Article Title: Baba Baidyanath Dham
07-07-2023
History & Art and Culture Prelims Plus
The Vaidyanatha temple, also called Baba Vaidyanath dham or Vaidyanath dham, is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, and one of the most revered places where Shiva lives.
It is located in Deoghar at the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkhand, India.
It is a temple complex consisting of the main temple of Baba Baidyanath, where the Jyotirlinga is present, and 21 other temples.
Baidyanath Dham has been famous since the rule of the last Gupta emperor, Adityasena Gupta in the 8th century AD.
Mughal emperor Akbar’s brother-in-law built a pond at Deoghar known as Mansarovar. This temple appears to have maintained its importance even during the Muslim rule in India.
According to the Hindu beliefs, the demon king Ravana worshipped Shiva at this place to obtain boons, which he later used to wreak havoc on the world.
Ravana offered his ten heads, one after another, to Shiva as a symbol of sacrifice. Pleased with this, Shiva descended to cure Ravana, who was injured. As he acted as a doctor, he is referred to as Vaidya ("doctor"). The temple derives its name from this aspect of Shiva.
Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage for the devotees of Shiva, known as Kānvarias. They go to the Hindu pilgrimage site of Sultanganj in Bihar to fetch the holy 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.
Millions of pilgrims visit this shrine every year. It is famous for the mela of Shraavana (a month of the Hindu calendar), between July and August.
About 8 to 10 million devotees visit the place from various parts of India and offer holy water of Ganges to the deity collected from Sultanganj, which is almost 108 km from Deoghar and Baidyanath.
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