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This temple is 14 km away from Palampur in Kangra district of the state, it is considered to be one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. Lord Shiva is worshiped here. It is said that Baijnath is an incarnation of Lord Shiva.
Himachal Pradesh is also called Land of Gods. There are more than one miraculous and mythological temple, one of those temples is Baijnath temple. This temple is 14 km away from Palampur in Kangra district of the state, it is considered to be one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. Lord Shiva is worshiped here. It is said that Baijnath is an incarnation of Lord Shiva and in this avatar he works to remove all the sorrows and pains of his devotees. This temple is considered very sacred. Even the water of this temple has many miraculous properties, due to which many types of rare diseases are cured, every year lakhs of tourists reach here. It is believed that Lord Shiva, pleased with Ravana’s penance, gave him a boon here. After this it was Ravana who got this temple established.
mythological history of the temple
Baijnath Temple is one of the most popular temples of Himachal Pradesh. There are many legends about this temple. One of the most popular of these is that this Baijnath temple of Lord Shiva, located in the courtyard of Dhauladhar mountain range of Himachal Pradesh, has been established by none other than Ravana, according to legend, it is said that Ravana built the Himalayas. He had done a penance to please Lord Shiva on Mount Kailash, when the penance did not yield any fruit, he started severe penance. In the end, he cut his head and offered it to Lord Shiva by offering it in the Havan Kund. Lord Shiva appeared on this occasion and held Ravana’s hand. Then asked Ravana to ask for a boon to Lord Shiva, Ravana expressed his desire to establish a Shivling in Lanka, then Shiva gave two Shivling to Ravana, after which Ravana also prayed to make himself very strong. On this Shivaji gave a boon. The condition was that no Shivling was to be placed on the ground in both of them, because the Shivling would be established where it was placed. Seeing this, the gods prayed to Lord Shiva to do some miracles so that Ravana could not take the Shivling to Lanka, after this Maya was created such that for some reason Ravana caught the shepherd named Shivling Baiju and said not to keep him on the ground. , but being troubled by its weight, the one placed the Shivling on the ground and went to graze the cattle. Thus both the Shivlings were established and this temple became famous as Baijnath. In the courtyard of this temple there are many small temples and also the idol of Nandi bull. In the ear of Nandi, devotees ask for their vows.
The Pandavas built the temple during their exile
Another belief is also prevalent regarding the construction of Baijnath temple. According to this, the Pandavas built this temple during their exile in the Dwapar era, but it is not proved on the basis of historical evidence. Because this temple has been constructed by sandstone.
Dussehra is not celebrated in Baijnath
Dussehra festival is not celebrated in Baijnath temple. There is also a legend behind this. It is said that Ravana was a favorite devotee of Shiva. That is why the effigy of Ravana is not burnt here, once some people had made such an effort, but after that many natural calamities came here, due to which people were troubled. After this the tradition of celebrating Dussehra here stopped.
A huge fair is held on Magh Krishna Chaturdashi
A huge fair is held in Baijnath temple of Himachal Pradesh on Magh Krishna Chaturdashi. During this time it is also known as Tara Ratri. Lakhs of devotees reach this fair from far and wide. Apart from this, during Mahashivratri and rainy season here A huge crowd of Shiva devotees is seen. It is a popular belief in this temple that visiting here on the occasion of Magha Krishna Chaturdashi along with Shivaratri and Shravan month gives special results.
Mahmud Ghaznabi also looted Baijnath temple
Mahmud Ghaznabi was such an invader who looted many temples of India, Baijnath temple was also included in these temples. In 1540 AD, the army of Sher Shah Suri destroyed the temple, then in 1783, Maharaja Sansar Chand got this temple renovated. The devastating earthquake of Kangra in 1905 damaged this temple. Which was repaired by the Archaeological Department. This is attested by the inscriptions of the temple. That this temple is quite ancient, whose antiquity is said to be about 2000 years old.
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