Prime Minister Narendra Modi Participates in Somnath Amrut Mahotsav on 11 May 2026 Marking 75 Years of Reconstructed Temple, Releases Rs 75 Commemorative Coin and Postage Stamp at Prabhas Patan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the Somnath Amrut Mahotsav at the Somnath Temple in Prabhas Patan, Gir Somnath district of Gujarat, on 11 May 2026, marking 75 years since the inauguration of the reconstructed temple by India's first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 11 May 1951. The Prime Minister performed Mahapuja and Kumbhabhishek inside the sanctum and released a Rs 75 commemorative coin and a special postage stamp to honour the occasion. He paid tribute at the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who had spearheaded the rebuilding of the shrine after Independence following its earlier desecration. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said Somnath stands as a symbol of India's indestructible civilisational spirit, rooted in culture, faith and resilience, and described the festival as not merely a celebration of the past but a grand festival of inspiration that will guide India for the next thousand years. He also recalled that the year coincides with one thousand years since the first attack on the temple by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026. The Indian Air Force's Suryakiran Aerobatic Team performed a flypast over the temple precinct. The Prime Minister linked the occasion to National Technology Day, which is observed on 11 May to commemorate the Pokhran-II nuclear tests of 1998. The event was attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and senior Union ministers, and was framed by the government as a milestone in heritage conservation and cultural restoration under the Viksit Bharat vision.