Baidyanath Jyotirlinga | Jyotirlingas in India
Spread across the country, Jyotirlingas are visited by devotees and travelers from different parts of the world. A Jyotirlinga or Jyotirling or Jyotirlingam, is a devotional object representing the Supreme God Shiva. Jyoti means ‘radiance’ and lingam the ‘Image or Sign’ of Shiva; Jyotir Lingam thus means the The Radiant Sign of The Almighty Shiva. Jyotirlingas in India are Swayambhu, which are supposed to have originated on their own, and not installed by people. The Shiva Purana mentions as many as 64 Jyotirlingas. Out of these 12 are called Maha Jyotirlingam or the Great Jyotirlingas. We will take you through spiritual journey of all 12 Jyotirlingas in India ( Read the list here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyotirlinga ) with separate article delights. This article delight provides insights for one among them ; Baidyanath Jyotirlinga
Story behind Jyotirlingas in India
In Shiv Purana there is an incident where Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma were discussing who is supreme and that discussion turns into an argument. Then lord Shiva appears there to settle their argument. He made the infinite pillar of light appear there and that pillar pierced all the three worlds when it appears. Then lord Shiva told both of them that whoever finds the light first will be the supreme God.
They both went in the opposite direction and after a while, they both didn’t find the end of the pillar. So Lord Vishnu admitted defeat and told Lord Shiva he couldn’t find the end while Lord Brahma lied saying he did find the end of the pillar. Seeing him lying, Lord Shiva got furious and cursed Lord Brahma. That no one is going to worship Lord Brahma even though he has created this entire universe.
Meanwhile, in that anger, the Lord Shiva infinite pillar of light appeared on the earth in 64 places in the form of Lingam. From those 64 places, only 12 are majors, and they now are known as the 12 main Jyotirlingas of India. In each Jyotirlinga Lord Shiva resides in some form of deity and blesses all the people. Other than granting spiritual reckoning and blessings, these sanctums are utterly beautiful and peaceful.
Baidyanath Jyotirlinga
The Vaidyanath temple is also known as ‘Devghar’, the place where the temple is located. It is said that all the wishes of those who come here are fulfilled. Because of this, this Jyotirling is also called ‘Kamna Linga’. The popularity of temple is such that local people and pilgrims called Deoghar as Baba Baidyanath Dham. Along with the main Jyotirlinga temple as center there are other 21 small temple built in same Baidyanath temple campus. Bidyanath dham is one of the rare place where Jyotirlinga and Shakti Peetha located nearby which makes it as highly auspicious pilgrimage destination in Hinduism and draws millions of devotees from all over the world around the year especially during Mahashivratri and Shravan month. People also visit Basukinath temple after visiting Baidyanath temple which is at 108 kilometres from Deoghar.
Story behind Baidyanath Jyotirlinga
According to the stories described in Shiva Puranas, King Ravan of Lanka had realized that his capital will not be perfect and independent unless Mahadev always lives in Lanka. He gave constant attention to Mahadev. To make happy to Mahadev, he cut his head one by one and offering it to Shivling as soon as Ravan was cutting his tenth head, Lord Shiva was pleased and allowed him to take mahadev self part to Lanka. Mahadev told Ravana that if this Shiva Linga will be first placed on the earth, then this Linga will be established forever. Ravana was happy and was taking Shivalinga to Lanka.
This incident started to worry about other Gods, if Ravana took Shivalinga to Lanka and Ravan would be invincible. So all the gods have requested Varun Deva to inspire them in the body of Ravana and for the Urination. This made Ravan wish to urine. Now Ravana was searching for a man whom he could temporarily hand over to Lingam. Then Lord Ganesha was presented in the form of a Brahman and presented before Ravana. Ravan was unaware of this, Ravana handed the Brahman to Lingam. Brahmans kept Lingam at this place and now it is Baidyanath Dham. Ravan tried to remove the linga from the place where it was kept. But Ravana could not even move an inch of the penis. Frustrated Ravan, he cast his thumb on Shivaalanga and went to Lanka. Ravan came to this place everyday for the worship of Vaidyanath Jyotirling.
Deoghar as Shaktipeetha
This temple doubles as a Shakti Peetha as well. When Lord Shiva’s first consort, Sati immolated herself after her father Daksha’s yagna (sacrifice or offering), the grief-stricken Lord, roamed the world with her body. Lord Vishnu cut it up into 52 parts. Her heart fell at Deoghar – making it a Shakti Peetha!!
Shravan Mela at Baidyanath Jyotirlinga
Every year on the Vaidyanath Dham, a fair is celebrated in the month of Shravan (July-August), in which thousands of pilgrims come to visit Baba Bholenath. All these pilgrims undertake tremendous hiking journeys of several kilometers of Sultanganj with water from the holy Ganges. After this, they keep Gangajal in their own kanvar and proceed towards Baidyanath Dham. While taking holy water it is taken care of that the character in which there is water will not touch anywhere on the land. There is also a huge pond near the temple. The main temple of Baba Baidyanath is the oldest, many other temples have been built around it. The temple of Baba Bholenath is associated with the temple of Lord Parvati ji.
While just a darshan at this legendary site is an unparalleled experience in itself, there’s a lot more that you can see and do on your pilgrimage to Baidyanath Temple. Hundreds of devotees witnesses evening prayer ( Aarti ) . However, during the day visit you may find worshiping here quite a challenging task especially going closer to the sanctum and entering in. Sometime on special occasions, the crowd makes a big hype by pushing and falling over. So, be very careful with your belongings both outside and inside the temple. But this should never stop you visiting the temple. At least once in his lifetime! It is an unique experience indeed. The way we get into the temple for worshiping after passing through a huge line is simply bewildering. After Darshana you just feel amazing and mesmerized with the grace of God Shiva !!
Read also : Understanding Yantra | Meaning, Types & Benefits ( https://thebrightdelights.com/understanding-yantra-meaning-types-benefits/ )