Page 12 - NIS English 1-15 Feb, 2026

SPECIAL | PM’s Article

our great civilisation picked themselves up, opened its doors to devotees and Dr.
rebuilt and rejuvenated the Temple. It is Rajendra Prasad was present there. The
our privilege to have been nurtured by the great Sardar Sahib was not alive to see this
same soil that has nurtured greats like Ahi- historic day, but the fulfilment of his dream
lyabai Holkar, who made a noble attempt to stood tall before the nation. The then Prime
ensure devotees can pray at Somnath. Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was not
In the 1890s, Swami Vivekananda visited too enthused with this development. He did
Somnath and that experience moved him. not want the Honourable President as well
He expressed his feelings during a lecture as Ministers to associate with this special
in Chennai in 1897 when he said, “Some of event. He said that this event created a
these old temples of Southern India and bad impression of India. But Dr. Rajendra
those like Somnath of Gujarat will teach you Prasad stood firm and the rest is history. No
volumes of wisdom, will give you a keener mention of Somnath is complete without
insight into the history of the race than any recalling the efforts of KM Munshi, who
amount of books. Mark how these temples supported Sardar Patel very effectively. His
bear the marks of a hundred attacks and works on Somnath, including the book, ‘So-
a hundred regenerations, continually de- manatha: The Shrine Eternal’, are extremely
stroyed and continually springing up out of informative and educative.
the ruins, rejuvenated and strong as ever!
That is the national mind, that is the nation-
al life-current. Follow it and it leads to glory.
Give it up and you die; death will be the
only result, annihilation, the only effect, the
moment you step beyond that life current.”
The sacred duty of rebuilding the
Somnath Temple after independence came
to the able hands of Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel. A visit during Diwali time in 1947
moved him so much that he announced that
the Temple will be rebuilt there. Finally, on
May 11th 1951, a grand Temple in Somnath

10 NEW INDIA SAMACHAR || February 1-15, 2026