July 30, 2013: Nilu, my wife and I left for India on November 29, 2005 with the main purpose of visiting all the Hindu temples of South India. A 15 day trip to South India was planned and arranged by a well known travel agency in Delhi through their web site. The pilgrimage was to start on December 7, my birthday. On our arrival in Delhi we were informed by the travel agency that the entire south India was experiencing a much unexpected flood situation and hence, we have to either postpone our trip or cancel it altogether. We then decided to go to Mumbai to visit the Siddhi Vinayak Temple. That did not work out either. I will spare you with the details.

On my birthday when I was chanting Mahamrityunjay Mantra, it suddenly downed on me that Baba Baidyanath, one of the 12 Jyotirlingams of Lord Shiva located at Deoghar is calling me to worship Him and that is why He is creating all these problems with our planned trips. After convincing Nilu about my inner voice, we departed Delhi for Deoghar on December 8 arriving over there on December 9. The following day Nilu and I did the Abhishekam of Baba Baidyanath Jyotirlingam and planned to do the Abhishekam again before I departed from Deoghar. But, Baba had planned something else for me.

As soon as I touched the Lingam, a unique feeling overpowered me and forced me to promise Baba Baidyanath to do His Abhishekam every day of my stay in Deoghar. Consequently, I ended up doing the Abhishekam every morning at 7 am by walking on foot about a kilometer from Nilu’s birthplace. My daily Abhishekam continued for five weeks culminating on January 14, Makar Sankranti day.

Shakti Abhishekam

Although I had originally planned to do the Abhishekam of only the Jyotirlingam, I was convinced by the priests in the shrine to do the Abhishekam of Lord Ganesh and Ma Kali also on a daily basis. For those of you, who have not visited Baba Baidyanathdham, let me tell you that the temple is situated in a spacious courtyard bounded by stone walls. In the temple complex are twenty two other temples. The Baidyanath temple faces east. The top of the original Shiva Lingam was slightly broken, keeping with the legend that it chipped away when Ravana tried to uproot it (Details of the legend follows). The Lingam has since been rebuilt. Near the temple is the Shivaganga Lake. The Chandrakoopa well, near the main entrance is said to have been built and consecrated with water from several thirthams by Ravana.

Instructions to worship Lord Ganesh (also my Ishta Deva) were in line with the Hindu tradition but why the Abhishekam of Ma Kali. I was told by one of the old priests that Baidyanath is also considered to be one of the 52 Shakti Pitha shrines of Sati. It is believed that the heart of Sati fell here, when her half burnt body being carried by Shiva at the end her sacrifice at Daksha’s Yagna, was chopped to pieces by Vishnu's discus. The space in this article does not permit me to give you the details of the stories. However, I must tell you what I observed and learnt about Shakti worship during my 35 morning visits to this shrine. Baidyanathdham is a popular Tantrik seat for Sadhakas. Famous scholar and Tantric Gopinath Kaviraj has mentioned Baidyanathdaham as a seat of Tantric Sadhana. This holy shrine is famous as a Chitabhumi. Here we get the worship of Sri Chakra which is still lying in the inner apartment of Bhitarakhanda, administrative office of the high-priest. Now it is administrative office of the temple.

There is also one ever flaming Kund where tantrik rituals are being performed for Shakti Sadhana. Tanric Sadhana is the crux to worship Lord Shiva and Shakti.

My Unique Blissful Experience

Every day after touching the Baidyanath Jyotirlingam I felt the kind of bliss and tranquility I had never felt before in my 64 year old life. Some of you must know that I have been broadcasting Bhajanawali, the only non-commercial Hindu religion weekly radio and web casts in the world for the last 25 years. During the broadcasts I have interviewed numerous saints and religious scholars, visited dozens of Hindu pilgrimages, read all the available Hindu scriptures and have written more than 30 articles about the Hindu religion and philosophy. But, the unique and blissful experience I had during this trip is beyond description. I felt truly blessed. It was so intoxicating that I could not wait to go to the temple every morning. Nothing seemed to bother me; bare feet, cold wave, the massive crowd, the mud in the courtyard, long lineup and the persistence of the Pandas.. I have never been happier in my life. I kept asking myself; is this true bliss the scriptures and saints have talked about? Why else, I am not complaining about the unruly crowd, lack of amenities and persistence of Pandas that I used to complain about during my previous visits. My relatives and friends tried their best to persuade me to visit them but I would not go. I got to have Baba's darshan every day. Mentally I was in a totally different world. Everything and anything I wished for in those five weeks appeared before me without any effort on my part. As much I want to describe to you how I felt, I can’t. All I can say “Experiencing is believing”. I had heard in the past that Baba Baidyanath fulfils desires of devotees and hence the number of pilgrims is increasing exponentially every year, especially during the Shravan month. However, I must admit Baidyanath Jyotirlingam is a great power, gracing great effects.
 

Source: Speaking Tree, DT. July 30, 2013.