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YAŠASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
may have been as early as the Maitrakas of Valabhi ( the modern Vala, néar Bhavnagar), who held sway over Gujarat and Kathiawar during the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries of the Christian era, and call themselves parama-maheśvara or devout worshippers of Siva in their inscriptions. The great Saiva temple was built upon fifty-six pillars of teak wood covered with lead, and the glory of its wealth and splendour lives in the pages of Muslim historians. It was sacked and desecrated by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026 A. D., and subsequently destroyed by a lieutenant of Mahmud; but soon after, it was rebuilt of stone by Bhimadeva I, the Solanki king of Gujarat (1022-64 A. D.). It was again restored and rebuilt by Kumārapāla in the third quarter of the twelfth century, evidently in consequence of its being again attacked, or of having fallen into ruin. The present ruin represents the rebuilding by Kumārapāla.
Saivism was paramount in Gujarat during the rule of the Solanki kings who were great builders of temples dedicated to Siva. Their capital was at Anahillapura (Anahilavāda or Patan), and other important places during their reign were Siddhapur and Vadnagar, now included in Baroda State, to the north of Ahmedabad. The first king Mülarāja (942-96 A. D.) was a fervent devotee of Siva in the form of Somanātha or Someśvara; and the temple of Muleśvara and the Tripuruşaprāsāda appear to have been built by him in honour of Somanātha, Siddharāja (1094-1143), whose name is still familiar everywhere in Gujarat, built the great Sahasralinga tank which derived its name from the numerous linga shrines on its banks. In the centre of the tank was an island on which stood the temple of Rudreśvara."
1 Exceptions are Dhruvasena I (526 A. p.) who is called parama-bhāgavata, and
his brother and successor Dharapatta who is styled paramaditya-bhakta or a great devotee of the Sun. Guhasena, who was a worshipper of Siva (558-564), calls himself paramopasaka or a great devotee of Buddha in his grant of 566 A. D. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. I, pt. 1, p. 83; Poussin: Dynasties et Histoire de L'Inde,
pp. 133--139. 2 See Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. I, pt. I, p. 165. The ancient temple is stated to have
been thirteen storeys high, with its top surmounted by fourteen cupolas of gold which glittered in the sun and were visible from a long distance. The original edifice was built of brick and its floor was made of planks of teak wood with the interstices filled with lead. See Commissariat: History of Gujarat, Vol. I, Ix, and Nazim : The Life and Times of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, p. 212. Cousens: Architectural Antiquities of Western India, p. 40. Kumārapāla's temple suffered in every subsequent Muhammadan invasion of the place, though it was repaired and restored from time to time. In 1395 it was destroyed by Muzaffar Khan, and again by Ahmad 1, after his war with the Rav of Junagadh in 1414.
Commissariat (op. cit.), p. lxxiv. 4 'तथा नित्यं नित्यं...श्रीसोमेश्वरपत्तने यात्रायां शिवभक्तितया वस्तद्भक्तिपरितुष्टः सोमनाथ उपदेशदानपूर्व
मण्डलीनगरमागतः। तेन राशा तत्र मूलेश्वर इति प्रासादः कारितः। तत्र नमश्चिकी हर्षेण प्रतिदिनमागच्छतस्तस्य नृपतेस्तद्भक्तिपरितुष्टः श्रीसोमेश्वरः अहं ससागर एव भवन्नगरे समेष्यामीत्यभिधाय श्रीमदणहिल्लपुरेऽवतारमकरोत् ।'
See Prabandhacintamani, p. 17 (Singhi ed.). 5 Hardly a vestige now remains of the Sahasralinga tank, the theme of so much
legend and song. Its site is still pointed out to the north-west of modern Patan.' Commissariat (op. cit), p. lxvi.
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