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Introduction
Some years ago I read an article proposing that the Ka‘ba was a Šiva temple before it was converted into a mosque by Prophet Muhammad. The article cited a long hymn in Arabic addressed to Mahãdeva 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 Vikramãditya 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 Šiva 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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