Somnath is famous and important tourist center in Gujarat State and many people throughout the year visit this holy place. The Somnath temple is located in Prabhas Patan near Veraval in Saurashtra on the western coast of Gujarat. It is believed to be the first among the twelve jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva where Shiva is believed to have appeared as a fiery column of light. It is an important pilgrimage and tourist spot of Gujarat. Destroyed and reconstructed several times in the past, the present temple was reconstructed in Chalukya style of Hindu temple architecture and completed in May 1951. The reconstruction was envisioned by Vallabhbhai Patel and was completed under K. M. Munshi, head of the temple trust.

The jyotirlingas are taken as the supreme, undivided reality out of which Shiva partly appears. Soma, the Moon god, is believed to have lost his lustre due to a curse, and he bathed in the Sarasvati River at this site to regain it. The result is the waxing and waning of the moon, no doubt an allusion to the waxing and waning of the tides are seen at this sea shore location. The temple's Sikhara, or main spire, is 15 metres in height, and it has an 8.2-metre tall flag pole at the top.The temple is situated at such a place that there is no land in a straight line between Somnath seashore until Antarctica.