SOMANATH

During the Maliabharatha period, it was on this punya bhoomi many a historic event took place - visiting of it times numberless by the Yadavas with their kith and kin cm auspicious occasions, why, they met their death here only. In the post-Yadava period, due to the spread of Buddhism many changes altered the conditions, yet the cult of Saivism could not be suppressed. When Chandra Gupta Mourya was in throne, he revived the Vedic cult and installed the first Jyotirlinga in the temple and its prominence spread to four corners. The Sungas, Sakas and Guptas, who succeeded them later continued the practice and patronized with rich donations and renovations.

The trouble from the Mlechchas started in 770, when Jummid, the Arab General defeated the emperor Sailaditya. Considerable damage was done, but the Hindu kings ruling then and later withstood the challenge and maintained the pristine purity of the shrine and its traditions. The darkest period of the temple's agonizing history began with entering of Mohammad Gazani in 1026 A.D. His inhuman religious bigotry caused incalculable damage to the temple and its worshippers. He empited vials of hatred and intolerance on the innocent civilians and mute gods in such demonic way that history cannot show such similar raids. He flung open the hell gates and the paisachika krityas that followed cannot be clothed in any language decent. Blood reddened the entire soil, and smoke covered the sky and hid the moon. The fabulous booty - the inestimable wealth of the temple was carried by twenty thousand camels and thirty thousand horses. The sacred Linga was smashed to pieces and the vaults overflowing the rare jewels were emptied. The loss can be expressed only in astronomical figures.

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