01The merchants’ temple
Two long Sanskrit prashastis in the porch tell that the brothers Manyuka and Ahuka built the temple in 1204, under Raja Lakshmanachandra of Kiragrama, as the town was then called. The shikhara rises in the north Indian curvilinear form over a square sanctum, with a vestibule and a mandapa in front; the outer niches carry Surya, Kartikeya, Chamunda and Kalyanasundara, the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. The town took the name of its god, Baijnath.
02Ravana’s town
The local katha links the linga to Ravana, who carried Shiva from Kailash and was made to set him down on the way. Out of respect for Ravana as Shiva’s devotee, Baijnath does not burn his effigy at Dussehra, and people say goldsmiths do not keep shops here. Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra repaired the temple in 1786. It was damaged in the Kangra earthquake of 1905 and restored by the Archaeological Survey, which protects it today. Shivaratri draws a fair of several days.
The life of this place
- 1204 CEManyuka and Ahuka build the temple (prashastis in the temple).
- 1786 CERaja Sansar Chand of Kangra repairs the temple.
- 4 April 1905Kangra earthquake damages the temple; later restored by the ASI.
Baijnath town on the Pathankot–Mandi road, 50 km east of Dharamshala; Baijnath Paprola is on the Kangra Valley narrow-gauge line.
