ગુજરાતી
English
Ahmedabad, 8 September 2024
Two great Hindu temples containing Jyotirlingas have been looted. One was looted by a Muslim and the other by a Hindu. First Somnath. Similarly, Kedaram Himavat Prishtha means Kedarnath situated behind the Himalayas.
135.5 kg of gold was offered to the Somnath Mahadev temple in 2021. Booking of 1,145 kg gold urn, 780 domes were built. If so much gold is brought to Somnath in a single year, then one can imagine how much gold would have been in the temple during the time of Ghaznavi.
According to Ali ibn al-Athir, the Sultan received 2 crore dinars in loot from the Somnath temple. Dinars were only one-fifth of the total loot. The average weight of these dinars was 64.8 grains. If the current value is calculated according to that, then the total cost will be around 1,05,00,000 pounds. 116 crores by 8 September 2024.
Against this, Shankaracharya had alleged during the reign of Narendra Modi that 228 kg of gold worth Rs 125 crore was installed on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum by Santosh Trivedi, the chief priest of Kedarnath temple in 2023, which was installed on the walls of the temple in 2005, it was not gold but brass. Thus, Muslim terrorists looted Rs 116 crore in Somnath, while gold worth Rs 500 crore was looted in Kedarnath by 2024.
It is worth knowing how the robbery took place in Somnath.
This book, which assesses the value of the looted treasure, was written in the year 1931.
After looting the treasure of Somnath temple, Mahmud ordered to burn everything else.
Patanpati fled. Twenty thousand warriors were killed in Modhera. 50 thousand people died in the temple. Mahmud had put Hindu kings to shame with his valour, strength and wealth.
A thousand years ago, when Solanki was the king of Gujarat, Somnath was considered the religious capital of Gurjar country. Built on a large stone slab, the roof of the temple rested on 56 pillars of teak imported from Africa. There were fourteen gold spheres on the top of the temple.
The Shivalinga installed in the temple was seven hands high and various animals were carved on it. A diamond-studded crown hung above the Shivalinga.
Many gold and silver statues were installed around and on the roof as a symbol of the servants of the Shivalinga.
The sanctum sanctorum was adorned with jewel-studded chandeliers and a huge gold chain weighing 200 maunds hung in front of it. There was a storehouse near the house, which was full of jewels and gold and silver statues.
In his biography of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, ‘The Life and Times of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna’, Dr. Muhammad Nazim cites Islamic scholars like Al-Biruni and Ibn Zafir to describe the temple of Somnath before the above looting.
In the book Prabhas and Somnath – Shambhuprasad Desai writes that the temple of the idol was dark but was illuminated by jeweled lamps. The idol had a golden chain and bells weighing Buso Manas. At certain hours of the night, this chain would move and the bell would be rung.
The treasury was also nearby. There were many golden and allegorical idols. Above it was a Javanika studded with precious gems.
After the sacrifice, the soul comes to Somnath and worships Somnath through jowar and oats. Devotees used to keep their precious things here.
Ten thousand villages were given for the livelihood of the temple and very attractive and precious gems were collected in the temple.
Ratnamani Rao Bhimrao writes in the book ‘Prabhas-Somnath’:
Mahmud enriched his Ghazni by looting the vast wealth of Hind.
According to Mahmud’s biography, on the morning of Monday, October 18, 1025, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni set out towards Somnath with 30,000 horsemen. There was a paid army of fifty-four thousand.
After covering a distance of 1,420 kilometers from Ghazni along the coast of Saurashtra, Mahmud reached Somnath on 6 January 1026. Mahmud crossed the path from Ghazni to Somnath without any obstruction. Shambhuprasad Desai writes in the book ‘Prabhas and Somnath’:
Bhimdev’s escape to Kutch paved the way for Mahmud. 20 thousand warriors fought against the Sultan in Modhera but were defeated.
People believed that Somnath would protect them and destroy the enemies.
On the morning of January 7, the locals could not withstand the shower of arrows of Mahmud’s soldiers and were forced to retreat. In the afternoon, Mahmud’s soldiers climbed the walls of the fort. It could not stand before Mahmud’s soldiers.
There was a bloody conflict between Bhimdev and Mahmud and Bhimdev fled again.
At least 50 thousand devotees lost their lives trying to save Somnath.
