01Ravana’s linga
Ravana did tapas on Kailash and offered his heads one by one into the fire. Shiva, pleased, healed him, which is why he is Vaidyanath, the physician, and gave him a linga to take to Lanka on the condition that it must not touch the ground on the way. The devas sent Varuna into Ravana’s belly; seized by the need to relieve himself, Ravana handed the linga to a cowherd, who was Bhagwan Vishnu in disguise, and the cowherd set it down. The linga never moved again. Deoghar is also counted as the Hridaya Peetha, where Sati’s heart fell, so the temple of Jaya Durga stands in the same courtyard, tied to Shiva’s spire by a sacred thread.
02The Shravani Mela
Through the month of Shravan, kanwariyas in saffron fill pots at the Ganga at Sultanganj in Bihar and carry them on bamboo poles about 105 km to Deoghar, never setting them down on the ground. The fastest, the dak bam, run the whole way without stopping. The water is poured on Baba Baidyanath. Some traditions place the Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga at Parli in Maharashtra; both are honoured by their devotees. Basukinath, about 45 km away, is visited to complete the pilgrimage.
Darshan is crowded in Shravan (July–August); queues can run for hours. The nearest airport is Deoghar; Jasidih is the railway junction.
