Category:Gauri Somnath Temple, Omkareshwar

Gauri Somnath Temple, Omkareshwar 

A 9th to 11th century temple with the largest Shiva linga on Mandhata island
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Instance of	Hindu temple
Location	Khandwa district, Indore division, Madhya Pradesh, India
Heritage designation	State Protected Monument
22° 15′ 01.6″ N, 76° 08′ 53.1″ E
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The Gauri-Somnath temple, also referred to as the Gori Somnatha mandir, is a 9th to 11th-century double-storey Hindu temple with the largest Shiva linga on Mandhata island. It is on a plateau in Muchkund section of Omakareshwar, closer to the top of a hill on Mandhata island, with scenic views of the colossal Shiva statue and Omkareshwar. The extant temple was rebuilt in the 18th-century from its ruins with lime and mortar, after the collapse of the Mughal empire, by the regional Hindus.

Literally, Gauri (Gori) means white and the regional belief is that the original Shiva linga was translucent white. However, the massive linga has been jet black since the earliest surveys and published reports in the 19th-century. According to J Forsyth, the regional oral folklore remembers that during the Sultanate-era destruction of Mandhata island temples, the Muslim commander inquired about the unusual translucent white Shiva linga. He was told that if you look into it and focus, you can see the form of your next rebirth. He did, saw a pig, and in anger set a bonfire around it. The heat transformed it into a jet black Shiva linga.

The Gauri Somnath temple stands on a jagati (platform). It is two-storeyed, with Shiva linga on both floors. A Nandi mandapa faces it, but the Nandi is new. The original Nandi, as surveyed and reported by Forsyth in late 19th-century, was massive and made of green stone, but beheaded (J Forsyth, Mandhata, in The Gazetteer of the Central Provinces of India (editor: Charles Grant), pp. 257–264). The broken head and parts were scattered around, along with a broken colossal pillar about 300 feet further in front. Around the temple area are piles of ruins with signs of erosion as well as deliberate mutilation.

The Vimana walls around the sanctum have bands of Hindu art. These include those from Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti tradition, as well as scenes of kama (mithuna), artha (soldiers, daily lives, dancers, musicians, others).