The Moonstone

The Moonstone

by

Wilkie Collins

Conventionally spelled Somnath, which means “Lord of the Moon,” a famous ancient temple to the Hindu god Shiva in what is now the western Indian state of Gujarat. In The Moonstone, Somnauth (which Collins refers to as a “sacred city”) is the original home of the Moonstone. However, Collins writes that the 11th-century Persian raid of the temple (a historical fact) caused the Moonstone to be uprooted and moved to another temple in Benares. At the end of the novel, the three Indian Brahmins manage to return the Moonstone to Somnauth, as Mr. Murthwaite observes when he stumbles upon a massive pilgrimage to the site.

Somnauth Quotes in The Moonstone

The The Moonstone quotes below are all either spoken by Somnauth or refer to Somnauth. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Detective Methods and Genre Standards Theme Icon
).
The Discovery of the Truth 2: 3 Quotes

“In the name of the Regent of the Night, whose seat is on the Antelope, whose arms embrace the four corners of the earth.

Brothers, turn your faces to the south, and come to me in the street of many noises, which leads down to the muddy river.

The reason is this.

My own eyes have seen it.”

Related Characters: The Three Indians (speaker), Mr. Bruff, Mr. Murthwaite, Mr. Septimus Luker
Related Symbols: The Moonstone
Page Number: 293
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue: 3 Quotes

The curtain between the trees was drawn aside, and the shrine was disclosed to view.

There, raised high on a throne—seated on his typical antelope, with his four arms stretching towards the four corners of the earth—there, soared above us, dark and awful in the mystic light of heaven, the god of the Moon. And there, in the forehead of the deity, gleamed the yellow Diamond, whose splendour had last shone on me in England, from the bosom of a woman's dress!
Yes! after the lapse of eight centuries, the Moonstone looks forth once more, over the walls of the sacred city in which its story first began. How it has found its way back to its wild native land—by what accident, or by what crime, the Indians regained possession of their sacred gem, may be in your knowledge, but is not in mine. You have lost sight of it in England, and (if I know anything of this people) you have lost sight of it for ever.
So the years pass, and repeat each other; so the same events revolve in the cycles of time. What will be the next adventures of the Moonstone? Who can tell!

Related Characters: Mr. Murthwaite (speaker), The Three Indians
Related Symbols: The Moonstone
Page Number: 472
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Moonstone LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Moonstone PDF

Somnauth Term Timeline in The Moonstone

The timeline below shows where the term Somnauth appears in The Moonstone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue: The Storming of Seringapatam: Chapter 2
Detective Methods and Genre Standards Theme Icon
Science and Religion Theme Icon
British Imperialism Theme Icon
...in Rome and Greece.) In the 11th century, Muslim invaders pillaged a famous temple in Somnauth and took everything but this statue, which three Brahmins preserved in a new shrine in... (full context)
Epilogue: The Finding of the Diamond: Chapter 3
Detective Methods and Genre Standards Theme Icon
Intention, Identity, and Personality Theme Icon
Science and Religion Theme Icon
British Imperialism Theme Icon
...known” area named Kattiawar, which is devoutly Hindu and home to the holy city of Somnauth—which was destroyed in the 11th century by Muslim invaders. On his way to Somnauth, Murthwaite... (full context)
Science and Religion Theme Icon
British Imperialism Theme Icon
When he arrives in Somnauth, Murthwaite’s friends bring him to the Moon god’s shrine, which is hidden behind trees and... (full context)