The visit to the Somnath Temple reminded me of the strong association of Sardar Patel with the Somnath Temple, that led to its reconstruction.
Somnath Temple and Sardar Patel
The famous temple of Somnath is situated in western India on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat. It is believed that between Antarctica – the South Pole, and the point where current temple is situated, there is no land.
This peninsula was once famously known as Kathiawad after Kathi Durbar rulers who ruled part of this region.
At the time of Independence most of Kathiawad was divided into numerous princely states. In 1950, two hundred seventeen of such states were merged to form Saurashtra.
In 1956 Saurashtra was merged with Bombay state. Today when bigger states are divided into smaller ones, it is hard to believe that once smaller states were merged to form bigger state.
Later on, in 1960, Bombay was divided into two on linguistic lines and thus formed Gujarat and Maharashtra.
This high number of princely states in Saurashtra itself, reminds me of Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel. We are grateful to this steel-will man to give boundaries to our imagination of a strong and united India.
The Iron Man and the innocence of my kid
I ask Rachit, “Do you know Sardar Patel, the first deputy Prime Minister and the first Home Minister, is known as the Iron Man of India?
It reminds Rachit of a catalogue of books which he got from his school only a few days before our trip. At that time he had pestered me to buy at least one from it. His favorite among it was a comic titled Iron Man.
He promptly replied, “Papa I wanted to know more about this Iron Man and that was the reason I was insisting to buy that comic.”
I could not resist smiling at his innocence and the nearly perfect correlation.
The book Freedom at midnight
A few years back, I read “Freedom at midnight” – written by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. This book brilliantly captures the political and the social scenarios of our country around 1947. It vividly and vibrantly depicts why Mahatma Gandhi is rightfully a Mahatma – tallest among all the world leaders of 20th Century.
On 1st January 2000, I was in Grenoble, France. A French stranger stopped me on a street and asked, “Are you from India?”
On confirmation, he told me, “In the ongoing voting for the Man of the Century I have voted for Mahatma Gandhi. Though Einstein is leading the vote, but I strongly feel it should be none other than Mahatma Gandhi”
Such voting do not carry much meaning to me. I did not even participate in that on-line survey. But in the far west, if I am stopped by a stranger and admired for being from Mahatma’s land, I owe my veneration and admiration to this great man.
“Freedom at midnight” is centered on Mahatma Gandhi and Mountbatten. It discusses Nehru, Jinnah and even the eccentric royalties of that time, but remains mum on Sardar Patel.
My worst fear is that the later generations will read this well-merited and well-researched book, but as there are no such equally well acclaimed book on Sardar Patel, his daunting contributions may fade.
Though the two authors did not write much about Sardar Patel, it appears even they were impressed by his character. Even sparse lines Sardar Patel got to his credit show his strong personality.
Description of Sardar Patel in Freedom at midnight
The two authors- Dominick and Larry Collins described Sardar Patel as follows
In a land in which man talked constantly, threw their words around like sailors flinging away their money after three months at sea, Patel hoarded his phrases the way a miser hoarded coins.
His daughter who had been his constant companion since his wife’s death, rarely exchanged ten sentences with him a day. When Patel did talk, however, people listened.
Patel was Indian from the uppermost lump of his bald head to the calluses on the soles of his feet. His Delhi home was filled with books, but every one of them was written by an Indian author about India.
He rose faithfully at 4’o clock and was in bed just as regularly each night at 9:30. The first waking hours of each day Patel spent on his toilet, doing the bulk of his reading, thirty newspapers sent to him daily from every part of India.”
From: Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins
My opinion about the three most popular leaders of independent India
Among the three main national leaders of free India, for me, Mahatma Gandhi was a Humanitarian, Pandit Nehru a Statesman and Sardar Patel a Nationalist and a strong administrator.
Sardar Patel and the Princely states of India
In 1947 there were around five hundred and sixty-five princely states in India. British Government gave these states, right of self-determination – to join India, or Pakistan or to remain Independent.
