Lost parts of Somnath Jyotirlinga 'resurface' after 1,000 years, claims Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: All you need to know

Revered as the first among the 12 Jyotirlingas, the sacred Somnath Mandir has stood as a pillar of Sanatan Dharma (Image: X)

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said that fragments of the original Somnath Jyotirlinga, believed to have been lost after Mahmud of Ghazni’s invasion in 1026 AD, were preserved for centuries and are set to return to their "rightful home".

In an opinion piece in The Indian Express, the spiritual guru - on the occasion of on Maha Shivratri - claimed that an ancient lineage of Agnihotri Brahmins secretly safeguarded these fragments, carrying them from Saurashtra to Tamil Nadu, where they were worshipped in secrecy.

According to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the sacred Shivalingas, which exhibit a unique magnetic field, were brought to him in his ashram in Bengaluru following the instructions of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Peetham a century ago.

He said that before their consecration at Somnath, these Jyotirlingas would be taken on a nationwide journey, allowing devotees across India—from Rameshwaram to all 12 Jyotirlingas—to seek blessings.

Earlier in January, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had claimed that the fragments exhibit an unusual magnetic property since unline typical magnetic stones, their field is focused at the center despite having very little iron.

A clip shared on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's official Instagram handle shows the losts parts being presented to the spiritual guru in Bengaluru last month.

In his article, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar explained that Shiva is worshipped in the form of a linga, not as a final destination, but as a doorway to the infinite, a path to transcendence.

“The linga represents the beginning of the four stages of spiritual realisation. The first stage, sannidhya, is feeling the presence. The second, samipya, is a sense of closeness with the divine. Sarupya is when one begins to embody divinity. Finally, sayujya is the ultimate state, the complete merger and realisation of oneness with the divine,” he writes.

He also said that Ghazni himself was mesmerised by the levitating Jyotirlinga before he "plundered the temple and shattered the Shivalinga into pieces".

According to ancient scriptures, the Somnath Shivalinga was no ordinary relic—it floated above the ground, defying gravity in a miraculous display of divine energy.