Thursday, October 22, 2015

Baba Baidyanathdham, Deoghar, Jharkhand

Baidyanath Jyotirlinga
Baba Baidyanath Jyotirlinga at
Baba-Dham Deoghar

Fifth Jyotirlinga out of twelve mentioned in "Shiva-Purana"

               Baidyanathdham, Deoghar is the most important and the most visited Hindu religious place in the state of Jharkhand, India. The 90 km long "Kanwar Yatra" in the holy month of "Savan" (Hindu Calendars) from the north-flowing Ganga River at Sultangunj, Bihar to here Baidyanath-dham, Deoghar is not only world famous but also has been an inspiration to all "Kanwar Yatras" nowadays performed in different parts of the country. The popularity of this 'Yatra' is increasing year by year. In the holy month of "Savan," the number of devotees visiting the temple crosses the one lakh mark daily. Some reach here from Sultanganj on foot journey with a "Kanwar" on the shoulder in 3-4 days walking, some complete it within 24 hrs walking plus running as a "Dak-bum", some bring 'Ganga water' by vehicles and many directly come here and offer well-water to Baidyanath Shivalinga. On ordinary days the worship of Shiva is done by touching but due to the heavy rush in the month of "Savan", the administration restricts entry into the "Garbha-grih" and allows devotees (called bum) to have only 'darshan' from the "Choukhat" of the "Garbha-grih" and offer Holy water through a big "Argha". The Mondays of "Savan" see an even heavier rush of devotees and it is a big challenge for the administration to maintain order in such situation.  

The man going up the Shiva Temple for
"Gathbandhan Puja"

                 The  "Shivalinga" is one of the twelve "Jyotirlingas"  mentioned in "Shiva-purana". The names and places of  "Jyotirlingas" are composed in "Shloka" wherein it is thus said- "Paralyam Vaidyanatham". It means that the "jyotirlinga" of "Vaidyanath" is at "Parli". That is why some people say that the Shivalinga at "Parli, Maharashtra" is the fifth "jyotirlinga". But most people say that "Parli" means a land of pyres and in ancient times Deoghar was a land of funeral places. The claim of Deoghar to have "Baidyanath jyotirlinga" becomes more confirmed as Adi Shankaracharya has written about it as follows, 

पूर्वोत्तरे प्रज्ज्वलिका निधाने

सदा वसंतम गिरिजा समेतम

सुरासुर आराधिता पद पद्मम्

श्री वैद्यनाथं त्वामहं नमामि

Here too it is said that "Baidyanath jyotirlinga" is at "Prajjwalika Nidhane" (Meaning land of funeral places) and it is situated in the North-east. The place of Parali in Maharashtra is not in the North-Eastern region but Deoghar is. It also says "Sada vasantam Girija sametam" (meaning that he always resides there with Goddess Parvati  who is reborn Sati) and in the very temple complex of Baba Dham, Deoghar is a "Shaktipeeth" (51 places where parts of body of Sati had fallen). At this "Shaktipeeth" heart of Sati had fallen. This unique combination of  "Jyotirlinga and Shaktipeeth" makes "Baba Baidyanathdham", Deoghar very very special and important. 
Baba Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Temple at Babadham Deoghar, Jharkhand

               That is why when my children asked me to plan a journey in their vacation I took them to Deoghar and Basukinath. It was Christmas time and winter at its peak. We reached Jasidih railway station early in the morning of Xmas and took an auto to Deoghar. We stayed at a hotel about half a km from the Temple. We had stayed here on our earlier visits. Since we were five members we took two rooms that were connected. They called it a suite. The bathroom was spacious. We all got fresh, took our bath, and started on foot for the temple. The surroundings of the temple are very congested with numerous small shops, most of them selling "Peda, Mukund-dana" and "Badhhi" which devotees buy as "Prasad" after worship. These sellers would call you in competition to sell "Prasad". There is always a rush in these lanes. 

                 When going on foot the local priests called "Pundas" would ask devotees "Who is your Punda ?" It is so because they have been allotted regions all over India and abroad, and a devotee from a particular place would have his particular "Punda". I remember, in my childhood that so many asking about "Pundas" would irritate someone. They even maintain registers in which one may find his grandfather's names and signatures if they ever visited here. Whenever there is a dispute or poaching, these registers are opened to prove who is the real "Punda" of that devotee.

