Somnath stands today not as a monument of mourning, but as a celebration of continuity. Rising from the shores of Saurashtra, it reminds Bharat that civilisations endure not because they avoid adversity, but because they possess the strength to rebuild, remember and renew.

The four-day-long Somnath Swabhiman Parv, which was observed to commemorate 1,000 years since the first attack by invader Mahmud of Ghazni, marks a reaffirmation of cultural confidence and historical clarity.

Across a thousand years of turbulence, Somnath has remained a civilisational constant. Its story is not centred on loss, but on return. Every reconstruction reaffirmed a simple truth: faith anchored in memory cannot be erased by force. In this sense, Somnath looks forward with assurance, offering the nation a lesson in survival rooted in remembrance.

In 1026 AD, the Somnath Temple was attacked by Islamic invader Muhammad of Ghazni. The objective extended beyond plunder. It sought to break a sacred civilisational centre and announce domination over belief, culture and collective confidence.

Somnath faced repeated destruction over the centuries. Yet destruction failed to erase it. That failure unsettles simplistic interpretations of history. It reveals the limits of violence when confronted with cultural continuity and inherited memory. Empires departed after leaving ruins behind. The idea of Somnath remained alive within the civilisation.

Somnath survived because Indian civilisation does not depend solely on physical structures. Faith here flows through ritual, oral tradition and shared remembrance.........

© News18