Image: Somnath temple in Gujarat converted into a mosque, sketched by Captain Postans and lithograph by Thomas Dibdin, published in 1850

Description: Captain Postans surveyed the site in the first half of the 19th-century. After his return, he sketched a draft of how the monument looked from his memory. This sketch was converted into a lithograph by Thomas Colman Dibdin, then published in 1850. Later photographs taken by Henry Cousens show that Captain Postans memory had failed him, and the above image is not entirely correct. The pillar inside below the dome was wrong, as were some of the structural and pillar details in the front. The conversion of the famed temple into a mosque, the shape of the mosque, and the minarets were correct. Between the time Captain Postans visited and the time the first archival photographs were taken, the structure had suffered further damage. For a discussion, see Lt. Postans, Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume VII, p. 865 Henry Cousens (1931), Somanatha and Other Medieval Temples in Kathiawad, pp. 1–28This lithograph is now preserved at the British Library, as Item P202. This is a photograph of 2D art published in 1869 and which in public domain. Therefore PD-Art guidelines of Wikimedia Commons apply. Any rights I have as a photographer, I release it into the public domain through Wikimedia Commons.
Title: Somnath temple in Gujarat converted into a mosque, sketched by Captain Postans and lithograph by Thomas Dibdin, published in 1850
Credit: Own work
Author: Ms Sarah Welch
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication
License: CC0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
Attribution Required?: No