                   Since we had to go to "Basukinathdham" after the completion of worship here, so we took the very first "Punda" with us who asked the above question. Like all other "Pundas" he too guided us to take the "Sankalp" of worship and helped to enter the "Garbha-grih" of the temple where there is always a rush. They give you a person who guides and goes inside the temple with you and makes way for you in the heavy rush. He would walk backward with his face towards you and push the crowd with his back and hands and help to pour holy water with flowers over the "jyotirlinga" and touch it. One thing that may annoy the devotees here is that every here and there one may find people asking for money. At the very entrance of the temple, you will find a priest collecting coins from the devotees in the queue, and he will make it difficult if you do not hand over at least a Rs 1 or 2 coins per head. Priests sitting near the "jyotirlinga" will ask for at least Rs 10 and similarly near the big "Akhand Deep". When you come out of the Shiva temple from the exit gate another priest will ask for money. The same is the case with other temples on this campus. Not only the priests but sellers of many items will try to forcefully sell their items in the courtyard of the temple.

               We worshiped the "jyotirlinga" by touching it because here it is the importance of "Sparsh Puja". Then to "Parvati" temple. Inside this temple, there are two idols - one each of "Parvati" and "Durga"- placed on a three-foot high platform with steps in the front. There is no order maintained for incoming and outgoing devotees. First, you will get it difficult to go up to idols because returning people will be in front of you and when coming down again it is difficult because incoming people will be before you. Here too the guide provided by your "Punda" will help you.

                      After worshiping in this temple our "Punda" said that the "Puja" was over and asked for formalities so that they could look for other "Yajmaans" but we wanted to have 'darshan and Pujan' in some other temples too. So we requested him to wait for a while till we came back. Other temples do not have heavy rush so we went without a guide to some selected temples like "Bhairo, Suryanarayan, Saraswati, Bagalamukhi, Ram darbar, Annapurna, Kali, Narayan and Neelkanth Mahadev".  

                 There are some other special types of worship performed here for which you have to deposit a fixed amount at the management committee office and take the receipt. The same is the case with other Hindu Sanskaras. You can notice one or two Mundan Sanskaras going on on campus. 
The man reaches at top of Baba Temple
near "Panchshool" for "Gathbandhan Puja"
at Deoghar 

                  My wife desired to have "Gathbandhan Puja". So I gave "Pundaji" the required amount and he brought the receipt and arranged for it. A person came with a red tape with which we performed the "Sankalp" and the person began to ride on the 'Baba' Temple. It was such fun to see him going up with the help of a heavy chain. He went up to the very top where there is the "Kalash" and "Panchshool". (Yes! Unlike other Shiva Temples there is not a "Trishool" on the top of the temple but a "Panchshool", having five teeth). He fastened one end of the tape there and dropped it to us standing below. Each member of our family held it and took it unfolding near the "Parvati" temple. In the meantime, that person had come down from the Shiva temple. He took the other end of the tape from us and went up to the "Parvati" temple where he fastened it at the top and completed the "Gathbandhan". He had also untied another "Gathbandhan" tape from the top of both temples during this act and handed it over to us as "Prasad". After all these worships were completed we performed "Karpoor Aarti". We stood in front of the Baba Temple (Shiva Temple) holding a big spoon (Called Kalchhul in the local language) with burning camphor, singing the Aarti. Satisfied, we paid the dues of sellers like flower-wala, Sindoor-wala, Agarbatti-wala, etc, and donated to our "Pundaji" and receiving "Aashirwaad" from him we set off to "Baba Basukinathdham". We had hired a cab for the to and fro journey. You can read about "Baba Basukinathdham"   by clicking this link, 

 "Baba Basukinathdham" .     

