,
Among hundred names
given to this idol,
For sure,
One name happens to be
none other than  "GOD"...

This is how poet kaifi Azmi  reflects on the continuity between God and the image of God for man and also criticizes  the destruction of SOMNATH  while   concluding  his well known poem' Somnath' ...

SOMNATH...

Amitabh Bachan's voice has been used in the laser show   held everyday inside  Somnath  Temple ( 8 PM to 9PM ) . As the huge   laser images fall on the temple, the voice reverberates in the evening's silence and overpowers the roar of Arabian sea ,on the shores of which this grand Temple in located. Amitabh ,the po Grand ambassador of Gujrat Tourism  informs:

"SOMNATH  finds mention in Skand Purana. Mehmood of Gazani attacked somnath on 6/1/1026 AD.He broke the Shivlinga  and snooped down on the treasures .He carried  with him  horse loads of diamonds, gold, silver and pearls and about a  Ton of Gold and the  huge bell of gold  dangling from the shikhra  .The temple was looted , plundered and demolished seven times thereafter by Alla ud Din khilji, Mehmood Begda, Ahmed Shah ,  Jaffar  khan,  Mehmood  Tughlak ,Aurangzeb and Portugese Governor of Diu .Every person came to Somnath with an  intention of plunder.

Mehmood of Gazni remained in somnath for 18days  plundering, looting and killing . Fighting against his mighty soldiers , about 50,000 unarmed  Shaivites laid their life. So did  500 Nartakis (Female Dancers) attached to SOMNATH   sacrifice their llife. " 

And history records When  forces of Raja Bhoj of Malwa and Raja Veesal Dev Chauhan of Ajmer  reached Somnath to join the  fight against the invaders  , Mehmood of Ghazni   had left the town  with  loot and plunder .

"SOMNATH DARSHAN " ,   A book on Somnath published by Megha publication Ahmedabad and  sold at every shop in Somnath town  mentions:

" In 1788, Rani Ahilyabai Holkar  the Maratha Queen  of Indore built a temple near the old Somnath after Alla Ud Din Khilji had demolished it. She kept the shivlinga in the basement of this temple shifting some idols from the demolished temple.Somnath is first among 12 Jyotirlingas of India. Since ancient times, Somnath also known as Prabhas Pattan has been an ancient pilgrimage centre due to Triveni a confluence ( Sangam)  of rivers Hiranya, Kapila and Swarasati . The temple was in demolished state in 1947 when India became free. this a It was sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel who took a solemn Pledge to reconstruct  a Grand  Somnath once again . In this task, He was helped by Sri KM Munshi, Rajmata of Jamnagar  and Sri Digvijay Singh former Raja of Saurashtra  . The Jyotirlinga stone slab or Brahm shila  was located from the debris and the temple and Jyotirlinga was put on it. On 11th May 1951,  Dr Rajendra Prasad the then President of India personally came to.  Somnath to      re-established the Holy Shivlinga . "

As you enter SOMNATH, history of which is  successive plunder cum demolition and then  reconstruction, you feel there could have been no better location for the Temple  .Located on the shores of Arbian sea,  the reconstruction of SOMNATH was started  with Gandhi Ji's  moral support (    who wanted  that  the temple  should come  up from public contributions)       by  Sardar Patel. The reconstructed SOMNATH   signifies application if some soothing Balm to thousand year old  civilisational  bruises caused by  plunder and destruction  of  Mehmood of Ghazni . After the death of SardarPatel  , KM Munshi, a minister in the Cabinet of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,  took over SOMNATH  reconstruction and completed it in 1951.

   Just outside SOMNATH complex ,   Hamirji gohil's cenotaph  greets you. Hamirji Gohil, The 16 year old  brave newly married chieftain of Lathi,  sacrificed his life in 1299 defending  SOMNATH from the attack of Alauddin Khillji . Inside  the  temple complex , an impressive  statue of Sardar Patal facing Somnath greets you . Presently , No camera or electronic devices are allowed inside the complex.

And from books and people ,  i came to know  that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was neither happy with Sardar Patel's initial  initiative   nor with KM Munshi's subsequent efforts  towards   reconstruction of   SOMNATH. Through an official communication, he had  even  suggested to Dr Rajendra Prasad  the then President of  India to dissociate himself with inauguration of   Shivalinga installation ceremony at SOMNATH. None paid  any heed to Nehru. 

On 11 May 1951, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, while presiding over the opening ceremony of reconstructed SOMNATH  gave a stirring speech . He said:

" The physical symbols of our civilisation may be destroyed, but no Arms, Army or King could destroy the bond that the people had with their culture and faith. Till that bond remained, the civilisation would survive. ......... Somnath was the symbol of economic and spiritual prosperity of Ancient India . "

• Probably  association of    President of the Republic  and his own  cabinet ministers  leading the reconstruction of Somnath clashed with  Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's  Secularism . Pandit Jawaharlal   Nehru never visited SOMNATH.

(Avtar Mota)

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