Somnāth: The Unconquered Soul of Bhārat
FIHCR, in collaboration with the Shree Somnath Temple Trust and Brhat, organised a national symposium titled "Somnāth: The Unconquered Soul of Bhārat" in May 2026, at the sacred Somnath temple complex. The event brought together leading scholars and public intellectuals from across India to engage with one of the most significant sites in the country's civilisational landscape. The symposium formed part of the larger Somnath Swabhiman Parv, commemorating two major milestones: one thousand years since the first recorded destruction of the temple by Mahmud of Ghazni, and the 75th anniversary of its Prana Pratishtha in independent India.
The proceedings unfolded across four sessions: Antiquity and Archaeology; The Event: Destruction, Resistance, Reconstruction; Modern India and Somnath; and The Falsehood of Left Historiography. Each session built upon the last to construct a layered, evidence-based portrait of the temple and its place in Bharat's memory. The symposium was honoured by the presence of Dr. Anand Ranganathan, Shri J. Sai Deepak, Dr. Neerja A. Gupta, Prof. Kapil Kapoor, Shri Raghava Krishna, and Dr. Vikram Sampath, representing a convergence of academic scholarship and public intellectual engagement.
At a time when historical narratives are increasingly contested, the symposium sought to build an evidence based inquiry while acknowledging the role of memory in shaping civilisational identity. Proceedings from the symposium have been published and are available on the FIHCR website.
