Baba Baidyanath Baidyanath -Dhanbad-Jharkhand

The Vaidyanatha temple, also called Baba Vaidyanath Dham is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is located in Deoghar, in the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkhand, India. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, and considered to be the most revered places where Shiva lives.

The temple complex comprises the central shrine of Baba Baidyanath, housing the revered Dham, along with additional 21 other temples.

According to Hindu beliefs, it is said that the demon king Ravana worshipped Shiva at this location to gain divine blessings, which he used to cause chaos and destruction tin the world. Ravana offered his ten heads as a symbol of sacrifice to Lord Shiva. Pleased with this gesture, Lord Shiva descended Ravana’s injuries. As Lord Shiva acted as a doctor, he is also referred to as Vaidya (“doctor”). The temple is named after this aspect of Shiva.

Kanwar Yatra (Devanagari: कांवड़ यात्रा) is an annual pilgrimage for the devotees of Shiva, known as Kānvarias (कांवड़िया) or “Bhole” (भोले). They visit the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Ajgaibinath, and Sultanganj in Bihar to collect the sacred waters of the Ganges. Millions of people gather holy water from the Ganga and carry it as an offering for hundreds of miles to the Baidyanath Temple in Jharkhand.

Legend
According to the legends, Ravana was performing penance in the Himalayan region to appease Lord Shiva. He offered nine of his heads as an offering to Lord Shiva. As he was to sacrifice his tenth head, Lord Shiva appeared before him and expressed satisfaction with the offering, Then, Shiva asked what boon he desired. Ravana asked to take the “Kamna Linga’ to the island of Lanka and expressed his desire to take Lord Shiva from Kailash to Lanka.

Lord Shiva agreed to Ravana’s request but with a condition. He said that if the lingam was placed en route, it would become the permanent abode of the deity and could never be moved.

Celestial gods became worried upon hearing that Lord Shiva had departed from his abode on Mount Kailash. They sought a resolution from Lord Vishnu. Then, Lord Vishnu asked Varuna, the deity associated with water, to enter Ravana’s stomach through achamana, a ritual which involves sipping water from the palm of one’s hand. As a consequence of performing achaman, Ravana departed for Lanka with the lingam and felt the need to urinate in the vicinity of Deoghar.

The story goes that Lord Vishnu took the form of a cowherd named Baiju. While Ravana was off to urinate, he gave a lingam to this cowherd. Baiju positioned the lingam on the ground. Upon Ravana’s return, he attempted to displace the lingam, but he was unsuccessful in his endeavor. He became upset and proceeded to press his thumb onto the lingam before departing. The Shiva lingam was then worshipped by Brahma, Vishnu, and other deities. Since then, Mahadev has taken up residence in Deoghar as the embodiment of the Kamna Linga.

Location of Baidyanath Jyotirlinga
Vaidyanatham Chitabhoomau (1/21-24) and Shivamaha puran Shatarudra Samhita (42/1-4)are the ancient verses that identify the location of Vaidyanth Jyotirlinga. According to which Shri Vaidyanatham is in ‘Chitabhoomi’, Dwadasha jyotirlinga stotram, Adi Sankaracharya has praised Shri Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga location in following verses, before Shivamaha puran Shatarudra Samhita as following:

Sourashtre Somanadham, cha Sri Shaile Mallikarjunam, Ujjayinyam Maha Kalam, Omkaram, amaleshwaram, Vaidyanatham Chitabhumau, Dakinyam Bhimasankaram, Sethubandhe thu Ramesam, Nagesam thu Darukavane, Varanasyam thu Viswesam, Trayambakam Gouthami thate, Himalaye thu Kedaram, Ghushmesam cha Shivalaye, Ethani Jyothirlingani sayam pratha paden nara, Saptha janma krutham papam smaranena vinasyathi.

“Parlam Vaidyanatham cha” instead of “Vaidyanatham Chitabhumau” is an alternative reading for it.

