Vaidyanath Temple, Deoghar

Baidyanath Jyotirlinga, Deoghar
Oil on canvas painting by William Hodges, 1782
Baidyanath Jyotirlinga, Deoghar Location in Jharkhand
Name
Other names	Baidhyanath Jyotirlinga Mandir
Proper name	Baba Vaidhyanath Mandir
Geography
Coordinates	24°29′33″N 86°42′00″E / 24.49250°N 86.70000°E / 24.49250; 86.70000Coordinates: 24°29′33″N 86°42′00″E / 24.49250°N 86.70000°E / 24.49250; 86.70000
Country	India
State	Jharkhand
District	Deoghar
Culture
Primary deity	Baba Baidhyanath (Shiva)
Important festivals	Maha Shivaratri, Sharabani Mela
Architecture
Number of temples	22
History and governance
Creator	Unknown( Bisawkarma as Mythology )
Temple board	Baba Baidyanath Temple Management Board
Website	babadham.org

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. As he acted as a doctor, he is referred to as Vaidhya ("doctor"). From this aspect of Shiva, the temple derives its name.

'Baidyanatham chithabhoomau' [sivmahapuran kotirudra samhita 1/21-24 and sivmahapuran satarudra samhita 42/1-4] is the ancient verse that identifies location of vaidyanth jyotirlinga. According to which Baidyantham is in 'chidabhoomi', which is the ancient name of Deoghar. In Dwadasa jyothirlinga sthothram, Adi Sankaracharya has praised Vaidyanath jyothirlinga in following verses,

This states that Vaidyanath jyotirlinga is located at Prajwalika nidhanam (meaning funeral place i.e., chithabhoomi) in the North-Eastern part of the country. Deoghar is far located in east compared to Parli which is in west central part of the country. Also Chidabhoomi indicates that, in olden days, this was a funeral place, where corpses are burnt and post-death ceremonies were performed. This place could have been a center of tantric cults like Kapalika/Bhairava where Lord Shiva is worshipped significantly as smasan vasin (meaning, residing in crematorium), sava bhasma bhushita (meaning, smearing body with ashes of burnt bodies).