Introduction
Some years ago I read an article proposing that the Ka�ba was a �iva temple before it was converted into a mosque by Prophet Muhammad. The article cited a long hymn in Arabic addressed to Mah�deva who, according to the article, was the presiding deity of the Ka�ba. The hymn, it was stated, had been composed in the reign of Vikram�ditya of Ujjain in the first century BC.
A friend who got interested tried to get the hymn traced to the extant collection of pre-Islamic Arab poetry. He approached several libraries abroad but drew a blank. He as well as I then dismissed the proposition as the product of that school of Hindu historians according to whom every building everywhere in the world was a Hindu monument at one time.
But in the course of the present study I have run into some facts which force me to revise my judgment. I am not yet prepared to say that the Ka�ba was a �iva temple. I, however, cannot resist the conclusion that it was a hallowed place of Hindu pilgrimage. The facts are being placed before the readers for whatever worth they possess.
About Author : Shri Sita Ram Goel
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