The temple of the healer
Drive east from Palampur through the tea country and you reach Baijnath, a small town on the Binwa river with the Dhauladhar standing behind it. In the middle of town is a stone temple that has been in worship for more than eight hundred years. Its name tells you who lives there: Vaidyanath, the lord of physicians. Shiva, the healer.
Guests on the Palampur road often ask us why this town is different. Why no Ravana burns here at Dussehra. Why there is not a single goldsmith’s shop in the bazaar. The answer to both is one old story, and it goes like this.
Ravana, the Shivling and the shepherd
Long ago, Ravana, the king of Lanka and a great devotee of Shiva, sat in hard tapasya to win Shiva’s blessing. When Shiva did not appear, Ravana began to offer his own heads into the sacred fire, one by one. Before the last one could fall, Shiva appeared, stopped him, and made him whole again. That healing is why Shiva is worshipped here as Vaidyanath.
But Ravana wanted more. He asked Shiva to come and live in Lanka. Shiva agreed, and took the form of a lingam for Ravana to carry home, on one condition: it must not touch the ground anywhere on the way. At Baijnath, Ravana had to stop to relieve himself. He handed the lingam to a shepherd and asked him to hold it. The lingam grew too heavy for the shepherd, and he set it down on the earth. It never moved again. Shiva had chosen to stay in the valley.
Why Baijnath doesn’t burn Ravana
Across India, Dussehra ends with Ravana’s effigy going up in flames. Not in Baijnath. Here, Ravana is remembered as the devotee whose tapasya brought Shiva to this valley, so the town does not burn him. The Dussehra celebrations you see everywhere else simply do not happen here, and the market stays shut on the day.
For a traveller, it is a rare thing to see: a town where the story is not just told inside the temple, but lived in the bazaar.
Why there’s no goldsmith in Baijnath
Walk through the Baijnath bazaar and you will find sweet shops, cloth shops and puja stalls, but no sunar. The goldsmith’s trade has never taken root here, and the reason goes back to the same story.
Ravana’s Lanka was a city of gold, and he wanted to take Shiva away to it. But Shiva, the story says, treated gold as no different from any other stone. He chose to stay where nature was at its best: here, below the Dhauladhar, beside the Binwa. Because of that disagreement between the Lord and his devotee, nobody in Baijnath has ever wanted to open a goldsmith’s shop.
Ask your driver to slow down through the bazaar, and see for yourself.
Built by two merchants in 1204
The temple you see today was built in 1204 AD by two local merchants, Ahuka and Manyuka, who were devotees of Shiva. We know this because they said so. Long inscriptions on the temple porch praise Shiva, and name the two merchants, the king of the time and the craftsmen who carved the stone. The same inscriptions say that a shrine to Shiva stood on this spot even before them.
Take your time walking around it. It is built in the Nagara style of north India, with a tall, curved stone tower, the shikhara, over the sanctum and a pillared hall in front. The walls are covered in fine carving, and the shikhara rises against the Dhauladhar behind. It is one of the most beautiful old temples in the valley, and it has stood through centuries of earthquakes, rains and winters.
The old name of Baijnath
Long before it was called Baijnath, the town was known as Kiragrama. It grew up around the temple, and in time it took its name from the god it keeps: Vaidyanath, worn down over the centuries into Baijnath. Even the name of the town carries the story of the healer.
Before you go in
Baijnath is a living temple, not a monument, so dress simply and cover your shoulders and knees. Shoes come off outside. Photography is usually not allowed inside the sanctum, so put your phone away once you are in, and ask before you take pictures anywhere in the temple.
Carry some coins and small notes for the offering, and flowers if you like; the stalls near the temple sell everything you need for the puja. Mornings are the calmest time, and evenings bring the aarti.
If you are travelling with elders, it is an easy darshan: the temple stands in the town itself, with no long climb to reach it.
The water, and the healing
Because Shiva is the healer here, many devotees believe the water of Baijnath carries his blessing and is good for health. Whether you come for faith or for history, sit for a while in the temple courtyard with the mountains behind you. It is one of the calmest places in the valley.
Mahashivratri is the biggest day of the year at Baijnath, when the town fills with devotees. For a quieter darshan, come early in the morning on any ordinary day.
Fitting Baijnath into your day
Baijnath fits best as part of a longer day. Our Chamunda Devi, Palampur and Baijnath day circuit links it with Chamunda Devi and the Palampur tea gardens in one loop from Kangra or Dharamshala. It also sits right on the road to Bir, so a darshan on the way to the paragliding hills of Bir Billing is easy.
Baijnath sits in the middle of some of the best of the Kangra valley. The tea gardens of Palampur are just behind you, the paragliders of Bir are just ahead, and on a clear day the Dhauladhar fills the whole horizon. A few hours here, a simple thali in the bazaar and a slow drive back through the tea country make one of the gentlest days you can have in Himachal. Andretta, the old village of artists and potters, is a short detour on the same road.
Tell us if you want the morning or the evening aarti, and we will set the day around it. Har Har Mahadev.