Somanatha temple is a historic Shiva temple, a <i>jyotirlinga</i> and one of the most revered pilgrimage site for the Hindus. 
<ul><li>It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. The temple's history is the subject of social, political and scholarly controversy.</li></ul><ul><li>The above image is a photograph of an archival print published by F. Nelson in 1895. It is now preserved at the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/other/019pho0000002s6u00075000.html">British Library</a> as Item "Photo 2/6(75)". It is about 24 cm x 30 cm.</li></ul><ul><li>Nelson took several photos, both of the exterior and the interior as this temple's form and condition in 1895. This is one of the exterior photos.</li></ul><ul><li>The curator notes with the photograph at the British library <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180326155849/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/t/019pho0001000s7u00790000.html">state</a>, "Photograph of the carvings on the wall of the Somanatha Temple at Somanatha, in Gujarat, taken F. Nelson in the 1890s, part of the Lee-Warner Collection: 'Photographs of Junagadh'. In the report, 'Somanatha and other mediaeval temples in Kathiawad' of 1931, Henry Cousens wrote, “Of all the shrines of Western India...there has been none so famous in the annals of Hinduism as the temple of Somanatha at Somanatha-Pattan, on the southern shore of Kathiawad, one of the twelve pre-eminent jotyir-lings which are scattered throughout India...In history it is chiefly noted for the great expedition that was led against it by Mahmud of Ghazni, in A.D. 1025. The old temple of Somnatha is situated is situated in the town, and stands upon the shore towards its eastern end, being separated by a heavily built retaining wall…Little now remains of the walls of the temple; they have been, in great measure, rebuilt and pached with rubble to convert the building into a mosque. The great dome, indeed the whole roof and the stumpy minars…are portions of the Muhammadans additions…The great temple, which faces the east, consisted, when entire, of a large central closed hall, or gudhamandapa, with three entrances, each protected with a deep lofty porch, and the shrine – the sanctum sanctorum – wich stood upon the west side of the hall, having a broad pradakshina or circumambulatory passage around it...Most [of the sculptures on the exterior of the temple]...are on the walls of the south west corner of the temple, amongst which are a number of devi's, or goddesses, and their female attendants..."."</li></ul><ul><li>The 1895 structure shown above was demolished, panels and ruins extracted from it, and a temple complex was rebuilt in early 1950s. The new reconstruction is still at sea shore, but was shifted slightly inland for the safety of the pilgrims.</li></ul><dl><dd>GPS location of the monument: <table style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td style="border:none;"><span class="plainlinks"><span class="plainlinksneverexpand"><a class="external text" href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=File:1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins,_Veraval_Gujarat,_Exterior_22.jpg&amp;params=020.887722_N_0070.401500_E_globe:Earth_type:camera__&amp;language=en">20° 53′ 15.8″ N, 70° 24′ 05.4″ E</a></span></span> <a class="mw-kartographer-maplink no-icon" data-mw-kartographer="" data-style="osm-intl" href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Map/13/20.887722/70.4015/en" data-zoom="13" data-lat="20.887722" data-lon="70.4015" data-overlays='["_57091183768101dc94b79b646f764f54d8b74b5b"]'><img alt="Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap." src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Openstreetmap_logo.svg/20px-Openstreetmap_logo.svg.png" decoding="async" title="Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap." width="20" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Openstreetmap_logo.svg/30px-Openstreetmap_logo.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Openstreetmap_logo.svg/40px-Openstreetmap_logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="256" data-file-height="256"></a></td><td style="border:none;">View this and other nearby images on: <a class="external text" href="https://wikimap.toolforge.org/?wp=false&amp;cluster=false&amp;zoom=16&amp;lat=020.887722&amp;lon=0070.401500">OpenStreetMap</a></td><td style="border:none;"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Geocoding" title="Commons:Geocoding"><img alt="info" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/OOjs_UI_icon_help.svg/18px-OOjs_UI_icon_help.svg.png" decoding="async" width="18" height="18" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/OOjs_UI_icon_help.svg/27px-OOjs_UI_icon_help.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/OOjs_UI_icon_help.svg/36px-OOjs_UI_icon_help.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="24" data-file-height="24"></a><span class="geo" style="display:none"> 20.887722;   70.401500</span></td></tr></tbody></table></dd></dl><ul><li>For other photos taken by Nelson, as it stood in 1895, please see:</li></ul><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-nolines"><li class="gallerybox" style="width: 125px"><div style="width: 125px">
			<div class="thumb" style="width: 120px;"><div style="margin:0px auto;"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins,_Veraval_Gujarat,_Exterior_21.jpg" class="image" title="1895 archive photo of the Somnath temple ruins, Veraval Gujarat, Exterior 21.jpg"><img alt="1895 archive photo of the Somnath temple ruins, Veraval Gujarat, Exterior 21.jpg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins%2C_Veraval_Gujarat%2C_Exterior_21.jpg/120px-1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins%2C_Veraval_Gujarat%2C_Exterior_21.jpg" decoding="async" width="120" height="87" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins%2C_Veraval_Gujarat%2C_Exterior_21.jpg/180px-1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins%2C_Veraval_Gujarat%2C_Exterior_21.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins%2C_Veraval_Gujarat%2C_Exterior_21.jpg/240px-1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins%2C_Veraval_Gujarat%2C_Exterior_21.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1936" data-file-height="1398"></a></div></div>
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<div class="center"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1895_archive_photo_of_the_Somnath_temple_ruins,_Veraval_Gujarat,_Exterior_21.jpg" title="File:1895 archive photo of the Somnath temple ruins, Veraval Gujarat, Exterior 21.jpg">1895 archive photo of the Somnath temple ruins, Veraval Gujarat, Exterior 21.jpg</a></div>
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</ul><ul><li>This is a photograph of 2D art published in 1869 and which in public domain. Therefore PD-Art guidelines of Wikimedia Commons apply. Any rights I have as a photographer, I release it into the public domain through Wikimedia Commons.</li></ul>
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Sarah_Welch" title="User:Ms Sarah Welch">Ms Sarah Welch</a>
2021-08-28
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>