Holy Pilgrimage to Swayambhoo Jyotirlingam of Lord Shiva at Vaidyanath in India

There are total 12 Swayambhoo Jyotirlingams of Lord Shiva in India. These Shiva lingams have been produced naturally and have not been created artificially. One of these Lord Shiva Jyotirlingams is Vaidyanath. Vaidyanath is one of the names of Lord Shiva. This temple is also called Devgadh temple of Lord Shiva. Most of the lord Shiva followers have their heart's desire to visit all 12 Shiva Jyotirlingams during their life time.

I was lucky to visit this Vaidyanath temple in State of Uttar Pradesh in January, 2008 during my trip to India. Vaidyanath is a railway station On Delhi-Banaras railway line at around 345 miles away from Delhi. This temple is located in The Santhal district. There is a thick forest of Danta all around this temple. There is a Mountain Nanda on one side of the temple and the Mountain of Chitrakut on other two sides. The holy river of Yamuna Jor is flowing on the fourth side of the temple. It is said that King Ravana of Lanka had built this temple. It is also said that Goddess Parvati liked this place too much. Once Lord Vishnu had cut the dead body of Goddess Parvati in to 52 pieces and the heart of the goddess Parvati had fallen here at Vaidyanath. Hence, this place is also called heart Peeth. This temple is located in the middle of a large ground made of stone. There are other 22 temples all around the main temple of Lord Vaidyanath. There is also a lake, called Shivganga Lake near this temple. All the pilgrims take bath first in this lake and then only proceed for the Darshnas of Lord Shiva inside the temple. The Shiva lingam at this temple is very large of around 4 feet size. The holy water of River Ganga is dropped on Shiva lingam here. You can get Gangajal here on sale just outside the temple. There is a closed water storage known as Shivakund in the North of this temple. This kund is filled with the holy waters from all the main rivers of India. All types of skin diseases get completely cured by taking a bath here at this kund. There is a deep well, called Chandrakup in the front of the main gate of this temple. This well is said to be going up to the Patal lok. It remains full of water at all times of the year since last thousands of years. The exact water source of this well is not known to anybody. King Ravana had built this well. Most of the pilgrims come here at this temple so as to pray for son or daughter after their marriage due to the grace of Lord Shiva.

There is a very heavy rush of pilgrims here around Mahashivratri day, which is the birthday of Lord Shiva. The large fair is also held here on this auspicious day and thousands of pilgrims visit this temple during this fair. You can get the rarest rudrax here as there is lot of crop of rudrax growing near by in the Danta forest. However, please take help of a suitable guide while buying rare rudrax as otherwise you may be cheated. There are some small hotels available here to stay. However, the facilities offered by these hotels are very limited and the persons used to avail such facilities may not find it comfortable. The standard North Indian food varieties are available at these hotels. However, such items are very spicy and may not be suitable to all. Try to bring some dry snacks and food items with you so as to avoid the local food. Make sure to consume the bottled mineral drinking water as the water available here is quite contaminated. It may not be necessary to stay for a night halt here. You can reach here in the morning hours and start back in the evening train back to Delhi.

As this temple is located slightly in the interior side, the numbers of pilgrims visiting this place are slightly less. However, if you can get proper guidance on how to reach here conveniently, then there may not be any problems. The best option to reach to this temple is by train, getting down at Vaidyanath railway station. If you are fond of taking adventurous trips, you must visit this holy temple during your next trip to India.