History and Legends of Veneshwar Mahadev, Somnath, Prabhas Patan
Veneshwar Mahadev temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, situated in the centre of Somnath and opposite to Somnath Trust Dharmshala. As we look into the history of Somnath, Prabhas Patan, center and pillar of Indian Culture was attacked, ruined and looted multiple times by the Muslim Rulers. In 1025 AD, the Rajputa King Vaja was ruler of Somnath during the attacked by Mahmud Ghazni.
As per the legends, Rajputa king gave Gazni tough fight and not surrendered himself against the Ghazni. Finally Ghazni had decided to kidnap his daughter named Veni, the great devotee of Lord Shiva, who visit temple daily to worship Lord Shiva. Soldiers of Gazani attempted to abduction Veni, the Shivaling unexpectedly got divided and the princess got embryonic into Shivlinga. Thus Lord Shiva temple here since then is known as "Veneshwar Mahadev". The hair of the Veni and marks of sword on the Shiva Lingam being split open can still be seen on Shivlinga. Creative Gujarati novelist K M Munshi had cover this extraordinary incident in his novel.