                   On the return journey, we tried to visit "Trikoot Parvat" which is about 2 km off the main road. "Trikoot Parvat" is the name of the hill on which Lanka of Ravana was situated. This name comes from Ramayana. But that "Trikoot Parvat" is believed to be in Sri Lanka. It seems that this name given to the hill is due to the link of Baidyanath Jyotirlinga to Ravana. (This Jyotirlinga is said to have been placed here by  Ravana ,the demon king of Lanka. A brief story is being given below.) When we reached near the hill, we were surprised to see such a heavy rush. It was Christmas day and last week of the year when a large number of people go out for picnic and holidaying. There was a long queue for the rope-way. So we refreshed ourselves here and took rest for half an hour. A large number of monkeys were attracting visitor's attention. We returned back to our hotel and took rest till evening.
The Holy-well called "Chandrakoop" in the Babadham Temple complex.
The steel cover of the well in the shape of a "Shivalinga"

Ravaneshwar Mahadeva

Ravana was a great devotee of Shiva. He had got a boon from "Brahma" that was very near to immortality. Now he wanted to bring Shiva (his est-deva, favorite god) to his kingdom of Lanka so that he could worship him daily and no one could attack Lanka due to Shiva. But Shiva had to perform his important role as a part of Trideva. Neither His family nor other gods wanted Him to go there. But Ravana requested and insisted, So Mahadeva told him that He personally wont go there but gave him a Shivalinga to place in Lanka that would be as divine as Shiva Himself. But there was a condition - that he will not place it on the earth till he reaches Lanka, otherwise the 'Shivalinga' will be installed for ever at the place where it is kept on the ground. Ravana happily took the 'Shivalinga' and set on the way to Lanka. This made the gods afraid and they planned to trick Ravana so that 'Shivalinga' could not reach Lanka. They chose Ganesha, the god of intelligence, to do this job. He disguised himself as a village boy and followed Ravana from a distance. When Ravana got thirsty due to the heavy weight of 'Shivalinga', Taking this opportunity Ganesha offered him a pot of water which Ravana accepted. But that was not an ordinary pot of water. God Varuna (god of water and ocean) himself had put the water of a full pond to adjust inside it. After some time when he reached the present-day Baba-dham, Deoghar (it was a dense forest then) Ravana felt an intense urge to urinate. Ganesha this time, disguised as a brahmin came from the opposite direction whom Ravana requested to hold the 'Shivalinga' for a while in his lap so that he could attend this natures call. He warned the brahmin not to keep it on the ground whatever may be the situation and the brahmin asked him to return back soon because it was too heavy to hold for a long time. When Ravana started, the water of a whole pond inside him began to come out and he could get relief only when the process was complete. But it took quite a long time and when he came back he saw the 'Shivalinga' put on the ground by the brahmin. He tried hard to lift it up but in vain. 'Shivalinga' was installed there. It is said that in frustration Ravana hit the 'Shivalinga' with his fist which resulted in moving down of 'Shivalinga' further into the ground and only a part of it remained above the ground. That divine 'Shivalinga' is the "Baidyanath Jyotirlinga" of Deoghar and due to this association of Ravana in bringing it here, it is also called "Ravaneshwar Mahadeva". One may notice the height of  'Shivalinga' is less in comparison to the width here.

              In the evening we again visited the Baba temple. It was the time of "Shrigar Puja" and "Sandhya Arti". The 'Shivalinga' is decorated beautifully with different types of flowers, 'Bail-leaves', sandalwood paste, and perfumes, and then 'Arti' is performed. You will find a heavy rush in a small place taking part in this occasion. In the courtyard, there was no rush no hurry, and it was the time when one could feel and enjoy the divine peace here.    

               Next morning we planned to visit nearby places but before that it was agreed that we shall again do the morning worship in the Baba temple. We first went to "Shivaganga", the holy pond near the temple complex. Though some people take a bath in this pond before going to the temple, we simply sprinkled its water over us because we had already taken our bath at the hotel. Then we headed towards the temple. On way to it we got another "Pundaji" following us asking the same question - "Who is your Punda?" He was fluent in Bengali language, perhaps his allocated area was in Bengal from where most of his "Yajmans" came. We took him for our today's worship. He helped to enter the temples and perform the worship.                          

              Back from the temple, we were hungry so we went to a restaurant near the tower chowk. There are good restaurants here and also near the old railway station of Baidyanathdham. Next we decided to visit the nearby places- Tapovan and Nawlakha Temple. I will write about that visit in the coming blogs. 

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