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Prabhasa-Patan : or Sōmanātha Pātaṇ or Deva Pātaṇ, a town on southern shore of Gujarat near Verāval, in Gīr-Sōmanātha district, is considered a triveni-sangam as the two rivers merging at Talāla (c.20 km upstream) meet the ocean here. It is also called Chandra-Teertha since Sōma (q.v.), who as Chandra (Moon) did intense penance here to free himself from the curse of ceaseless waxing & waning & obtained an eternal place on Shiva’s head. Since Shiva descended into the Lingam he created, it became the first of the twelve Jyotirlingas worshipped by Shaivites. The original temple built by Sōma in gold & rebuilt in silver by Rāvaṇa was rebuilt by Sri Krishna in sandalwood. In 1026, Mahmud of Ghazni looted-destroyed the temple & killed all fifty thousand inhabitants of the city. The temple & city, rebuilt by Bhīmadeva Solanki were looted & destroyed by Alā-ud-din Khilji (1296-1316) & rebuilt by Kumārapāla, one of the great historical rulers of Hindu Gujarat. When Mahmud Begda, Nawab of Gujarat, attacked the temple-city, the king of Saurāshtra rushed to the rescue but in vain. In 1730, Md. Sher Khan Bābi founded the kingdom of Junāgadh which, in 1807, became a protectorate of the Octopus. In 1893, the 8th scion of the Bābi dynasty (like Nawab Salimullah of East Bengal) inflamed a Jihadi riot. In May 1947, Nawab Md. Mohabat Khanji III as ‘ruler’ of Junāgadh appointed his minister Shah Nawaz Bhutto his Dewan. With independence, his advisor Nabi Baksh informed Mountbatten he was recommending Junāgadh join India. However, as advice by Dewan Bhutto, on 15 August the Nawab announced that Junāgadh had acceded to Pakistan & on 13 September Govt. of Pakistan accepted the accession. The Hindu majority of Junāgadh (inspired by Sardar Patel) revolted & a December plebiscite overwhelmingly voted for merger with India. Mohabat escaped to Pakistan with his treasures & treasury & was honourably settled in Sindh. The present temple was built under Deputy P.M. Sardar Patel’s aegis & opened by President Prasad. For these crimes against his Secular Socialist Republic, Nehru ostracised Prasad, & ignored Patel’s warning about Chinese intentions in Dec. 1950. [Based on: The Glory of Gujarat by Rajnee Vyāsa, Gurjara-Anada Prakāshan, Ahmedabad, 1988, pp.71-73; “How Gāndhāra became Kandahār” by Rajiv Malhotra, Infinity Foundation; Lōkamānya Tilak... by S.L. Karandikar, 1957, p.112; & other sources]