Shiv Mandir Baijnath - Baijnath

Situated on the foothills of the Dhauladhar Ranges on the left bank of the river Binwa lies Baijnath. Originally known as Kiragrama, Baijnath was a frontier post, as far back as the beginning of the 13th century. The name suggests that the village owes its origin to a settlement of Kiras, a war-like tribe from Kashmir.

It is believed that during the Treta Yug, Ravana tried to propitiate Lord Shiva by performing penance at Kailash. When his prayers went unanswered he went to Kurah (believed to be Manimahesh in Chamba Distt.) and started sacrificing his ten heads. Lest he attained Rudra status and became immortal and invincible, the Devas prayed to Lord Shiva to stop Ravana, . At the behest of the Devas, Shiva not only stopped Ravana but also restored his ten heads and hence came to be known as Shri Vaidyanath. On being granted a boon by Shiva, Ravana asked for incomparable power and permission to carry him and consecrate him in Lanka. Shiva agreed but on the condition that they should not stop on the way. On Ravana’s request, Shiva assumed the form of a Ling in two parts. Putting the parts in a carry basket Ravana started walking south. As he reached the Gokarn area (Baijnath) he felt an urgent need to relieve himself. Seeing a cowherd he handed over the basket with the request that it should not be placed on the ground. As Ravana delayed in returning and finding the basket to be heavy, the cowherd placed it on the ground and thus the Linga got established at Baijnath, one half as Vaidyanath and the other as Chandrabhal.

When Daksha Prajapati humiliated Shiva, his son-in-law, Sati gave up her body in protest. A dis¬traught and angry Shiva kept wandering over the earth with Sati’s body in his arms. To bring him back to reason, Vishnu cut Sati’s body into pieces which fell at 51 places and are today revered as Shakti Piths. On the 23rd spot fell the abdominal part of Sati and so was created the Gokarn Kshetra or Baijnath

Archaeology

Two inscriptions found in the temple suggest that the temple was built by two wealthy brothers named Ma¬nyuka and Ahuka who were mer¬chants under Lakshmana Chandra, Lord of Kiragrama, and brother-in-law of Jayachandra, King of Jalandhara or Trigarta in the year A.D. 1204.

Architecture

The temple stands in a walled enclosure about 120 ft. long, 60 ft. wide at the east end and 75 ft. at the west. Oriented due west, the main temple consists of a mandapa (hall) separated from the sanctum sanctorum by a small antechamber. The shrine is cov¬ered by a spire built in the Shikhara style. In front of the mandapa is a porch resting on four columns. Both the south and north wall of the man¬dapa are adorned with a graceful bal¬cony window. It has generally been as¬sumed that the temple underwent ad¬ditions and repairs during the reign of Raja Sansar Chand ruler of the Kan¬gra valley (A.D.1776-1824). The tem¬ple yard contains a number of minor structures which received damage during the earthquake of 1905. They include rooms for priests and temples of Murlimanohar, Jamadagni, Bhairava, Narmadeshwar. The outer walls of the sanctum are enriched with niches which contain image slabs depicting serially (1) Brahma, (2) DharmaRaj doing justice, (3) Marriage of Shiva, (4) Saras- wati, (5) Vayu, (6) Mahisasur being destroyed, (7) Durga, (8) Hanuman, (9) unknown, (10) Kartikeya on his peacock carrier, (11) Durga Shakti, (12) Kuber, (13) Surya and his seven horses, (14) Indrani. (15) Balaknath, (16) Indrani, (17) MahaTara , (18) Indrani, (19) Yama, (19-A) Matsya Avtar, (20) Laxmi, (21) Pitambri Devi locally known as Dhan-dash – diety of Holi, (22) Brijeshwari Devi, (2 3) LaxmiNarayan- Ardhnarieshwar on Garuda, (24) Ardhnarieshwar ShivParvati, (25) Rad- haKrishna, (26) Vishnu on Nag Somya, (27) Bhairon, (28) ShivParvati, (29) ShivParvati, (30-32) RadhaKrishna Temple, (33) Lax– miNarayan, (34) Unknown, (35)Yamuna, (36)Ganga, (37-38)Unknown, (39)LaxmiNaraya,n, (40) Ganesh, (41) Mahavir Jain, (42) Eight handed Bhavani Durga, (43-46) Unknown, (47) Ganesh, (48) Parvati, (49) Ha-numan, (50) LaxmiNarayan on Ga-ruda.