As a home minister, Sardar Patel was entrusted with the task of holding talks with these principalities. He was considered an anti-monarch.
He had personally led an agitation against the Thakur of Rajkot in 1939 and had famously proclaimed addressing a huge crowd, “A state cannot survive, whose Raja wastes money, while his subjects die of starvation”. The princely states had a reason to be wary of him.
However, Patel managed to win them over. He invoked patriotism of India’s monarch and also proposed favorable terms for merger but did not rule out force. He assured feudal lords dignity and their purse. And warned them that political leaders succeeding him and Nehru might impose stiffer terms.
He put in use his integrity of a leader who kept his promises. All this worked out as by 15th August 1947, all except Kashmir, Junagadh and Hyderabad and the principalities surrounded by Pakistan, decided to join and strengthen India.
Excerpt from “Patel a life” from Rajmohan Gandhi
I will like to quote Rajmohan Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and the author of “Patel a life”, as how he viewed this charismatic leader.
This tough man smiled at the world and at gloomy moments helped others to laugh. He never hesitated to step aside for others – for his brother Vitthal when the latter wanted to use his passport and ticket to London, and years later for Jawaharlal Nehru, when Mahatma Gandhi desired that Nehru should sit on a chair to which Patel seemed entitled.
Incidentally, in the elections of Congress presidency in 1946 – Gandhiji asked all sixteen state representatives of congress to elect the right person as the congress president and the future first Prime-Minister.
Sardar Patel’s name was proposed by thirteen state representatives out of sixteen. Gandhiji was surprised; he expected Nehru’s name. He requested Patel to back Nehru for the position. Patel accepted Gandhiji’s request and gave up his claim in Nehru’s favour.
This strong man before whom Rajas and Maharajas trembled and to whom rich man gave large funds for India’s national movement, did not allow a rupee to stick to his fingers and he saw to it that his children, a son and a daughter, lived simple lives during and after their father’s lifetime.
His strength of character, the sharpness of his mind, his organizing skills, and all his energy were offered up for achieving the freedom of India under Gandhi’s leadership and after independence for India’s consolidation.
Descriptions of my travel to this region of Saurashtra and two destinations of my current trip – Somnath and Junagadh are incomplete without Sardar Patel’s mention.
The whole nation is proud and indebted to Sardar Patel, but Gujarat has special affection to this son of their soil and has remembered Patel more than any other state.
Coming back to Somnath, the temple of Somnath has an extremely checkered past. This temple has seen glorious days as well as devastating attacks of brutal iconoclastic invaders. Its earliest history fades into legend.
It is believed that after death, soul comes to Somnath for the final judgement and only after His orders enter a new body. Even the Sea God is believed to worship Somnath as is evident by the waves that tries to reach the temple at the time of high tides.
At one time, a trip to Somnath was considered the biggest pilgrimage among the devout Hindus.
Its history fades into a legend.
Association of the Somnath Temple with Somraj, the moon God
Daksh Prajapati, manas-putra of Brahma and father-in-law of Lord Shiva, married his twenty-seven daughters to Somraj – the Moon God. Somraj promised his father-in-law that he would treat all of them equally. However, he fell in love with the fourth daughter Rohini.
He started overly favoring her and ignored the need of other wives. The biased treatment angered the other wives and they complained about it to their father.
Daksh warned Somraj not to neglect them and reminded him of his promise. Somraj did not pay any heed to the warning. This infuriated Daksh and he cursed Somraj that he would remain childless forever, and his beauty and radiance would disappear.
As his condition deteriorated, Somraj got scared. He requested Brahma to cure him. Brahma expressed his helplessness and suggested him to worship the Sparsha Linga at current Somanth.
Somraj devotedly worshiped it for six months. It pleased lord Shiva. He blessed Somraj immortality and also partially relieved him from Daksh’s curse.
He told Somraj because of the curse of Dakhsa, his radiance would wane in Krishna Paksh, but with his blessings it would start waxing in Shukla Paksh attaining the complete self on the full moon day (Poornima).
