The legend has it that the initial structure of the temple was first built by Moon God who constructed the temple with gold. The Sun God used silver for its construction, whereas Lord Krishna made it with the help of sandalwood.
According to Hindu scholar, Swami Gajanand Saraswati, the first temple was built 7, 99, 25,105 years ago as derived from the traditions of Prabhas Khand of Skand Puran.
The temple was suffer destruction at the hands of Mahmud Ghazni in 1024, Khilji’s army in 1296, Muzaffar Shah in 1375, Mahmud Begada in 1451 and Aurangzeb in 1665.
Along with Shiva, the sculptures of Lord Brahma and Vishnu can also be seen. According to the Prabhaskhand of Skanda Purana, in answer to the question of Parvati, Lord Shiva reveals that so far Somnath has been named 8 times.