Daily News Analysis

Somnath Temple

stylish_lining

Prime Minister will inaugurate the Ram temple in Ayodhya, 73 years ago; the President of India inaugurated another temple in a grand ceremony.

  • Located in - Prabhas Patan, Veraval, in Gujarat.
  • Significance - It is the holy place of the first Aadi Jyotirling Shree Somnath Mahadev, among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva.
  • It is also the place where Lord Shri Krishna took his last journey.
  • Built by - In 1782, Maratha queen Ahalyabai Holkar built a small temple at the site.
  • Other names - The Somnath temple, also called Soman?tha temple or Deo Patan.

The temple faced several attacks from raiders, with the most damaging by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026 CE.

  • Under Mughals - In the sixteenth century, Akbar permitted the worship of the linga in the Somanatha temple and appointed desais /officers to administer it.
  • Three generations after Akbar, Aurangzeb gave orders for its destruction.
  • He subsequently issued an order for its destruction and its conversion into a mosque in 1706 just before he died.
  • After Independence - Those ruins were demolished and the present Somnath temple was reconstructed in the Maru-Gurjara style of Hindu temple architecture.

The contemporary Somnath temple's reconstruction was started under the orders of the first Home Minister of India Vallabhbhai Patel and completed in May 1951 after his death.

Maru-Gurjara Style

  • It is also known as Sola?ki style is the style of West Indian temple architecture.
  • The style originated in Gujarat and Rajasthan from the 11th to 13th centuries, under the Chaulukya dynasty.
  • The Chaulukya dynasty is also called the Sola?ki dynasty.
  • Although originating as a regional style in Hindu temple architecture, it became especially popular in Jain temples, and mainly under Jain patronage later spread across India.

Ladakh's Demand for Sixth Schedule Status

Background Ladakh has seen renewed protests and demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule status, particularly from its predominantly tribal population. These demands have emerged following the
Share It

Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021

Latest News The Supreme Court of India recently ruled that the age limits under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, do not apply to couples who had frozen their embryos and initiated the surr
Share It

Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve (CDBR)

The Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve (CDBR), located in Himachal Pradesh, India, has recently earned global recognition as it has been included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) by UN
Share It

Reinforcement Learning (RL)

The DeepSeek-AI team has recently published a paper discussing their model, called R1, which is capable of developing new forms of reasoning using reinforcement learning (RL). The paper highlights
Share It

India’s Leadership in Championing the Global South

India is positioning itself as a key advocate for the Global South, a collective of developing countries that have historically been marginalized in global governance and institutions. By bridging
Share It

Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS)

The Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS) has been launched by the Union Finance Minister at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT
Share It

Qatar

India recently defended Qatar’s sovereignty at the U.N. Human Rights Council, emphasizing its right to maintain its domestic policies and governance, particularly in light of international c
Share It

UNESCO

UNESCO's executive board has recently nominated Khaled el-Anani, the former Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, to be the next Director-General of the organization. About UNESCO:
Share It

Visakhapatnam Declaration on e-Governance

The Visakhapatnam Declaration on e-Governance marks a significant step in the development of digital governance in India, emphasizing inclusive, transparent, and citizen-centric practices. Adopted
Share It

Defamation in India

Recently, a Supreme Court judge raised concerns about the increasing misuse of defamation laws by political figures and private individuals to settle personal and political disputes. The judge sug
Share It

Newsletter Subscription


ACQ IAS
ACQ IAS