Why were Temples Destroyed?

NCERT (class VII-page 65-66)
Because kings built temples to demonstrate their
devotion to God and their power and wealth, it is not
surprising that when they attacked one another’s
kingdoms, they often targeted these buildings. In the
early ninth century when the Pandyan king Shrimara
Shrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka and defeated the
king, Sena I (831-851), the Buddhist monk and
chronicler Dhammakitti noted: “he removed all the
valuables ... The statue of the Buddha made entirely
of gold in the Jewel Palace ... and the golden images in
the various monasteries – all these he seized.” The blow
to the pride of the Sinhalese ruler had to be avenged
and the next Sinhalese ruler, Sena II, ordered his
general to invade Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.
The Buddhist chronicler noted that the expedition
made a special effort to find and restore the gold statue
of the Buddha.
Similarly in the early eleventh century, when the
Chola king Rajendra I built a Shiva temple in his capital
he filled it with prized statues seized from defeated
rulers. An incomplete list included: a Sun-pedestal from
the Chalukyas, a Ganesha statue and several statues
of Durga; a Nandi statue from the eastern Chalukyas;
an image of Bhairava (a form of Shiva) and Bhairavi
from the Kalingas of Orissa; and a Kali statue from the
Palas of Bengal.Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a contemporary of
Rajendra I. During his campaigns in the subcontinent
he also attacked the temples of defeated kings and
looted their wealth and idols. Sultan Mahmud was not
a very important ruler at that time. But by destroying
temples – especially the one at Somnath – he tried to
win credit as a great hero of Islam. In the political
culture of the Middle Ages most rulers displayed their
political might and military success by attacking and
looting the places of worship of defeated rulers.




It clearly demystifies some of the myths and false claim by anti religious or anti human or bigots of hindu religion against ISLAM!