Sanskrit · name · Faith & Sacred History
Somnaat
सोमनात
said som-NAAT
also written: Somnath, Somanat
Meaning
The famed Hindu temple of Shiva in Gujarat, used in Persian-Urdu poetry as the archetypal great idol-temple.
Usage & notes
In the Indo-Persian tradition Iqbal inherits, Somnaat stands as the towering idol-temple, the symbol against which the iconoclast's faith defines itself. It evokes the perennial contest between monotheism and idolatry.