Sunday Special:- The Great Somnath Temple & Its Levitating Jyotirlinga

In today's Sunday Special, we present to you an intriguing aspect from history about Somnath Temple in Gujarat and the levitating shiv linga.

For Hindus and for those who believe and have faith in Parmātma, the Jyotirlingas are of great religious significance and among other Shiv Temples, the most prominent ones are the twelve Jyotirlinga temples spread over India.

An experiment done to prove the Levitating Linga.

The Somnath Temple, located in Veraval in Saurashtra on the western coast of Gujarat is believed to be the first among the twelve. The first structure of the Somnath Temple is believed to be constructed by Chandra Dev (Moon God) himself, however, the date of its actually erection is ambiguous as it is said that the Chaulukya (Solanki) king Mularaja possibly built the first temple at the site sometime before 997 CE. The present-day structure was built in 1995. The Somnath Temple is popular all around the world for its legendary levitating idol, the Somnath Jyotirlinga. The idol (shiv linga) used to float in mid-air without any support. No doubt the architect was pretty skilful in his work. The story of the rotating Jyotirlinga is as follows:-

Ruined Somnath Temple in 1869

The Somnath Temple has passed through destruction and reconstruction a lot of times in the past. History goes as such that Mahmud of Ghazni, a Turkish ruler set his eyes upon India to spread his empire & religion of Islam. He did succeed to an extent in the mass conversion of Hindus to Islam forcefully. Within a span 30 years of invasion, he demolished many Hindu temples and killed lakhs of Hindus (including the Kings) who protested against him.

The Somnath Temple also fell at the hands of Mahmud when he destroyed the whole structure of the temple during his invasion in 1025 A.D. He expected this would result in the Hindus becoming the Mohammedans. 50,000 Hindus were killed who stood against the temple demolition and being converted to Islam. He ordered his men to seize all the treasures which were worth 20 million Dinars then. It involved precious jewels and vessels made of gold and silver.

Somnath Jyotirlinga

Next up, his attention turned towards the Jyotirlinga or the Somnath Idol which was floating in the air right between the roof and the floor. Perplexed by the sight, Mahmud asked his attendants, what should they do with it and the mystery behind its levitation in mid-air. All expressed their opinions. Some said the idol was held in the air by invisible support. Mahmud asked one of his attendants to examine whether there was an invisible element which held the lingam in the air but failed to find any.

It was then one guy who came up with an interesting fact. He said told Mahmud that the canopy of the idol was made of loadstones [magnetite] and the idol itself is made of iron. This pretty much summed up the science behind the floating jyotirlinga. According to the claims of some historians, Mahmud, threw his sword towards the canopy on hearing this and to their surprise, the sword stuck on the canopy. The canopy was indeed a permanent magnet and held the iron linga with its magnetic force. It is said that the Mahmud also broke off the Jyotirlinga.

India' First President Dr. Rajendra Prasad inside the Somnath Temple

The brilliant architect, whoever it was, planned the whole setting in such a way that the magnetic force was equal upwards and downwards which held the shiv linga in mid-air. Mahmud ordered his attendants to remove the loadstones one by one from the canopy. As two stones were moved, the iron linga moved a certain distance downwards. One by one, when all the loadstones were removed, the idol touched the ground.

Such architectural marvels and their ancient Indian architects are the people whom we must bow down to, for gifting us the same. Even modern-day scientists and engineers are put to shame when we consider the brilliance of our forefathers. It is not just the Somnath Temple & its Jyotirlinga, there are other numerous interesting architectural masterpieces spread over different parts of the Indian subcontinent that are beyond human and defy the laws of modern science.

Article Written & Presented by Arth Chakraborty.