A millennium of resilience compressed into a single radio address — that is the thread Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy pulled into public view on Sunday, September 27, 2026, when he quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the 138th episode of Mann Ki Baat, connecting the 1026 AD destruction of the Somnath Temple by Mahmud of Ghazni to a present-day solar village rising on the same soil.

What PM Modi said in Mann Ki Baat Episode 138

Reddy shared the Prime Minister's remarks verbatim: 'We began this year with the grand celebration of national pride, the Somnath Swabhiman Parv.' Modi's words recalled that in 1026 AD, Mahmud of Ghazni demolished the Somnath Temple and also attacked the Modhera Sun Temple — two of Gujarat's most storied religious sites. The Prime Minister then delivered the pivot: 'Those who came to destroy Somnath and erase India's identity have no existence today, while Somnath stands in all its grandeur.'

The closing note tied past to present. Modi described Modhera — a village in Gujarat's Mehsana district — as India's first Surya Gram (Solar Village), a designation that positions the site's ancient solar heritage under the Modhera Sun Temple alongside a modern solar-power grid serving its residents.

Somnath and Modhera: A Shared History of Destruction and Renewal

The Somnath Temple, a revered Shiva shrine on Gujarat's Saurashtra coast, has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times across centuries. Its most cited sacking came in 1026 AD under Mahmud of Ghazni, ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire, who raided the subcontinent at least seventeen times. The temple's modern reconstruction was inaugurated in May 1951, driven by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel — a moment that cemented it as a symbol of post-Independence cultural revival.

The Modhera Sun Temple, built in the early 11th century and dedicated to the Sun God Surya, sits roughly 100 kilometres north of Ahmedabad. Its architectural precision — designed so sunrise light falls directly on the deity during equinoxes — makes the solar energy pivot more than metaphor. It is a literal continuity of the site's solar identity, now expressed through photovoltaic panels rather than sandstone geometry.

Mann Ki Baat as a Platform for Civilisational Messaging

Mann Ki Baat, the Prime Minister's monthly radio programme, has run since October 2014. By its 138th episode it has become a reliable venue for blending governance updates with cultural and historical narrative — reaching audiences across FM, All India Radio, and digital platforms simultaneously. The combination of heritage pride and infrastructure achievement has been a recurring formula, particularly when projects in Gujarat are highlighted.

Kishan Reddy's decision to amplify this specific passage underlines his dual role: BJP Telangana state president and Union minister, both positions that benefit from associating themselves with the Prime Minister's broader civilisational framing ahead of any future electoral cycles in the south.

Solar Villages and the Surya Gram Ambition

The Surya Gram concept — villages powered entirely or substantially by solar energy — draws from central and state-level renewable energy programmes, including the framework established by India's national solar missions. Modhera's promotion as the country's first such village brought it international attention as a case study in decentralised solar adoption. The convergence of a heritage-tourism anchor and a clean-energy showpiece in one location is a model Indian policymakers have pointed to when making the case that modernisation and cultural continuity are not in competition.

Whether additional Surya Grams follow Modhera's template across Gujarat and other states is the next question policymakers and renewable energy advocates are watching closely.

A temple that outlasted every attempt to erase it, now powering homes on sunlight — Modi framed it as resilience. Kishan Reddy made sure the rest of India heard it.