Deoghar

Deoghar, the abode of the gods, is a pilgrimage town centred on the shrine of Shiva as Baidyanath, the divine physician. Its sacred linga is revered among the twelve jyotirlingas. A group of smaller shrines surrounds the main temple, and pilgrims bring water from the Ganges at Sultanganj to offer at the shrine.

A local legend tells that Ravana won a linga from Shiva on condition that he never set it down on the journey to Lanka. Forced to stop, he entrusted it to a cowherd, who placed it on the ground at Deoghar, where it remained. The rulers of Gidhaur were patrons of the shrine. Tradition attributes work on the temple to Raja Puran Mal in the late sixteenth century, although the history of its original construction is less certain.