Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday launched Somnath Swabhiman Yatra 2026 by flagging off a special train carrying around 1,100 devotees from the state to Somnath Temple in Gujarat.
The pilgrimage is part of a nationwide initiative celebrating India’s spiritual heritage and cultural identity.
Addressing the gathering, Majhi described the yatra as a journey of faith, devotion and cultural pride. "Lord Jagannath in the East and Lord Somnath in the West symbolise India’s spiritual unity and timeless civilisational values," he said.
The Chief Minister said the yatra reflects India’s enduring cultural connections and reinforces the shared spiritual heritage that binds people across the country.
He said the pilgrimage also commemorates 1,000 years since the 1026 AD attack on Somnath Temple by Mahmud of Ghazni and the 75th anniversary of the temple’s reconstruction after Independence.
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Majhi noted that the reconstruction of the temple was undertaken under the inspiration of India’s first deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The Chief Minister said apart from the 1,100 devotees from Odisha, more than 1,000 pilgrims from Lucknow and nearly 1,300 devotees from Delhi would also travel to Somnath as part of the initiative.
Highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 'Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi' vision, Majhi said Somnath has emerged as a world-class pilgrimage destination with modern facilities, including museums, exhibition galleries, sea-facing pathways and infrastructure developed under the PRASHAD scheme.
Odia Language, Literature and Culture Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said devotees from Odisha were carrying holy water from the historic Bindusagar Lake in Bhubaneswar and sacred soil from the Kedar Gouri Temple to Somnath as symbols of the spiritual bond between the state and Gujarat.
The devotees will take part in temple darshan, grand evening aarti, Rudrabhishek rituals, continuous chanting of sacred mantras, and view an advanced light-and-sound show on the temple’s glorious history.
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