Baijnath temple is a stone Shiva temple in Kangra district, built in 1204 by two local merchants, Ahuka and Manyuka, with the Dhauladhar standing right behind it. Shiva is worshipped here as Vaidyanath, the lord of physicians, and that is where the town gets its name.
It is about 55 km from us, east along the valley past Palampur, and it is one of the places in Kangra we would not skip. Here is its history, the Ravana story that goes with it, and what you need to know to visit.
The history of Baijnath temple
We know when the temple was built because it tells us itself. There are two long inscriptions inside the hall — one in Sanskrit in the Sharada script, and one in the local Pahari language in the Takri script. They record the building of the temple, name the king of the time, Jaya Chandra, and call Kangra by its old name, Nagarkot. Baijnath itself was called Kiragrama then.
The temple is built in the Nagara style of north India: a tall, curved spire over the shrine, and a hall in front of it. The outer walls are covered with carved figures, and a lot of the carving has lasted well.
It has had help along the way. In 1786 Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra had the spire and the outer roof rebuilt. The great Kangra earthquake of 1905, which destroyed so much in this valley, did only minor damage here — to the roof of the main temple and to the small shrines in the courtyard. Today the Archaeological Survey of India looks after it.
The Ravana story
The story told in Baijnath is about Ravana. He worshipped Shiva for a long time and asked him to come and live in Lanka. Shiva agreed to go with him in the form of a lingam, on one condition — it must not be put down anywhere on the way. Ravana had to set it down here, and once it touched the ground it would not move again. That, the story goes, is the lingam in Baijnath.
The Baidyanath temple at Deoghar in Jharkhand tells the same story about itself.
Two things Baijnath does not do
It does not burn Ravana at Dussehra. All over north India, Ravana's effigy is burnt on Dussehra. Not in Baijnath. Ravana was Shiva's devotee and worshipped him here, and the town does not burn him.
It has no goldsmiths. There is no goldsmith's shop in Baijnath, and nobody can quite say why. The belief is that gold loses its shine here.
Khir Ganga ghat
Below the temple, on the bank of the Binwa river, is Khir Ganga ghat. Devotees bathe here, and many families immerse ashes here, which is why you will hear it called a small Haridwar. The belief is that the water has passed under the lingam before it comes out at the ghat.
Baijnath temple timings and entry
- Open every day, roughly 6 am to 12 noon, and again from 2 pm to 9 pm.
- Entry is free.
- On Mahashivratri the temple stays open through the night.
- Shoes come off outside.
Timings can shift with the season, so if you are cutting it close, check before you go.
When to visit
Any time of year. Baijnath is at about 1,000 metres, so summers are warm and winters are cold but clear. October and November give the clearest skies, and between December and March a clear morning puts snow on the Dhauladhar behind the spire.
Mahashivratri, in February or March, is the big day — a fair, big crowds, and the temple open all night. Come for it if you want the festival. Avoid it if you want the temple. Makar Sankranti in January and Baisakhi in April are also celebrated here.
How to reach Baijnath from Kangra
By road, Baijnath is about 55 km from us, east on the highway through Palampur. It is an ordinary road the whole way.
By train, Baijnath is on the Kangra Valley narrow-gauge line, and the station is Baijnath Paprola. If you are not in a hurry, the train through the tea gardens is the nicer way to arrive — our post on the railway has more.
What else is near Baijnath
- Bir is about 12 km further on — paragliding, the Tibetan colony and its monasteries. See things to do in Bir.
- Palpung Sherabling, the monastery founded by the Tai Situpa in 1975, is in the forest off the road towards Mandi.
- Tatwani, the hot spring in the forest above Baijnath, is a walk of about three km from the road end past Deol. See the two Tatwani hot springs.
- Palampur's tea gardens are on the way back.
Where to stay
Baijnath and Palampur make one good day from us, and you are back by evening. Rooms are ₹999 a night, or ₹1,699 with air conditioning. If you want an early start, tell us the night before and breakfast will be ready before you leave.