After receiving Shiva’s blessings Somraj requested Lord Shiva to reside there eternally and bless the devotees. Shiva accepted his request.
Somraja then built a temple in gold and dedicated it to Someshwara (Lord Shiva with moon on his head) and from that time itself the place started to be known as Somnath, a place where the master(nath) of Somraja resides.
This legend is described in Skandpurana.
Somnath Temple – the most sacred Jyotirlinga
Somnath is the most sacred of twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. These Jyotirlingas are also mentioned in the ancient sacred books like Shivpuran, Rigveda, Ramayana and Mahabharata.
It is believed that the twenty-seven daughters of Daksha are the twenty-seven Nakshatras(Pleiades). Rohini is brightest among them and is considered the queen of love and the beauty.
As per Hindu astrology, the time when moon enters the house of Rohini, is considered the most auspicious time for marriage.
I wonder, is this legend a creative brain child of someone who had keen interest in astrology and he devised this story to remember the name of all Nakshatras and their peculiarities!
Of-course the complete story have the characteristics of all the twenty-seven Nakshatras (wives) and many more stories attached to it.
Somnath – A place sacred to Shavites and Vaishnavites
Somnath is sacred for the Shaivites as well as for the Vaishnavites. It is believed that the curse of Gandhari destructed Yadu-Vansh. And from there Lord Krishna moved to Prabhaspatan (an area in the vicinity of Somnath).
One day while Lord Krishna was sleeping under a tree wearing deer skin, a hunter Jara, mistook him for a deer and wounded him with a poisonous arrow. This proved fatal.
The place where Lord Krishna was hit by the arrow is known as Bhalka Teertha and the place where his body left his soul, today stands Geeta Mandir. Balram, Lord Krishna’s elder brother, also died at a nearby place.
Bhalka Teerth and Gita Mandir are within one kilometer distance from Somnath.
Below is the excerpt of “Andha Yug” by Dharamveer Bharti – stanzas where Gandhari curse Krishna of dying like an animal
यदि मेरी सेवा मे बल है,
संचित तप में धर्म है
तो सुनो कृष्ण
प्रभु हो या परातपर हो
कुछ भी हो
सारा तुम्हारा वंश
इसी तरह पागल कुत्तों की तरह
एक दूसरे को परस्पर फाड़ खाएगा
तुम खुद उनका विनाश करके कई वर्षों के बाद
किसी घने जंगल में
साधारण व्याध के हाथों मारे जाओगे
प्रभु हो
पर मारे जाओगे पशुओं की तरह
Legends about the construction of the Somnath Temple
This temple in gold was rebuilt by Ravan in silver. It is believed to be built-in sandalwood by Lord Krishna and in stone by Solanki kings Kumarpal and Bhimdev.
In its past, Somnath has been destroyed and re-constructed many a times. After the first temple that existed from the Common Era, it was rebuilt by Vallabhi kings in 5th century.
Around 725 AD it was destroyed by the Arab Governor, Al-Junayd, of the Sindh. This temple was built with red sandstone for the third time by Nagabhatta II, a Pratihaar king.
In 10th century the shrine was endowed with ten thousand villages to meet its expenses. This enriched Somnath temple much more than any Indian kingdom of that time. Not even one of them could even boast of one tenth of its treasure.
There were around two-thousand Brahmins, three-hundred barbers, five-hundred dancers and three-hundred musicians living in that temple. Expenditures of all these was met through the donations of the devotees.
The temple was supported on fifty-six pillars that bore the name of the kings who got them constructed. All these pillars were studded with precious stones and diamonds.
The Attack of Mahmud Ghazni on Somnath Temple
These stories of people’s faith and Somnath temple’s splendor and grandeur reached Ghazni (now part of Afghanistan).
The possibility of looting enormous treasure of Somnath prompted Mahmud Ghazni, the cruel iconoclast of Ghazni, to attack.
In 1024, he arrived with a big army to desecrate the temple, to loot its bounty and to destroy the faiths of hundreds by damaging the idol.