He chose the route of Ghazni. As Bhimdev fled, Somnath left Kutch and headed towards Pansaro Sindh and for this he took the help of local Bhomis.
On 2 April 1026, Mahmud reached Ghazni.
Kedarnath’s sack in a Hindu state
Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath Swami Avimukteshwarananda raised the issue of theft or disappearance of 228 kg of gold from the Kedarnath temple in 2024.
This gold was installed on the walls of the temple in 2005. That gold has now turned into brass, so the real gold was removed from the temple walls and replaced with brass.
Badrinath has accused the Kedarnath temple committee of scam, however the temple committee has rejected the allegations and called it a conspiracy to defame the management.
Why is this not investigated or investigated? Is there a big hand in the disappearance of gold?
The question of what is happening has also been resolved.
Avimukteshwarananda said, “228 kg gold was stolen from Kedarnath
The gold has disappeared. No investigation has been done till date. Who is responsible for this? Now it is being said that Kedarnath will be built in Delhi only, this cannot happen.”
Jagannath Temple of Puri
The ornaments of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra are kept in two rooms. In 1978, there were 12,831 tola gold ornaments in Ratna Bhandar. Which were studded with precious stones. It also has 22,153 tola silver utensils and other items.
When the treasure was documented by Charles Gromney in 1805, it contained 64 gold and silver ornaments. Apart from this, there were 128 gold coins, 1,297 silver coins, 106 copper coins and 1,333 types of clothes.
Suryavanshi king Maharaja Kapilendra Dev donated gold, silver and many precious diamonds to the temple. The goods were brought by loading them on many elephants.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh has said in his will to give Kohinoor to the Jagannath temple.
Many kings have donated Kohinoor here Donated.
In 2024, the Jagannath Temple Ratna Bhandar was opened. There was also a vault with 12 boxes. 4 cupboards and 3 chests were found in the third room.
3.48 kg of gold was found in the first room of the Lord Jagannath temple. 95.32 kg of gold was recovered from the second room and 50.6 kg of gold from the third room. 30.35 kg of silver was recovered from the first room. While 19.48 kg of silver was found in the second room. 134.50 kg of silver was recovered from the third room.
The third floor was closed for the last 46 years. People are being misled about the cellars and tunnels.
Odisha King Anangbhima Dev donated 2.5 lakh madha of gold to prepare jewelry for the Lord.
The outer treasures include Lord Jagannath’s gold crown, three gold necklaces (Haridakanthi Mali), each weighing 120 tolas.
There are 74 pieces of gold jewellery, each weighing more than 100 tolas. There are plates made of gold, diamonds, corals and pearls. Apart from this, more than 140 silver jewellery are kept in the vault.
In one room, Rs. It is believed that it contains gold worth 100 crores.
1978
The treasure of Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple was last counted in the year 1978, it took 70 days. The counting of the treasure started on 13 May 1978 and continued till 23 July 1978. At that time, 747 types of jewellery were found inside the treasure. A total of 12,883 tolas of gold jewellery and 22,153 tolas of silver jewellery, apart from other valuable jewellery made of diamonds and gems, were recovered. Experts from many temples including Tirupati temple were also called to count the treasure of time. However, despite this, the true value of many jewels is not known.
Looted goods in Jagannath
Most of the treasure near the Jagannath temple was donated by the royal families of Odisha. After defeating the enemy kings, they handed over their treasure to the temple.
Robbery
Between the 15th and 18th centuries, invaders attacked the Jagannath temple at least 15 times to loot the treasure.
In the year 1721, Bengal commander Mohammad Taki Khan attacked for the last time.
Afghan Black Mountain
In 1340, Bengal Sultan Ilyas Shah invaded.
In 1360, Delhi was attacked by Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
In 1509, Ismail Ghazi, the commander of Bengal Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah, attacked.
In 1568, an Afghan invader named Kala Pahad attacked.
Sometimes the architecture, treasures and idols of the temple were also damaged.
In 1592, Usman, son of Sultan Isha of Orissa.
In 1601, Kuthu Khan’s son Suleman was attacked by Mirza Khurram, the commander of Nawab Islam Khan of Bengal.
The temple continued to be attacked and its treasure was looted. The idols were hidden.
In 1611, Raja Kalyanmal, son of Akbar’s king Todarmal, attacked the Jagannath temple. In 1617, Mukaram Khan, the commander of Delhi emperor Jahangir, attacked the Puri temple.
