Shivratri fest at Baijnath temple from Feb 17

DHARAMSALA: The fiveday statelevel Shivaratri festival will be held at the ancient Baijnath temple from February 17 to 21

Updated At : 05:55 AM Feb 09, 2015 IST

<p>The ancient Lord Shiva Temple in Baijnath.</p>

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, February 8

The five-day state-level Shivaratri festival will be held at the ancient Baijnath temple from February 17 to 21. The festival will witness participation of cultural artistes from across the state.

The ancient temple of Lord Shiva (Baijnath) is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, giving the town its name.

As per the legend, it is believed that during the Treta Yuga, Ravana worshiped Lord Shiva on Mount Kailash and offered his 10 heads to the almighty to please him. Influenced by Ravana’s extraordinary deed, Lord Shiva not only restored his heads, but also bestowed him with powers of invincibility and immortality, it is believed.

Ravana also requested Lord Shiva to accompany him to Lanka. Lord Shiva agreed and converted himself into a “Linga”. The Lord asked Ravana not to place the “Linga” down on his way to Lanka. Ravana started moving in the south direction and reached Baijnath where he felt the need to answer nature’s call. On seeing a shepherd, Ravana handed over the “Linga” to him. On finding the “Linga” heavy, the shepherd kept it on the ground and thus was established there.

The Baijnath Temple is believed to have been constructed in 1204 AD by two merchants — Ahuka and Manyuka. Two inscriptions in the porch of the temple indicate that it existed even before the present one was constructed. It is a beautiful example of the medieval temple architecture. The structure is now under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India.

People in the town do not burn the effigy of Ravana on Dashera as the devil king was a devotee of Lord Shiva. Residents believe that burning Ravana’s effigy will bring bad luck for them. Even markets remain closed both in Baijnath and Paprola on Dashera.

Baijnath residents claim that some people tried to celebrate Dashera about a decade ago and they burnt the effigy of Ravana, but all of them died within a year. The people took it as a wrath of Lord Shiva and nobody dared to celebrate the festival again.

Another interesting thing about Baijnath is that there is no shop of goldsmith in the town.