Baijnath (Kangra), July 29 (UNI) Devotees of Lord Shiva in thousands thronged the famous Baijnath temple in Baijnath town in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh on Monday to pay obeisance at the feet of Lord Shiva on the second Monday of Shravan Month despite rains.
Surinder Acharya, a temple priest, told UNI that the devotees had been in queues since morning at 0230 hrs, despite rains in the town. Surinder said that in the morning, when the rain stopped, more and more pilgrims reached the temple to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva. Baijnath temple is famous because Ravna had done his penance, and Hawna came here to seek the blessing of Lord Shiva.
As per the scriptures, Ravana beheaded himself and offered his ten heads at the feet of Lord Shiva here, but Lord Shiva, pleased by the penance of Ravana, put his heads back and reconstructed them, so Lord Shiva is called Vaidyanath, and later on, the name of Lord Shiva got changed to Baijnath.
This temple town is famous for its name, Baijnath. Baijnath town is also renowned for not celebrating Dussehra in the town. The people here feel that Ravana too was a great scholar and well-read personality, and he was blessed by Lord Shiva too, so the people of the Baijnath town do not celebrate Dushara, and the effigy of Ravana is not set ablaze in this temple town.
So much so that there is no goldsmith shop in this town because they claim that Lord Hanuman burned the Golden Lanka of Ravana, so they keep themselves away from this trade of gold.
There are a lot of goldsmith shops in Paprola town on the other side of the Binnwa River.
During the Shrawan month, on Mondays, unmarried girls visit the temple and pay obeisance there to get suitable matches for their lives. The common people are also blessed in the temple on Mondays of the Shravan month.
