Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga temple, also known as ''Baba dham'' and ''Baidyanath dham'' is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the most sacred abodes of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. The location of Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga is disputed. The claimed locations are: *

Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, Deoghar Vaidyanatha Jyotirlinga temple, also known as ''Baba Baidyanath dham'' and ''Baidyanath dham'' is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the most sacred abodes of Shiva. It is located in Deoghar in the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkha ...

, Jharkhand *

Shri Vaijnath Temple Shri Vaijnath Temple (Marathi श्री वैजनाथ मंदिर ) is an ancient Shiva temple located at Parli Vaijnath in Beed district Beed district (Marathi pronunciation: iːɖ is an administrative district in the state ...

Parli, Maharashtra Parli Vaijnath is a city and a municipal council in Beed district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the headquarters of the Parli taluka of Beed district. It is a holy city of sacred importance where many historical places still exist. ...

*Baijnath temple,

Baijnath, Himachal Pradesh Baijnath is a town in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. It is about 50 kilometres from Dharamshala which is the district headquarters. The ancient temple of Lord Shiva (Baijnath) is situated here giving the town its name . Geography Baijn ...

In Dwadasa jyothirlinga sthothram,

Adi Sankaracharya Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...

has praised Vaidyanath jyothirlinga in following verses,

Poorvothare prajwalika nidhane
sada vasantham girija sametham
surasuraradhitha padapadmam
srivaidyanatham thamaham namami

This states that Vaidyanath jyotirlinga is at Prajwalika nidhanam (meaning funeral place i.e., chithabhoomi) in the North-Eastern part of the country. Deoghar is far in

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

compared to

which is in west central part of the country today at

Beed Beed (Marathi pronunciation: iːɖ is a city in Marathwada region of Maharashtra state in India. It is the administrative headquarters in Beed district. History Beed is a historical city of possibly medieval origin. Its early history is o ...

. Also ''Chidabhoomi'' indicates that, in olden days, this was a funeral place, where corpses are burnt and post-death ceremonies were performed. This place could have been a centre of tantric cults like

Kapalika The Kāpālika tradition was a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in Medieval India between the 7th and 8th century CE. The word is derived from the Sanskrit term '' kapāla'', meaning "skull", and ''kāpālika'' means ...

Bhairava Bhairava (Sanskrit: भैरव ) or Kala Bhairava is a Shaivite and Vajrayāna deity worshiped by Hindus and Buddhists. In Shaivism, he is a powerful manifestation, or avatar, of Shiva associated with annihilation. In Trika system ''Bhaira ...

where

is worshipped significantly as ''smasan vasin'' (meaning, residing in crematorium), ''sava bhasma bhushita'' (meaning, smearing body with ashes of burnt bodies). This ''

Śloka Shloka or śloka ( sa, श्लोक , from the root , Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927). in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is ...

'' is true but the reference is for North East part of this

Āryāvarta Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, lit. "abode of the Aryas",

by which Baidyanath Dham is in northern region.

References

Jyotirlingas {{Hindu-temple-stub