Mahmud Ghaznavi's first attack on Somnath temple was not just an attack on the faith of Hindus but a message of influx of Muslim rulers on India. The last time Aurangzeb completely demolished this temple. The temple was broken 17 times between about seven hundred years. Giving evidence of the Muslim rulers' steely hold on the country, every attack said that the majority Hindu population does not have the freedom to worship and protect their temples. After the collapse of the Mughals, the country was under the British. His dreams of returning to power on his target were a Muslim ruler. Afghanistan climbed Afghanistan in 1842. Governor General Lord Ellenberg ordered the army to bring back the sandalwood door from the Somnath temple on Mohammad Ghaznavi's tomb there. After the independence of the country, the reconstruction of Somnath temple was in the priorities of Sardar Patel. On the other hand, Secular Pandit Nehru had his own objections. On this question, he also confronted President Dr. Rajendra Prasad. In 1990, the departure point of LK Advani's Ayodhya Rath Yatra became Somnath Temple. This visit gave new dimensions to Advani and BJP politics.
Somnath Temple has been a symbol of honor-respect of Hindu society and pride of Indian culture. When the Hindu ruler remained powerful, its rise and splendor increased. When weakened, it was attacked and destroyed. The destroyers did not rob the temple only for wealth, through demolition they respected Hindu faith and culture. The propagation of Islam was also his aim. The Muslim invaders and the rulers kept changing, but this sacred symbol of Hindus remained on the target of another terrorist after the other. Even after repeated attacks and demolition, the lamps of devotion and faith kept burning here. Efforts to rebuild at some level were also continued. The last attack of 1706 was that of Aurangzeb, who decreed to destroy it. Incidentally, the process of collapse of the Mughal dynasty started after that.
But even among the ruins, the faith of Hindus about the Somnath temple was so strong that even British politics was not untouched by it. The discussion of this temple lasted till the House of Commons in Britain. During the Afghanistan War in 1842, Governor General Lord Ellenberg ordered the army to bring back the sandalwood doors at the entrance of Mahmud Ghaznavi's tomb in Ghazni. According to Ellenberg, Ghaznavi broke the idol after the attack on Somnath temple and took back four pieces and doors as proof of victory. He had put a piece of the idol there on the mosque floor and the other piece on the stairs of the entrance of his palace. Two pieces were kept to take Mecca and Medina. The doors of the temple were installed at the entry place of his tomb after the death of Mahmud Ghaznavi.
After the victory in the Afghan war, what was the end of Ellenberg to uproot the doors of Somnath temple and bring back the doors of Somnath temple? The political implications of all the demonstrations and promoted between Somnath from Somnath to Somnath were discussed at that time. Under the supervision of Captain William Robert Harris, Assistant Captain of Ellenburg, 101 Brahmin soldiers riding on 20 bullock carts arrived to Somnath in a procession. The doors were covered with red silk chandobe. The Hindu public on the way were motivated to visit them. On 9 March 1843, this issue was discussed in the House of Commons in Britain. Members who participated in the debate expressed their opinion on this issue from the perspective of British Raj's stability in India. The debate focused on two issues. The first is that after the elimination of Muslim rule, will it return to the self -respect and respect of Hindus? Second, what will be the reaction to the Muslim population of India? It was concluded that the intervention of the British in the very sensitive religious issue will not be beneficial for their rule. With this, these doors of the temple were forgotten. Anyway, at that time there were only ruins of the temple. Where is the doors? There is no evidence that the British had ever tried at that time or later on the reconstruction of the temple.
Even after the independence of the country on 15 August 1947, there was still more waiting for the reconstruction of Somnath temple. The Muslim Nawab of the princely state of Junagadh, which was within the borders of Junagadh, had sent a proposal to merge Pakistan. It was also approved by Jinnah. If Sardar Patel had not shown fast at that time, Junagadh and Somnath would have been part of Pakistan. The princely merger in India was possible on 8 November 1947. After addressing a big gathering in Junagadh on 13 November, Sardar Somnath went to visit the temple. The demolished temple distracted Sardar. The temple day was expected to turn around at an interval of two hundred and fifty years. Sardar Patel pledged to revive the temple. Immediately Jam Saheb donated one lakh rupees. Samaldas Gandhi's interim government was announced to give thousands of thousands. Patel's aide VP According to Menon, all this happened suddenly. Nothing was pre -planned in this.
But further political additions started in the revival program of the temple. Gandhiji supported the plan but placed a condition that government money should not be spent in construction. Patel accepted this but the entire scenario changed with Gandhiji's death on 30 January 1948 and Sardar Patel's 15 December 1950. The leftist camp was against this scheme from the beginning. On the other hand, Nehru was worried about his secular image. He used to think that the participation of his cabinet members in temple construction is harmful to his and the government's secular image. After Patel, the responsibility of construction of the temple is the responsibility of Nehru Cabinet K.K. M. Munshi was playing. After a cabinet meeting, Nehru expressed his unhappiness over his association in the temple issue with Munshi. Munshi sidelined his objections and the temple continued to speed up the revival.
But this dispute did not stop here. Munshi obtained approval for the presence of President Dr. Rajendra Prasad in the inauguration-lid of the temple. This was a double shock for Nehru. After the cabinet colleague, the constitutional heads of the country were also moving on the way to his thinking. Nehru wrote a letter to the President on 2 March 1951 and suggested to stay away from the program of Somnath temple. It also tried to tell that the presence of the President's presence in this program will be taken out which will be harmful in view of the current environment. Dr. Rajendra Prasad did not listen to him. Nehru proceeded one step further. On 2 May 1951, he wrote a letter to the Chief Ministers of the states and told that the program of Somnath temple is not government. In the letter, not only this but Chief Ministers were advised to distance away from other programs like this. Contrary to Nehru's wish, Dr. Rajendra Prasad attended the revival program of Somnath Temple on 11 May 1951. Nehru expressed his displeasure by prohibiting his program from broadcasting in All India Radio and issuing press releases at the government level.
Taking command of the temple dispute of Ayodhya, the BJP built the Somnath temple gateway to this movement. On 25 September 1990, Jyotirlinga was worshiped at Somnath Temple and Advani rode on the Ram chariot. Why did Advani start the visit of Ayodhya with Somnath? In fact, this temple takes the tide of emotions among Hindus by reminding of the demolition and atrocities of foreign invaders. After independence, Sardar Patel and K. standing in favor of its rebellion. M. Munshi is remembered with respect and reverence among Hindus. On the other hand, Pandit Nehru, who opposed it, comes under target of his political heirs. Advani's journey, starting from Somnath, stopped with his arrest in Samastipur. Of course, his chariot could not reach Ayodhya, but that journey gave a big expansion to the political journey of the BJP. On the occasion of Pran Pratishtha in the Ram temple, there was a lot of discussion about the rebellious program of Somnath Temple once again due to political reasons. The Congress also provided this opportunity. The party rejected the invitation of the Ram temple program and reinforced the old controversy over the Somnath temple revival. This gave his opponents a chance to say that the Nehru-Gandhi family is always against the symbols of Hindu faith.
