Somnath, January 11
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday participated in a 'Shaurya Yatra' at Somnath as part of the four-day-long national commemoration celebrating 1000 years of unbroken faith and resilience since the first recorded attack on the Somnath Temple in January 1026 by Mahmud of Ghazni.
Visuals from the event showed the Prime Minister standing in an open vehicle decorated with flowers. He was accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi.
During the procession, the Prime Minister played the damru and acknowledged the crowd's greetings.
The 'Shaurya Yatra' is a symbolic procession organised as part of the Somnath Swabhiman Parv. It represents courage, sacrifice and the indomitable spirit that preserved Somnath through centuries of adversity.
Ahead of the yatra, 108 horses of the Gujarat Police Mounted Unit arrived to participate in the event.
DIG Rajendrasinh Chudasama stated that the procession featured horses from the mounted unit, comprising locally bred Kathiawadi and Marwadi breeds. He added that the horses had undergone eight months of training specifically for the Shaurya Yatra.
"Shaurya Yatra is being organised in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and 108 horses of the Gujarat Mounted Unit will be participating in it. The unit consists of Kathiawadi and Marwadi horses and are locally bred... The horses have been trained for the Shaurya Yatra for eight months," he told ANI.
Several saints, seers and children were present to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sanjay Brahmbhatt of Brahmarshi Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya in Gujarat's Kheda said that approximately 350 students from the institution will participate in the Shaurya Yatra.
"We have come from Nadiad in Kheda district. We are from Brahmarshi Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, and Dahyabhai Shastri is with us, along with all his students. Around 350 students have come here, and all of us will take part in the Shaurya Yatra. Our children will play the conch (shankh) and damru, and we will lead the procession ahead of the horses," he told ANI.
Somnath Swabhiman Parv, held from January 8 to January 11, 2026, marks the 1,000th anniversary of Mahmud of Ghazni's first attack on the Somnath Temple in 1026.
The attack marked the beginning of a long period during which the temple was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over centuries. Despite this, Somnath never ceased to exist in the collective consciousness of the people. The cycle of the temple's devastation and revival is unparalleled in world history. It demonstrated that Somnath was never merely a stone structure, but a living embodiment of belief, identity, and civilisational pride.
On Kartak Sud 1, Diwali day, November 12, 1947, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel visited the ruins of Somnath and expressed his resolve to rebuild the temple, viewing its restoration as essential to reviving India's cultural confidence. The reconstruction, carried out with public participation, culminated in the consecration of the present temple on May 11, 1951, in the presence of then-President Rajendra Prasad.
In 2026, the nation marks 75 years since the historic 1951 ceremony, reaffirming India's civilisational self-respect. Revered as the first among the 12 Aadi Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva, the Somnath Temple complex stands majestically along the Arabian Sea, crowned by a 150-foot shikhar, symbolising enduring faith and national resolve.
- ANI
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