page_title: Somnath temple
section_title: Reconstruction during 1950–1951
hierarchical_section_title: Somnath temple / History / Reconstruction during 1950–1951
caption_attribution_description: English: KBombay Office/July,1950,A53(a)A national shrine at Dehotsarga near Somnath where Lord Krishna had sought eternal rest is being planned. The Food and Agriculture Minister, (Government of India), Shri K.M. Munshi, who planted a tree on the sacred site in July, 1950, in connection with Van Mahotsava, is seenwith archaeologists and engineers of the Government of India, Bombay and Saurashtra, with the ruins of Somnath Temple in the background. Photo Number:-15315
context_page_description: The Somnath temple located in Prabhas Patan near Veraval in Saurashtra on the western coast of Gujarat, India is believed to be the first among the twelve jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. It is an important pilgrimage and tourist spot of Gujarat. Reconstructed several times in the past after repeated destruction by several invaders and rulers, the present temple was reconstructed in the Chaulukya style of Hindu temple architecture and completed in May 1951. The reconstruction was started under the orders of the Home Minister of India Vallabhbhai Patel and completed after his death.
context_section_description: Before independence, Veraval was part of the Junagadh State, whose ruler had acceded to Pakistan in 1947. After India refused to accept his decision, the state was made a part of India and Deputy Prime Minister Patel came to Junagadh on 12 November 1947 to direct the stabilization of the state by the Indian Army and at the same time ordered the reconstruction of the Somnath temple.
  When Patel, K. M. Munshi and other leaders of the Congress went to Mahatma Gandhi with their proposal to reconstruct the Somnath temple, Gandhi blessed the move, but suggested that the funds for the construction should be collected from the public and the temple should not be funded by the state. He expressed that he was proud to associate himself to the project of renovation of the temple. However, soon both Gandhi and Sardar Patel died and the task of reconstruction of the temple continued under Munshi, who was the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Government of India headed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
  The ruins were pulled down in October 1950 and the mosque present at that site was shifted few kilometres away by using construction vehicles.  In May 1951, Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Republic of India, invited by K M Munshi, performed the installation ceremony for the temple. The President said in his address, "It is my view that the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple will be complete on that day when not only a magnificent edifice will arise on this foundation, but the mansion of India's prosperity will be really that prosperity of which the ancient temple of Somnath was a symbol." He added: "The Somnath temple signifies that the power of reconstruction is always greater than the power of destruction."
caption: K. M. Munshi with archaeologists and engineers of the Government of India, Bombay, and Saurashtra, with the ruins of Somnath Temple in the background, July 1950.
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