List of some temple destroyed by Aurangzeb

He was one of the most fierce ruler India has ever seen who wanted to wipe off any other religions in India during his reign. Then in those times Hinduism was flourishing and was targeted for the obvious reasons. Aurangzeb dismantled

Several hindu temple in North, west and South India to wipe off the historical significance. It was because he was a radical believer in Islam and wanted everyone to become like him. Ensuing,he destroyed many Hindu temples or even converted many of them into Mosques.

Somnath Temple is believed to be the first among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva which is located in Prabhas Patan near Veraval in Saurashtra on the western coast of Gujarat. Destroyed and reconstructed several times in the past, the present temple was reconstructed in

Chaulukya style of Hindu temple architecture and completed in May 1951. The reconstruction was envisioned by Vallabhbhai Patel and was completed under K. M. Munshi, the then head of the temple trust.The entire temple priests were massacred and the temple valuables looted during

the sack by Ghazni. There is also an interesting story that Muslim invaders believed that the devils idols are kept in the temple of Al-Lat etc. and that is why it was sacked again and again. It is known that many pre-Islamic Arabians came to this temple for pilgrimage as the god

here represented their moon god. It is said that the temple was looted and destroyed as many as seventeen times. Mahmud of Ghazni first looted the temple, and then came Afzal Khan, the commander of Alauddin Khilji and later Aurangzeb. The great Temple was sacked again and again

from Ghazni to the Muslim dynasties of Gujarat to the Portuguese and up till Aurangzeb. A symbol of a great civilization laid in ruins till Vallabhai Patel decided to rebuild it. Today , the temple has been restored.

To be continued...