Famous Temples in India

Architecture

A part of a complex consisting of 22 temples, Baba Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar is one of the twelve sacred jyotirlingas. The temple’s name has a very interesting story behind it. It is believed that Ravana offered his ten heads to Shiva on this very site. It was here that Shiva got impressed and offered him the boons that Ravana used as weapons later. Since, he mended the injuries of Ravana, he came to be known as ‘Vaidya’ giving the Dham the name of Baidyanath.The temple faces the east and is a plain stone structure with a pyramidal tower, which is 72 ft high. Atop it are three compactly set gold vessels, along with a punchshula (five knives in a trident shape). There is also an eight-petaled lotus called Chandrakanta Mani.

Shravan Mela - The famous Shravan Mela is the most celebrated 30 day festival. It usually is celebrated between July & August. Millions of devotees from different parts of India visit this shrine every year and offer holy water of ganges to the deity collected from Sultanganj which is 108km from Baidyanath. The water is also brought by Kanvarias who carry water in Kavadi and walk barefooted all the way to Baidyanath Temple. Large fleet of people with saffron-dyed clothes are seen marching 108km for the whole month. The Pilgrims do not stop even once during their journey from Sultanganj and are called as Dak Bam. The devotees then take blessings from all the gods and goddesses and find peace.

Temple of Jayadurga - Jayadurga Temple at Baidyanath is the place where Sati’s Heart had fallen. Here Sati is worshipped as Jai Durga and Lord Bhairav as Vaidyanath or Baidyanath. The Shakthi Peeth is popularly known as Baidyanath Dham or Baba Dham. Since the heart of Sati fell here, the place is also called as Hardapeetha. Lord Bhairav as Vaidyanath is worshipped as one of the important twelve Jyotirlingas. Jai durga Shakti Peeth is known as Chitabhumi. It is said that while lord Shiva was wandering in the universe with the body of Sati, heart of Sat had fallen at this place. That time, lord Shiva performed the cremation of her heart. Hence, this place is called Chita Bhumi. Within the temple the idols of Durga and Parvathi are present on a rock stage. People usually climb it up and offer flowers and milk to the goddesses. Many Tantriks worshiped Jayadurga and got her blessings. Here Jaganmata is worshiped in two forms. The first one being Tripura Sundari / Tripura Bhairavi and the second one being Chinnamasta. Tripura sundari is worshiped with Ganesh as Rishi and Chinnamasta is worshiped with Ravanasura as Rishi. Within the campus, Jayadurga Shaktipeeth is present exactly opposite to the main temple of Vaidyanath. Both the temples are connected by red colored silk threads in their tops.

Total No. of Temples -  This temple complex consists of 22 temples as follows 1.Baba Baidyanath Temple 2. Maa Kali Temple 3. Maa Annapurna Temple 4. Lakshmi Narayana Temple 5. Neel Kantha Temple 6. Maa Parvathi Temple 7. Maa Jagat Jananai Temple 8. Ganesh Temple 9. Brahma Temple , 10. Maa Sandhya Temple 11. Kal Bhairav Temple 12. Hanuman Temple 13. Manasa Temple 14. Maa Saraswathi Temple 15. Surya Narayan Temple 16. Maa Bagla Temple 17. Narvadeshwara Temple 18. Sri Ram Temple 19. Maa Ganga Temple 20. Anand Bhairav Temple 21. Gauri Shankar Temple 22. Maa Tara Temple