Baijnath Town – Magnifiant History :

Baijnath is a town in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. It is about 50 kilometres from Dharamshala which is the district headquarters. The ancient temple of Lord Shiva (Baijnath) is situated here giving the town its name .The Baijnath Temple derive its name from Bainnatha as Vaidyanath version of Lord Shiva is worshipped here and devotees with all manner of ailments prey at this temple in search of a cure.

Geography :

Baijnath is located at 32.05°N 76.65°E. It has an average elevation of 998 metres (3274 feet). It is a small township in the Dhauladhar range of western Himalayas, 16 km from Palampur in the Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh. It is also related with Ravana.

History :

Baijnath is famous for its 13th-century temple dedicated to Shiva as Vaidyanath, ‘the Lord of physicians’. Originally known as Kiragrama, the village lies on the Pathankot-Mandi highway almost midway between Kangra and Mandi. The present name Baijnath became popular after the name of the temple. The village is located on the left bank of the river Binwa, a corrupt form of ancient Binduka, a tributary of river Beas.

The Baijnath temple has been continuously under worship ever since its construction in 1204 A.D. The two long inscriptions in the porch of the temple indicate that a temple of Shiva existed on the spot even before the present one was constructed. The present temple is an example of the early medieval north Indian Temple architecture known as Nagara style of temples. The Svayambhu form of Sivalinga is enshrined in the sanctum of the temple that has five projections on each side and is surmounted with a tall curvilinear Shikhara. The entrance to sanctum is through a vestibule that has a large square "Mandapa" in front with two massive balconies one each in north and south. There is a small porch in front of the mandapa hall that rests on four pillars in the front preceded by an idol of "Nandi", the bull, in a small pillared shrine. The whole temple is enclosed by a high wall with entrances in the south and north. The outer walls of the temple have several niches with images of gods and goddesses. Numerous images are also fixed or carved in the walls. The outer doorway in the porch as also the inner doorway leading to the sanctum of the temple are also studded with a large number of images of iconographic important. Some of them are very rare to be found elsewhere.

The temple attracts tourists and pilgrims from all over India and abroad throughout the year. Special prayers are offered in the morning and evening every day besides on special occasions and during festive seasons. Makara Sankranti, Maha Shivaratri, Vaisakha Sankranti, and Shravana Mondays are celebrated with zeal and splendor.A five-day state level function is held here on Maha Shivratri every year.

Baijnath Temple :

The main attraction of Baijnath is an ancient temple of Shiva. Neighbouring towns are Palampur Kangra and Joginder Nagar in Mandi district. According to the legend, it is believed that during the Treta Yug, Ravana in order to have invincible powers worshiped Lord Shiva in the Kailash. In the same process, to please the almighty he offered his ten heads in the havan kund. Influenced by this extra ordinary deed of the Ravana, the Lord Shiva not only restored his heads but also bestowed him with powers of invincibility and immortality.

On attaining this incomparable boon, Ravana also requested Lord Shiva to accompany him to Lanka. Shiva consented to the request of Ravana and converted himself into Shivling. Then Lord Shiva asked him to carry the Shivling and warned him that he should not place the Shivling down on the ground on his way as Shiva said wherever you will keep me, in this Linga form, I will rest there only, the Linga will be stay there only. Ravana started moving south towards Lanka and reached Baijnath. He was thirsty and saw Lord Ganesha, disguised as a shepherd and asked for water. Lord Ganesh had requested Lord of Water/Lord of Sea (Varuna) to fill the entire in the small pot of water which he offered to Ravan. On drinking it, Ravana, felt the urge to answer nature's call and handed over the Shivling to Ganesh and went away to get himself relieved. Lord Ganesh put the linga on the ground and thus the Shivling got established there and the same is in the form of Ardhnarishwar (God in form of Half Male & Half Female).

In the town of Baijnath, Dussehra festival in which traditionally the effigy of the Ravana is consigned to flames,celebrated all over the country is not celebrated as a mark of respect to the devotion of Ravana towards Lord Shiva. Another interesting thing about the town of Baijnath is that there are no shops of goldsmiths here .

Another version also suggests that while Ravana was descending from the Himalayas with the Shivling Lord Shiva had awarded him after years of worship which was supposed to be established at Lanka, now Sri Lanka, which would have blessed him (Ravana) with undefeatable powers even to the Gods which was not to be placed anywhere during the course of travel, even during resting, Ravana was tricked by one of the Devas (Gods), who posed as a beggar and wanted help from Ravana and promised to hold the Shivling for him while he (Ravana) could fetch some food for the beggar. The Deva posing as beggar placed the Shivling on ground, in absence of Ravana. The Shiva idol or the Shivling at Baijnath temple is the same Shivling which was placed by the Deva after tricking Ravana.

The history of the ancient Baijnath Temple is hazy and the two long inscriptions fixed in the walls of the mandapa of the temple gives us account of the temple. The temple was built in Saka 1126 (CE 1204)by two brothers Manyuka and Ahuka in devotion to Lord Vaidyanatha. The inscriptions tell us that a Sivalinga known as Vaidyanatha already existed on the spot but was without a proper house so the present temple and a porch in its front was constructed. British Archaeologist Alexander Cunningham noticed an inscription of 1786 in the temple referring to its renovations by king Sansara Chandra. An inscription on the wooden doors of the sanctum of the temple provides the date as samvat 1840 (AD 1783) that is very near to Cunningham's date. The devastating earthquake that shook the entire region of Kangra on 4 April 1905 also caused damage to the shrine, which has been reported by J. Ph. Vogel and has since been repaired. At present the temple is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India but the performance of worship and rituals are under a local board at Baijnath with SDM as its chairman. The hereditary priests continue to get a share of the offering.

Tourism :

Baijnath is around 51 kilometres from Kangra. Besides the main temple there are several other shrines which are of equal importance for the local residents. Some of them are Mukut Nath temple at Sansal (6 km) and Awahi Nag temple (1.5 km) the Mahankal Temple (5 km) at Mahankal on Chobin Road, Shobha Singh Art gallery (Andretta/Panchrukhi 11 km from Baijnath).The town offers splendid views of the Dhauladhar Ranges and numurous mountain streams.Tibetan Monasteries at Sherabling (Bhattu) (5 km), Chauntra and Chowgan on the Mandi Highway and at Bir (14 km).Billing (28 km) is an international paraglding site which is considered as one of the best in the world for paragliding and other aerosports. The site has been the host to international events such as the Paragliding Pre-World Cup multiple times and other national and international events.

Cultural Belief :

Residents of Baijnath traditionally don’t celebrate Dasehra or burn an effigy of Ravana because of their reverence to Lord Shiva. No matter what Ravana did in his life, he was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva.

It is unbelievable that the Hindu festival, which celebrates Lord Rama’s victory over Ravana, is not celebrated in Baijnath. In the past till 1970, a few residents of this holy town tried to celebrate the festival and decided to burn the effigy of Ravana. But whosoever tried it brought upon himself the wrath of Lord Shiva, faced disastrous consequences and ultimately had to die.

In Baijnath, there are no goldsmiths. The logic being that Ravana lived in Lanka, “Sone Ki Lanka”, and wanted to take Lord Shiva with him. Even though Lord Shiva considered gold as good as any other stone and wished to live where the nature was at its best, he accepted to go. This disagreement between the Lord and his devotee is enough to keep the people from ever trying to open a jewellery shop.