Aurangzeb attacked again and the golden crown of the Lord was looted. Precious jewellery, gold coins were looted.
In 1699, Muhammad Taqi Khan attacked. He became the deputy governor of Orissa.
History
Jagannath Puri Jagannath temple was built in 1150 AD by King Anantavarman of the Ganga dynasty. This temple was completed 861 years ago in 1161.
Land
– Jagannath temple has a total of 61 thousand acres of land in 7 states. Out of this, Odisha has 60,426 acres of land. West Bengal has 322 acres of land. 28 acres in Maharashtra, 25 acres in Madhya Pradesh, 17 acres in Andhra Pradesh, 1.7 acres in Chhattisgarh and 0.27 acres in Bihar are registered in the name of Jagannath temple.
Interesting facts about Jagannath temple
Spread over 4 lakh square feet, the Jagannath temple is 214 feet high. The flags are always turned in the opposite direction in the wind. It changes every evening. To change the flag, a person climbs to the top of the temple and descends upside down. If the flag is not changed even for a day, the temple will remain closed for 18 years.
Even the shadow of the main dome of the temple is not visible. It is believed that sometimes a bird flies around the dome of the temple. Birds are not seen flying near the peak either.
While entering the temple from the lion gate, the sound of the sea waves is not heard, but as soon as you come out, the sound of the sea waves is heard.
The Jagannath temple has the world’s largest kitchen, where food is prepared for about 1 lakh people every day.
Gujarat Mahudi
130 kg gold and property worth Rs 14 crore in Mahudi Ghantakarn temple of Gandhinagar from 2012 to 2024.
There was an allegation of wrongdoing. The petitioner accused Bhupendrabhai Vora and Kamleshbhai Mehta of financial fraud.
The petitioner has also alleged in the writ that the members of the temple committee bought 65 kg of gold with the money of Mukesh Modi of Adarsh Cooperative Bank and kept it with themselves. Apart from this, 65 kg of gold of the temple was taken in the name of giving it for melting and was not returned. In this way 130 kg of gold has been embezzled. It is worth noting that if the price of 75 thousand tola gold is considered today, then 130 kg of gold is worth Rs 200. More than 97 crores. A committee will be formed by the Charity Commissioner. The committee should investigate the various transactions, audits and accounting reports of the temple from the year 2012 to the year 2024 and prepare a final report. Ambaji Ambaji temple has collected gold ornaments donated by various devotees since 1960. A total of 167 kg of gold was kept in the bank under the Gold Monetization Scheme. Donated one kilogram of gold worth 48 lakhs in 2021
171 kg of gold has been kept in the Gold Monetization Scheme. At present, the total value of 175 kg of gold is about Rs 122 crore according to today’s price. 5500 to 6 thousand kg. According to current prices, silver worth more than 50 crores has been collected. When the treasury of the temple was opened on 4 September 2024, 10 lagadiyas weighing 100 grams i.e. one kg of gold came out from inside. The price of which is being said to be ₹ 70 to ₹ 75 lakhs.
Before 2021, the work of making the peak golden up to 61 feet has been completed. In which 140 kg of gold has been used.
Gold in India
In 2020, the bullion market of Mumbai put the price of one ton of gold at around Rs 428 crore.
The temples of India had 4 thousand (4000) tons of gold.
The total of houses and temples is 22,000 (22 thousand) tons.
NCP politician Pankaj Parekh, who got his name registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as Golden Shirtman, was also the Deputy Mayor of Yoli Town in Nashik district. His shirt was worth Rs. 1 crore 30 lakhs weighing 4 kg 100 grams.
Saudi billionaire husband Tarki bin Abdullah has a gold plated Bentley car. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia gifted his daughter a bathroom with a gold commode on her wedding.
When the four vaults of Kerala’s Padmanabha Swamy Temple were searched on the orders of the Supreme Court, gold worth $22 billion (the price of gold in 2011 was 26 thousand, today the price is almost double) was found. Its weight was 1300 tons.
One ton of gold is donated every year to Tirupati Balaji Temple. This temple is considered the richest temple in the world. Four and a half tons of gold of this temple is lying in banks. Its interest is equal to the price of 80 kg of gold.
In 2023, 10 kg of gold was stolen from Pashupatinath temple. (Google translation from Gujarati, Gujarati will prevail in the dispute)
