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Baijnath Temple

A Shiva temple dedicated to Shiva Vaidyanatha, associated with mythology. It is supposed to be the temple where Ravana Worshipped Shiva to gain immortality. The Baijnath s supposed to be one of the twelve 'Jyotirlingas' and is thronged with pilgrims at the festival of Shivratri.

One of the most remarkable monuments of the Kangra valley is the temple of Baijnath. Baijnath is situated East of Dharamsala on the main road that leads from the Dharmsala to Mandi. Baijnath is in reality the appellation of the chief temple dedicated to Siva Vaidyanatha (“Lord of Physicians”) by which the town itself has become known. The original name of the town was Kiragrama. This we learn from the two extensive Sarada inscriptions incised on stone slabs, which in elegant and florid Sanskrit verse give the history of the foundation of a temple, by two local merchants. "There is in Trigarata," we read in the inscription, "the pleasent village of Kiragrama, the home of numerous virtues where the river called Binduka, leaping from the lap of the mountain, with glittering wide-waves resembling playing-balls, merrily plays, like a bright maiden in the first bloom of youth. That village is protected by the strong-armed Rajanaka Lakshmana." The river Binduka, so well described by the poet, is the modern Binwa, a tributary of the Beas. The date of the inscription is expressed both in the Saptarshi and in the Saka eras. Cunningham first read the Saka date as 726, coresponding with A.D. 804. The true date, however, must be the Saka year 1126 corresponding with A.D .1204. 

Major Temples in North India
	Akshar Dham		Kashi Vishwanath Temple
	Bahai Temple		Khajuraho Temples
	Baijnath Temple		Lotus Temple
	Birla Mandir		Naina Devi Temple
	Bodhi Temple		Omkareshwar Temple
	Chattarpur Mandir		Shankracharya Temple
	Dilwara Temple		Somnath Temple
	Dwarkadhish Temple		Sun Temple - Konark
	Eklingji Temple		Sun Temple - Modhera
	Golden Temple		Vaishno Devi
	Jwalamukhi Temple