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Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Temple, also known as Baba Baidyanath dham
and Baidyanath dham is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the most
sacred abodes of Shiva.
It is located in Deoghar in 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 installed,
and 21 other temples.
According to Hindu beliefs, the demon king Ravana worshipped Shiva
at the current site of the temple to get the boons that he later
used to wreak havoc in the world. Ravana offered his ten heads one
after another to Shiva as a sacrifice. Pleased with this, Shiva
descended to cure Ravana who was injured.
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As he acted as a doctor, he is referred to as Vaidhya ("doctor").
From this aspect of Shiva, the temple derives its name.
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 7 to 8 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. The water is also brought by the Kānvarias, who carry
the water in Kavadi, and walk all the distance, on bare foot. You
will find large crowds walking all the way carrying water.
Getting There
Nearest rail way station is
Jasidih Railway Station, which is 7 km from the Temple. Deoghar is well connected to
Ranchi, Patna, Calcutta, Bhagalpur,
Munger and all nearby major cities by road.
The railway station is located in
Baidyanath Dham at a distance of 7 km from Deoghar and is well connected
with major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Varanasi, Allahabad and
Bhubaneswar etc.
Deoghar Airport
is under construction. Currently, the construction of airport
has no sign of progressing. The nearest domestic airport is
Lok Nayak Jayaprakash
Airport, Patna, located at a distance of 272 km from Deoghar. Cabs and private cars are easily available at the city for
the airport.
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