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==Scriptural mentions== Many Hindu texts provide a list of the most sacred Shiva pilgrimage sites, along with a guide for visiting the site. The best known were the ''Mahatmya'' genre of texts. Of these, Somnatha temple tops the list of ''jyotirlingas'' in the ''Jnanasamhita'' β chapter 13 of the ''[[Shiva Purana]]'', and the oldest known text with a list of ''jyotirlingas''. Other texts include the ''Varanasi Mahatmya'' (found in ''Skanda Purana''), the ''Shatarudra Samhita'' and the ''Kothirudra Samhita''.{{sfn|Fleming|2009|pp=54, 74β75}}{{refn|group=note|In 2007, Fleming dated the ''Jnanasamhita'' to the 10th century, while he suggests a 12th-century date in 2009.{{sfn|Fleming|2009|loc=p. 68, footnote 19}} Others such as Hazra, Rocher suggest late 10th-century.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=222β227}}}} All either directly mention the Somnath temple as the number one of twelve sites, or call the top temple as "Somesvara" in Saurashtra β a synonymous term for this site in these texts.{{sfn|Dhaky|Shastri|1974|p=32 with footnotes}}{{sfn|Thapar|2004|p=24}}{{sfn|Eck|1999|p=291, Quote: "Among them is Somesvara, or Somnath, the Moon's Lord", located on the seacoast in the western peninsula of Gujarat."}}{{refn|group=note|In addition to the one at Somnath, the other jyotirlingas are [[Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam|Mallikarjuna]] at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, [[Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga|Mahakaleswar]] at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, [[Omkareshwar]] in Madhya Pradesh, [[Kedarnath]] in Uttrakhand, [[Bhimashankar]] at Pune in Maharashtra, [[Kashi Vishwanath Temple|Viswanath]] at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, [[Tryambakeshwar]] at Nashik in Maharashtra, [[Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga|Vaijyanath]] Temple in Deoghar District of Jharkhand, [[Aundha Nagnath]] at Aundha in Hingoli District in Maharashtra, [[Ramanathaswamy Temple]] at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu and [[Grishneshwar]] at Ellora near Aurangabad, in Maharashtra.{{sfn| Venugopalam|2003|pp=92β95}}{{sfn|Chaturvedi|2006|pp=58β72}}}} The exact date of these texts is unknown, but based on references they make to other texts and ancient poets or scholars, these have been generally dated between the 10th and 12th century, with some dating it much earlier and others a bit later.{{sfn|Fleming|2009|loc=p. 68, footnote 19}}{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=222β227}} The Somnath temple is not mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism, but the "Prabhasa-Pattana" is mentioned as a ''tirtha'' (pilgrimage site).{{sfn|Thapar|2005|p=18-19, Chapter 2}} For example, the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' (c. 400 CE in its mature form){{Citation needed|reason=This is a very late dating for the Mahabharata. Patanjali's Mahabhasya dated to the late 1st mill BCE mentions characters from the epic.|date=January 2024}}<ref>https://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Mahabharata-VOL-2.pdf Page 76</ref> in Chapters 109, 118 and 119 of the Book Three (''[[Vana Parva]]''), and Sections 10.45 and 10.78 of the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' state Prabhasa to be a ''tirtha'' on the coastline of Saurashtra.{{sfn|Mishra|Ray|2016|pp=22β23}}{{sfn |Shastri |Tagare |2004 |pp=1934, 2113}} [[Alf Hiltebeitel]] β a Sanskrit scholar known for his translations and studies on Indic texts including the ''Mahabharata'', states that the appropriate context for the legends and mythologies in the ''Mahabharata'' are the Vedic mythologies which it borrowed, integrated and re-adapted for its times and its audience.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2001|pp = 139, 141β144, 151β152 with footnotes}} The ''[[Brahmana]]'' layer of the [[Vedas|Vedic literature]] already mention ''tirtha'' related to the Saraswati river. However, given the river was nowhere to be seen when the ''Mahabharata'' was compiled and finalized, the Saraswati legend was modified. It vanishes into an underground river, then emerges as an underground river at holy sites for ''sangam'' (confluence) already popular with the Hindus. The ''Mahabharata'' then integrates the Saraswati legend of the Vedic lore with the Prabhasa ''tirtha'', states Hiltebeitel.{{sfn| Hiltebeitel|2001|pp = 139, 141β144, 151β152 with footnotes}} The critical editions of the ''Mahabharata'', in several chapters and books mentions that this "Prabhasa" is at a coastline near [[DvΔrakΔ|Dvaraka]]. It is described as a sacred site where [[Arjuna]] and [[Balarama]] go on ''tirtha'', a site where Lord [[Krishna]] chooses to go and spends his final days, then dies.{{sfn| Hiltebeitel|2001|pp = 139, 141β144, 151β152 with footnotes}} Catherine Ludvik β a Religious Studies and Sanskrit scholar, concurs with Hiltebeitel. She states that the ''Mahabharata'' mythologies borrow from the Vedic texts but modify them from Brahmin-centered "sacrificial rituals" to ''tirtha rituals'' that are available to everyone β the intended audience of the great epic.{{sfn|Ludvik |2007 |pp=100β103 with footnotes}} More specifically, she states that the sacrificial sessions along the Saraswati river found in sections such as of ''Pancavimsa Brahmana'' were modified to ''tirtha'' sites in the context of the Saraswati river in sections of ''Vana Parva'' and ''Shalya Parva''.{{sfn|Ludvik |2007 |pp=100β103 with footnotes}} Thus the mythology of ''Prabhasa'' in the ''Mahabharata'', which it states to be "by the sea, near Dwaraka". This signifies an expanded context of pilgrimage as a "Vedic ritual equivalent", integrating ''Prabhasa'' that must have been already important as a ''tirtha'' site when the ''Vana Parva'' and ''Shalya Parva'' compilation was complete.{{sfn|Ludvik |2007 |pp=100β103 with footnotes}}{{refn|group=note|The date for the critical edition of the complete ''Mahabharata'' is generally accepted to be c. 400 CE.<ref>Wendy Doniger (2015), [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mahabharata Mahabharata:Hindu literature], Encyclopaedia Britannica</ref>}} The 5th century poem ''[[RaghuvaαΉΕa|Raghuvamsa]]'' of [[Kalidasa]] mentions Somanatha-Prabhasa as a ''tirtha'' along with [[Allahabad|Prayaga]], [[Pushkar]]a, [[Gokarnanatheshwara Temple|Gokarna]]. Bathing in one of these ''tirthas'' is meant to release one from the cycle of births and deaths.<ref name=DLEck>{{cite book |last=Eck |first=Diana L. |title=India: A Sacred Geography |publisher=Harmony |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-385-53191-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNlJOSf__xYC |pages=82β83}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Kalidas gives a separate list of ''jyotirlingas'', in which Gokarna is included, but Prabhasa is not.<ref name=DLEck/>}} Archaeologically, there is no evidence that a temple existed at the site in ancient times.{{sfn|Thapar|2005|p=18-19, Chapter 2}}<ref>{{harvnb|Mishra|Ray|2016|p=22}} "In the case of Somanatha, one has to rely solely on literary evidence as even though excavations reveal an early settlement at the site, there is no evidence for the early existence of a temple at the site...In the ''Mahabharata'', Prabhas Patan has been described as a sacred tirtha located on the coast of the sea (''Vana Parva'', Ch. 109)"</ref>
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