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Uniqueness
Perhaps,
no other temple in the history of our Akhand Bharat, or rather in
the history of mankind, has been the target of attack and
destruction, plunder and pillage; arson and annihilation by
iconoclasts and alien expansionists as that of Somanath of Prabhas
Pattana, situated on the southern coast of Sourastra, in the
province of Sorath, now known as Junagadh in the state of Gujarat
Its history is packed with an unending series of savage plunders and
countless acts of barbarous vandalism, dating from the advent of
Mohammed Gazani in 1026 and ending with its handing over to Indian
Union on 9.11.1947 by Sir Shanavas
Bhutto, the then diwan of Junagadh. Records reveal that as many as
13 times, the temple was subjected to brutal attacks by Mlechchas.
The tale of its defence is packed with indescribable pathos and
unimaginable horrors. Although the spirit of religiosity rose up to
unprecedented heights, it could not prevent and save the pious
innocent beings mercilessly butchered; the old and infirm brutally
trampled; children and disabled ruthlessly crushed and women openly
raped and humiliated, besides converted, or carried to use as
slaves, or turn into prostitutes. And the town was ransacked -- its
precious movables were razed and mutilated beyond recognition.
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