Mahmud’s invasions were always bloody and ruthless affairs. He captured the temple and the town within two days of battle and around fifty thousand devotees were butchered and hundred of thousands of people were taken as slave.
Mahmud and his troops carried away around 6.5 tons of gold and the intricately carved doors of the temple.
Prior to my trip, to know more about Somnath I read, “Somnath” by Acharya Chatursen. This book describes the attack of Mahmud Ghazni on Somnath.
It analyzes the political scene of that time – the attack by Mahmud and the defence of Somanth by Bhimdev and the events that followed the attack. It is largely a fiction. I am not sure that is it a total fiction or Acharya Chatursen had done some research as well.
If the book is supported by facts as well then it was not a one-sided battle. In the battle Mahmud’s forces also became weak and also after getting enormous treasure he was keen to avoid any further clash and instead of taking the normal route back he followed the way through Kuchh Kaa Rann.
It is believed that he was misled on the way by a devout devotee of Lord Shiva and many of Mahmud’s soldiers perished in the water-less desert. His army was also attacked on by the Jat-armies.
However, Mahmud managed to reach Ghazni in the spring of 1026 with an enormous booty.
The Effect of Mahmud’s attack on the monetary power of Gujarat
There are evidences that even after this attack the royal, social and religious fabric of Gujarat remained intact. Even after this loot there was no change in Gujarat’s monetary power (isn’t it surprising!).
In 1032, just a few years after Mahmud’s return, Vimalshah, the prime minister of Gujarat constructed the famous Vimal Vasahi temple (Dilwada temple) of Mt Abu. I had seen this temple. Undoubtedly, the intricate work done on marble in this famous temple is incomparable in the whole world and it costed him around more than eighteen crore Rupees.
Doubt of some historians about the attack on Somnath Temple by Mahmud Ghazni
Some historians doubt that may be the attack was all a folk-lore and that invasion never happened, or if happened, it was not so destructive.
In support of their view they point to the construction of Dilwara Temples in Mt Abu and also to the fact that a few Jain literatures, supposedly of the same time, totally neglected and did not even mention Mahmud’s invasion once. Romila Thapar, the prominent historian, is among these historians. But her work and theories have become doubtful after many a biased interpretation by her came to light.
After Mahmud’s invasion a pattern of destruction by iconoclastic invaders and re-construction by devout Hindus started. In the end it was demolished by Aurangzeb and was not rebuilt until 1950.
Somnath Temple, Sardar Patel and K.M Munshi
After independence, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel vowed to reconstruct it to wipe the scares of defeat and destruction. He strongly backed the suggestion that even the government should not shy away from bringing back the lost glory of this pilgrimage.
The important role in the reconstruction was played by Sardar Patel, and Mr. KM Munshi (who was minister of food and civil supplies in Jawahar Lal Nehru’s cabinet).
KM Munshi was a litterateur and is also credited with widely popular “Jai Somnath” written originally in Gujarati (Though it is also fictionalized version of the war).
These two ministers, with other colleagues in Congress, also met Gandhiji expressing their desire of reconstructing the Somnath Temple. Gandhiji gave his blessings for the same, but suggested that the fund for the reconstruction should be collected from public and state should not fund it.
Soon, both Gandhiji and Sardar Patel died and task of reconstruction fell on KM Munshi, who worked over with a mission and got the temple reconstructed. The installation ceremony was attended by Dr Rajendra Prasad, even after Jawahar Lal Nehru expressed his reservations.
Brutal destruction and trumpets of iconoclast could not keep Somnath down for ever. Somnath resurrected itself with a strange but a strong will.
This is the music of Indian life that has proved that the power of construction is always greater than the power of destruction. Long Live this spirit and Long Live the Somnath.
This article is a joint publishing of the below two articles, which appeared as one post at www.ghumakkar.com
Sardar Patel: The Iron Man of India and the Legend of the Somnath Temple
References
- Freedom at midnight – Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins
- Patel a life – Rajmohan Gandhi
- Andha Yug” by Dharamveer Bharti
- “Somnath” by Acharya Chatursen
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