1. Somanath Jyothirlinga

Somanath Jyotirlinga

Jai Somnath

Somanath Temple

1) Somanath Jyotirlinga is in Gujarat and it is the first Jythirlinga as per the shloka. The place is called Prabhas. You can reach there  by Somanath express(trainNo1464) which goes from Jabalpur to somanath via Bhopal, Ujjain, Ahmedabad, Rajkot. Somanath is 79 Km from Junagudh.The temple is rebuilt by Maharani Ahilya Bai of Indore in 18th century.The original temple was destroyed by Md Ghajani in 1025 and rebuilt immediately by King Bhima of Gujarat and King Bhoja of Malwa.Later It was destroyed by Md Allauddin Khilji in 1300 and rebuilt by King Mahipala. Later it was destroyed number times and finally by Aurangzeb. It is said that the original shivalinga was hidden by the locals and was reinstalled in the temple built by the Maharani Ahilya Bai.

The story about Somanath

Daksha Praja pathi was  having 27 daughters. These twenty-seven  daughters were married to the moon-god Chandra. One of these wives was named Rohini and Chandra loved Rohini more than he loved the other wives. The other wives felt neglected and they complained to their father. Daksha repeatedly warned his son-in-law to devote himself equally to all twenty-seven wives. But Chandra was in no mood to listen.

Daksha thereupon cursed Chandra that he would gradually fade away. Chandra didn't know what to do. He went and sought advice from Brahma and Brahma told him that the only rescourse was to pray to Shiva. Chandra went to Prabhasa tirtha and made a linga on the banks of the river Sarasvati. He prayed to Shiva for six months.

At the end of the tapasya Shiva appeared before Chandra and offered to grant him a boon. Chandra explained what the problem was.

Well, said Shiva, Daksha's curse cannot be entirely ignored. Let us have a compromise. During krishnapaksha you will wane. And during shuklapaksha (the bright part of the lunar fortnight) you will wax. That should satisfy everybody.

Chandra was delighted. The linga to which Chandra prayed is Somantha, the first of the jyotirlingas. Shiva is always present at that tirtha.
The old mandir was destroyed by muslims and the present new mandir was built by Sardhar Vallabhai Patel immediately after the independance.

Other places of interest are Gita mandir,Laxminarayana mandir and Parshuram mandir. It is said that Bhagawan Parshuram is relieved of his curse of killing Kshatriyas by Bhagawan Somnath.

Dwaraka is another Jyotirlinga in Gujrat which is 233 Km by road from here.

Stay: Good hotels are not available for accommodation at Somnath and one can stay at Veraval which is 7 Km from Somnath.

Food :Dokala a delicious gujarati dish is available in break fast. Raw khajoor is availble in the season which we may not find in any part of the India except Rajasthan. Thali is available for Rs40.

Near by places: Bakhla Tirth 5 Km from Somanath where lord Krishna has left his body when he was hit by arrow made by stone tip by a Bhil tribal. Famous Gir forest where you can find Asiatic Lions.You need at least two days to see the Gir forest. Gir forest is 42 Km from Junagudh and almost same distance from Somanath. Veraval beach is 5 Km from somnath. Porbandar, the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi is 103 Km from here. Veraval beach is 5 Km from Somnath.
Nearest Air Port : Porbandar