Sri Baba Baidyanath Temple - Deoghar
Sri Baidyanath Temple is located in Deoghar in the state
of Jharkhand. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga temples in India.
Jayadurga temple at Baidyanath is the place where Sati’s heart had fallen. Here Sati is worshipped as Jai Durga.
According to some legends Ravana had 10 heads all of which he had cut off to prove his devotion to Lord Shiva. Shiva was quite impressed and gave him back his head again. Thus he is referred to as Baidyanath or the king of healers.
Deoghar is home to Baidyanath Temple which is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga temples.
Baidyanath Temple is also home to one of the 51 Shaktipeeth Temples.
The top of this lingam is broken, the central lingam
is about 5 inches in diameter and projects about 4 inches from the center of a
large slab.
Jayadurga Temple at Baidyanath is the place where Sati’s Heart had fallen. Here Sati is worshipped as Jai Durga and Lord Bhairav as Vaidyanath or Baidyanath. The Shakthi Peeth is popularly known as Baidyanath Dham or Baba Dham. Since the heart of Sati fell here, the place is also called as Hardapeetha. Lord Bhairav as Vaidyanath is worshipped as one of the important twelve Jyotirlingas. Jai Durga Shakti Peeth is known as Chitabhumi. It is said that while lord Shiva was wandering in the universe with the body of Sati, the heart of Sat had fallen at this place. That time, lord Shiva performed the cremation of her heart. Hence, this place is called Chita Bhumi. Within the temple, the idols of Durga and Parvathi are present on a rock stage. People usually climb it up and offer flowers and milk to the goddesses. Many Tantriks worshiped Jayadurga and got her blessings. Here Jaganmata is worshiped in two forms. The first one is Tripura Sundari / Tripura Bhairavi and the second one is Chinnamasta. Tripura Sundari is worshiped with Ganesh as Rishi and Chinnamasta is worshiped with Ravanasura as Rishi. Within the campus, Jayadurga Shaktipeeth is present exactly opposite the main temple of Vaidyanath. Both temples are connected by red-colored silk threads in their tops.
According to Shiva Purana, this temple resembles the
unity of souls and thus fits marriage for Hindus.
According to Matysa Purana Goddess Shakti and Lord Shiva
here can free people from incurable diseases.
This complex consists of 22 temples Baba Baidyanath
Temple, Maa Kali Temple, Maa Annapurna Temple, Lakshmi Narayana Temple, Neel
Kantha Temple, Maa Parvathi Temple, Maa Jagat Janani Temple, Ganesh Temple,
Brahma Temple, Maa Sandhya temple, Kal Bhairav temple, Hanuman temple, Manasa
devi temple, Maa Saraswathi temple, Surya Narayan temple, Maa Bagla temple,
Narvadeshwara temple, Sri Ram temple, Maa Ganga temple¸Anand Bhairav temple,
Gauri Shankar temple, Maa Tara temple.
This temple was built in the 8th century AD.
It was Treta yuga, according
to the ancient stories from Shiva Purana, Ravana, the king of Lanka, thought
that if Shiva stays at his place, none of his enemies could touch him. So with
his deep meditation and devotion towards lord Shiva, Ravana was allowed to
carry the linga with him to Lanka. Lord Shiva told not to place the linga
anywhere during his journey and if he does so, the Linga would remain fixed at
that place forever. Agreeing to this, Ravana headed towards Lanka. On his
way back home from Mount Kailash, it was time for Ravana to perform his evening
prayer and he could not do it with Shiva linga in his hand, so he looked for
someone who could hold it for him. Disguised as a shepherd, Ganesha offered
help. Ravana requested him to hold the linga while he completed his prayer and
also told him strictly not to place the linga on the ground under any
circumstance. Ganesha warned Ravana saying he would leave the linga on the bank
of the river and walk away if he did not come back soon. Pretending to be
annoyed by Ravana’s delay, Ganesha kept the Linga on the ground. As soon as
Ganesha did so, linga got fixed to the ground. Ravana tried to move and pull it
out from the ground but he failed miserably. The Gods were happy that the
Jyotirlinga did not reach Lanka. Hence the Baidyanath Temple was built. Even
though there is no source of water above the temple, we can see a continuous
fall of water on the linga to date. The place where Lord Shiva descended the
Earth is known as Harilajori which is located about four miles from Baidyanath.
The place where the lingam is kept is Deoghar while the lingam is known as
Baidyanath Jyotirlingam.
The famous Shravan Mela is the
most celebrated 30-day festival. It usually is celebrated between July &
August. Millions of devotees from different parts of India visit this shrine
every year and offer holy water of the Ganges to the deity collected from
Sultanganj which is 108km from Baidyanath. The water is also brought by
Kanvarias who carry water in Kavadi and walk barefooted all the way to
Baidyanath Temple. A large fleet of people with saffron-dyed clothes are seen
marching 108km for the whole month. The Pilgrims do not stop even once during
their journey from Sultanganj and are called as Dak Bam. The devotees then take
blessings from all the gods and goddesses and find peace.
Temple Timings :
4.00 am to 3.30 pm
6.00 pm to 9.00 pm
During Sravana Masam, the timings may change
How to reach the Temple
245 km from Ranchi
1 km from Deoghar
Nearby Places
Trikuta Parvata – 10 km
Naulakha Mandir – 2 km
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