Vaidyanāth

Śiva the Divine Physician · Deoghar, Jharkhand (also Parli, Maharashtra)

Vaidyanāth, “Lord of Physicians”, is one of the Jyotirliṅgas whose location is claimed by more than one tradition. In eastern India it is Bābā Baidyanāth Dhām in Deoghar, Jharkhand, which is also counted among the Śakti Pīṭhas. In Maharashtra, Parli Vaijnāth in Beed district is revered as the Jyotirliṅga. A temple at Baijnāth in Himachal Pradesh also carries the name.

Deoghar is famous for the Śrāvaṇī Melā, when kāṃvaḍiyās carry Gaṅgā water from Sultanganj on foot to pour on the liṅga. Śrāvaṇa (July–August) and Mahāśivarātri are the peak times.

Tradition says Rāvaṇa worshipped Śiva so intensely that he was allowed to carry a liṅga to Laṅkā, on the condition that it would stay wherever it was set down. On the way the gods arranged for him to hand it to a cowherd — Gaṇeśa or Viṣṇu in disguise, in different tellings — who put it down. The liṅga stayed, and Śiva, who had healed Rāvaṇa, was worshipped as Vaidyanātha.

Jharkhand / Maharashtra · Śrāvaṇī Melā · Kāṃvaḍ yātrā · Mahāśivarātri

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