Adi Shankaracharya further evaluates the above main verse as below:

Poorvottare prajwalika nidhaane
sada vasantam girija sametam
suraasuraaradhita paada padmam
shri vaidyanaatham tamaham namaami

This states that:

I salute that Vaidyanatha, Whose lotus feet are worshipped By all asuras and devas And who lives in place of eternal shine,in the north east of (Vaidyanatham) of Chitabhoomi, along with his consort Parvathi.

Bhavarth in Hindi:

पूर्वोत्तरे प्रज्वलिकानिधाने सदा वसन्तं गिरिजासमेतम्। सुरासुराराधितपादपद्मं श्रीवैद्यनाथं तमहं नमामि ॥

“भावार्थ”:

जो भगवान् शंकर पूर्वोत्तर दिशा में चिताभूमि वैद्यनाथ धाम के अन्दर सदा ही पार्वती सहित विराजमान हैं, और देवता व दानव जिनके चरणकमलों की आराधना करते हैं, उन्हीं ‘श्री वैद्यनाथ’ नाम से विख्यात शिव को मैं प्रणाम करता हूँ ।

Also, Chitabhoomi indicates that, in olden days, this was a funeral place, where corpses were burnt, and post-death ceremonies were performed. This place could have been a center of tantric cults like Kapalika/Bhairava where Lord Shiva is worshipped significantly as shmashaan vaasin (meaning, one who resides in a crematorium), and a bhasma bhushita (meaning, smearing body with ashes of burnt bodies).

The Dvadashalinga Smaranam also mentions its location as the verse is Prachikam Vaidyanatham, i.e., Vaidyanatham is in east (prachi means east). Another version of Dvadasalinga Smaranam mentions its location in the verse Paralyam Vaidyanatham, i.e.,Vaidyanatham is in Parali.The names and the locations of the 12 Jyotirlingas mentioned in the distorted version of Dvadasalinga Smaranam are:
Saurashtre Somanatham cha Shrishaile Mallikarjunam|
Ujjayinya Mahakalam Omkaramamaleshwaram ||
Prajwalayam Vaidyanathancha Dakinyam Bheema Shankaram |
Setu Bandhe tu Raamesham, Naagesham Daarukavane||
Varanasyantu Vishwesham Tryambakam Gautami tate|
Himalaye tu Kedaaram, Ghrishnesham cha shivaalaye||
Etani jyotirlingani, Saayam Praatah Pathennarah|
Sapta Janma Kritam pApam, Smaranena Vinashyati||

Thus, the three temples claiming their shrines as ‘real’ jyotirlinga of Vaidyanath are

Baidyanath temple at Deoghar, Jharkhand,
Shri Vaijnath Temple at Parli, Maharashtra and
Baijnath temple at Baijnath, Himachal Pradesh.
Bhavishyapurana also describes Baidyanath as follows:

“Narikhande is district abounding in thickets. It lies west of the Dwarikashwari River. It extends along the Panchakuta hills on its west, and approaches Kikta on the north. The forests are very extensive, chiefly of Sakhota, Arjuna and Sal trees with a plentiful addition of brushwood. The district is celebrated for the shrine of Baidyanath. The deity is worshiped by people from all quarters and is the source of every good in the present age.”

It is believed that Shiva first manifested himself as a Jyotirlinga on the night of the Aridra Nakshatra, thus the special reverence for the Jyotirlinga. The same shrine of Vaidyanath is considered one of 51 Shakti Peethas, where ‘heart’ of Sati (goddess) fell, after being broken apart by the Sudarshana Chakra of Lord Vishnu, from the body of Dakshayani (Sati), carried by the lovelorn, distraught Shiva, at the location on which the respective temple is built. Since the heart of Sati fell here, the place is also called as Hardapeetha. Here Sati is worshipped as Jayaa Durga (Victorious Durga) and Lord Bhairava as Vaidyanath or Baidyanath. Dakshayani was reborn as Parvati, daughter of Himaavat, king of the mountains, and his wife, the Devi Mena.