Kashi is a Shiv Nagari. It is believed that Bhagvan Shankar is always there in Kashi. There is another beautiful & heartily touching existence in Kashi along with Shivji. All Teerthas live in Kashi along with Shivji just to be closer to Shivji. Here, the Teerthas are not mere places. They have feelings & they have energy. They are there at their original places & they are in Kashi too BECAUSE Bhagwan Shivji is in Kashi. Mahakaaleshwar Jyotirlinga is in Ujjain & also in Kashi. So are other Jyotirlingas like Vaijanath (Devghar), Omkareshwar (Omkareshwar, near Indore), Kedareshwar (Kedarnath), Tryambakeshwar (Tryambakeshwar near Nasik), Bhimashankar (Near Pune), Nageshwar (Near Dwarika in Gujarat), Rameshwar (Rameshwar Tamil Nadu), Ghrushneshwar (Near Aurangabad) & Someshwar / Somnath (Somnath in Gujarat). Of course, Kashi Vishwanath is in Kashi. And being at their own sthaans (places), these Jyotirlingas are in Kashi just to be with Shivji. They are worshipped at their original places & at Kashi as well. Those who go to Kashi for darshans, it is said that their true yaatra is not safal (successful) if they do not do darshan of these Teerthas.
Most Jyotirlingas in Kashi are in a proper temple & taken care of by local Archaks / Purohits. But some of them are in bad shape & almost gone into history. These temples are in a dilapidated state & with their roofs leaking. Except for some locals & stray monkeys, rarely they get Jal Abhishek or even Diva Dhup! Perhaps Bhagwan Shivji then decided to break the roof so that at least rains can do Jal Abhishek to such great Shiva Lingas like Somnath in Kashi.
One such important Jyotirlingas is Somnath / Someshwar. Those who pray to Somnath in Saurashtra Gujarat will have tearful eyes seeing the pathetic situation of the Somnath temple in Kashi. It is in a nice green area of Kashi just 30 kms away & in Kanduva village. Somnath in Kashi is a part of a large temple cluster of a very Jaagrut Shivji Kardameshwar, who is worshipped for wealth (Laxmi) & children. This cluster also has an ancient Kunda (Teertha Lake) where devotees can bathe & do Jal Abhishek to Shivji. Once a glorious temple cluster, now only Kardameshwar Temple shows the beauty, magnificence & glory of our Ancient Hindu Temple structures & sculptures! In the same cluster there is Someshwar / Somnath. A temple with broken walls, leaking roof & Somnath Shivalinga waiting for Jal Abhishek…. It is heart breaking to see such a tragic state of our glorious Teertha in Kashi which at its original place is worshipped regularly.
Kashi Khanda, which is a base grantha (Sacred Book) that describes Somnath has great praises for Somnath. Kashi Khanda is a part of Skanda Puran. More popular Shiv Puran too speaks greatly about Somnath. There is an interesting story behind Somnath / Someshwar & its temple. Chandra (Moon) had 27 wives – 27 Nakshatras. They are daughters of Prajapati. The legend says that Chandra used to treat some wives better than others. Therefore they went to their father & complained. Father requested Chandra to behave equally with all. Chandra promised him that he would. But he kept on discriminating. Father Prajapati got angry & cursed Chandra, “Your strength & Glow (Tej) will go down fast.” Chandra got scared & did Tap of Shivji. Shivji was pleased by Chandra’s Tap & said, “Ask for a boon.”. Chandra said, “My father in Law has cursed me that my strength & glow will vanish. Please do not let this happen.” Shivji said, “Your father in law is also my Bhakt & I can not let him down. But I can reduce the impact of the curse. For 15 days your glow & strength will go down & for 15 days it will slowly go up.” Since then until Amawasya (No Moon Day) Chandra’s glow is low & then at Pournima (Full Moon Day) it is at full strength. It is at Somnath in Sourashtra Gujarat at the banks of the sea that Chandra did this Tap. Therefore Somnath (Someshwar) is situated there. This Somnath temple was known in ancient times for its glory & riches. It was also known to be settling unhappy, depressed & troubled minds & bestowing on His devotees health, wealth & happiness. Somnath’s special powers of restoring His devotee’s lost glory is very unique & many troubled industrialists, politicians, government officials frequent Somnath. In ancient times many kings & rich traders worshipped Somnath. Even today Somnath is known for this power. Mohammad Gazni broke Somnath temple many a times to destroy important symbols of Hindu Dharma & to scare Hindus. He looted Somnath temple’s gold & wealth too. But Shivji’s power is always greater than that of the temple breakers. Somnath Temple was renovated by Ahilyabai Holkar, then by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel & now is greatly maintained by Somnath Trust. Millions of devotees get great darshan of Somnath Mahadev due to this.
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In ancient times, apart from such original places of Jyotirlingas, a belief has it that these Jyotirlingas also wanted to be closer to Mata Ganga & Kashi Vishwanath. Therefore, keeping own full strength intact at their original places like Somnath, Omkareshwar, Mahakaaleshwar & at other Jyotirlinga places, all Jyotirlingas also came & existed near Kashi Vishwanath with full strength. It is therefore, believed that any yaatra to Kashi is not complete without doing darshan of these Jyotirlingas in Kashi. Those who visit Kashi & do sankalp at these Jyotirlingas temples to visit their original places in Bharat then it is believed that the devotees get health & wealth not only to visit these all India temples but also get all their dreams, wishes & ambitions fulfilled like Prosperity, Success, Power, Children etc.
While other Jyotirlingas are in such a good shape in Kashi, Somnath is living in a dilapidated temple with cracked walls & leaking roof! Muslim invaders could not reach the jungles near Kashi where Kashi Somnath is situated as they did not even know that in such a thick forest there could be Kardameshwar & Kashi Somnatheshwar. Therefore, Kashi Somnath Shivalinga is intact as it was from ancient times. But with times, the old temple fell apart. Villagers nearby tried to build some structure, but it is cracking now exposing the great Kashi Somnatheshwar Shivalinga to the harshness of the hot sun, cold winter winds & heavy jungle rains. The big Teertha Kunda (sacred water lake) with proper old stone steps & clean serene natural water is also intact.
But now it is high time that the Shiva Devotees come together to rebuild a grand temple for Kashi Somnath. Kashi Somnath Amba Mata is standing outside in the Sun, rains & winds railing against the cracked wall of Kashi Somnath temple. There is Mahishasur Mardini & there is Gouri. Ganesh is sitting nearby under the open sky, perhaps sad & waiting for some true Shiva – Somnath Devotees to bring His Father Mother (Shiva & Amba Mata Parvati) together in a grand temple. Virupaaksha Shiva Gana murti has a little temple there but obviously He must be too sad that His Kashi Somnath Mahadev has such a broken temple! What’s more, because Somnatheshwar is supposed to give lost wealth back, there is a beautiful Kuber murti (which is very rare to find), but lying out in the sun! Kardameshwar Mahadev temple in its vicinity built around the similar time is intact & worshipped to get Laxmi, Children & power; but His neighbour Kashi Somnath is in a real bad shape. Bhagwan is everywhere…even without a temple. But any true devotee will not be able to stop his / her tears seeing this tragic situation of Kashi Somnath Temple.
ExploreKashi Project has planned to rebuild Kashi Somnath as much possible in an ancient style so that the temple’s ancient form & glory are maintained.
Those who wish to contribute to rebuilding Kashi Somnath temple must see the attached pictures first & then contact:
explorekashi2009@gmail.com and Dr Pravin Togadia on drtogadia@gmail.com
To view more images about Somnath Temple click here
