Baidhyanath Dham is also known as Deoghar, (the House of the God), situated in the Santhal Pargana region of of Jharkhand state, is a and an important center of Hindu pilgrimage, because one of the twelve Jyotirlingas in India is situated in the ancient temple of Baba Baidyanath. Other than this Deoghar is also a popular health resort.
The Baba Baidyanath temple complex consists of the main temple of Baba Baidyanath, where the Jyotirlingam is installed, and 21 other temples.

History:

The history of Babadham has been derived from manuscripts and also the inscriptions at various places in the Temple area.

In the 8th century A.D., the last Gupta Emperor Adityasena Gupta ruled this region since it got great fame. When Mugals began to rule India, the Babadham temple was under their tributory rulers.

The most important literary source on the history of Babadham is Aine - Akbari. During Akbar's rule Man Singh was associated with Akbar's court. Man Singh remained associated to the Gidhaur dynasty for a long time and had contacts with a number of rulers of Bihar.

Interest of Man Singh's in Babadham seems to have been determined by his love for this holy shrine because he then got a tank excavated, which is today known as Mansarovar.

The Madan Madhavi, a manuscript preserved in the archives of Maharaja of Gidhaur, provides information related to the sociocultural history of Gidhaur Raj with the description of Babadham as well.

Puran Mal's inscription reflect's his association with the Babadham temple. An inscription on the Baidyanath temple states that he built it at the request of the priest Raghunath Ojha. Tradition relates that the inscription was forcibly put by Puran Mal, after he had the temple repaired, to mark his ownership of the surrounding land.Raghunath Ojha was displeased with the inscription, but was unable to resist Puran Mal.

Hence, after Puran Mal was gone, he had a porch created and therein set his own inscription. The legend states that the priest fasted for some days at the gate of Baidyanath who revealed to him in a dream that h e should build a new porch and set up an inscription. But he claims the credit of having created the entire temple.

Pilgrimage to Baidyanath was well placed in the Muslim period in India as well. There is an interesting account of the pilgrimage to Baidyanath in the Khulasati-t-twarikh written between 1695 and 1699 A.D.

In the writings of Khulasati-t-twarikh it is evident that the importance of Babadham temple has been well admitted by all.

In the 18th century, the Maharaja of Gidhaur faced political turmoil. He had to fight against the Nababs of Birbhum. Under the Muhammadan government, the chief priest appears to have paid a fixed rent to the Nabab of Birbhum, and the administration of the temple seems to have been left entirely in the hands of the priest. For a few years the Nabab ruled over Babadham. Subsequently, the Maharaja of Gidhaur defeated the Nabab and Babadham was brought back under his rule till the East India Company came in.

In 1757 after the battle of Pallsy the officers of the East India Company paid their attention to this temple. An English man, Keating was sent to look at the administration of the temple. Mr. Keating, the first English collector of Birbhum, took interest in the administration of the temple.

In 1788, under Mr. Keating's order Mr. Hesilrigg, his assistant, who was probably the first English man to visit the holy city, set out to supervise personally the collection of the pilgrim offerings and dues. Later, when Mr. Keating himself visited Babadham, he was convinced and forced to abandon his policy of direct interference. He handed over the full control of the temple to the hands of the high priest.

For ancient period, devotees of Lord Shiva, in the month of Shravan. undertake a rigorous 100-km pilgrimage on foot from Ajgaibinath (Sultanganj) to offer Holy Water Ganga to Baba Baidyanath. The pilgrimage is deemed complete with the homage paid at Basukinath, 43 km away to Deoghar.

Climate Cnditions

Temperature : (Maximum/Minimum) Deg C: Summer - 36.9/23 Winter -27.7/7.4.

Best Season: September to February

Languages Spoken: Hindi, Bengali and English.

Clothing: Summer - Cotton/Tropical, Winter - Light Woolens.

What to See in Deoghar:

Baidyanath Temple, Naulakha Temple, Kundeshwari Temple, Nav Durga ,Nandan Hills, Temple, Satsang Ashram, Mahadeo Falls, Trikut Hills(17 km)Harila Joria (8 km), Tapovan(10 km), are major tourist attractions.

Other places of interest are Mandar Hills (69 km) a mountain which is believed to have been used by the Gods to churn Oceans and Sultanganj (100 km) which is situated between the two banks of the holy river Ganges.Arogyaa Bhavan (5 kms),PagalaBaba Temple (7kms), Ramkrishna Mission Ashram (4kms) are the place to see.

How to Reach

By Air: Nearest airport is Patna 281 km which is well connected with rest of the India it is also connected with Calcutta airport which is 373 km away.

Railway Station: The nearest railway station is Baidyanath Dham (Deoghar) which is a terminal station of a 7 kms branch line originating from Jasidih Rail Junction (15 km) which is well connected to patna and kolkata.

Road ways: Deoghar is linked by road to Calcutta 373 km, Giridih 112 km, Patna 281 km, Dumka 67 km, Madhupur 57 km, Shimultala 53 km.

Bus: Daily direct bus services are available from Bhagalpur, Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Gaya,Patna etc.

Local Transport: Taxis, Scooters, Cycle Rickshaws are available comute in the city

Where to Stay

The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation provides best accommodations, that suit all budgets,in its Tourist Bungalows Natraj Vihar and Baidyanath Vihar in Deoghar and Basuki Vihar in Basukinath.Other than this various world class accomodation is available in the city.

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