Meenakshi Jain counters Romila Thapar on Somnath history

Historian Meenakshi Jain has released a new book, Invincible Somnath: A Saga of Millennia, that recounts the geography, history, mythologies and repeated destruction of the Somnath temple, one of Hinduism's holiest shrines. Jain's work directly challenges the account of Marxist historian Romila Thapar, whose Somanatha: The Many Voices of History is described as downplaying the trauma of the temple's destruction.

Jain is known for her previous works on temple cities such as Rama and Ayodhya, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, and Vishwanath Rises and Rises. She has also written on British efforts to exaggerate negative aspects of Indian society, like sati, to justify colonialism. Her latest book is framed as an antidote to what she calls the Left-inspired and partially jaundiced history of Thapar.

The book's title, Invincible Somnath, reflects the enduring faith of Hindu rulers and devotees who repeatedly rebuilt the temple after each destruction. Jain's scholarship is part of a broader flowering of alternative history writing that has emerged since the end of what the source calls the monopoly of 'secular' Marxist historians.