Famous Shiva temple Archives

Baijnath – Famous for Baba Baijnath Dham Himachal Pradesh

Baijnath Himachal Pradesh has the famous Baba Baijnath Dham, also known as baijnath shiv temple, a famous temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Baijnath – The adobe baba baijnath dham

Baijnath was Originally known as Kiragrama. Baijnath town lies on Pathankot-Chakki-Manali highway (National Highway No. 20) which is midway between Kangra and Mandi.

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The town is called as Baijnath and became popular after the name of the temple. The town is located on the left bank of the river Binwa, ( in ancient times the river was known as Binduka, a tributary of river Beas )

Baba Baijnath dham Story ( Baijnath ki katha )

According to local legens, Ravana is said to have worshipped Lord Shiva in the Kailash during the Treta Yug in order to gain invincible abilities.

To please Lord Shiva he offered his ten heads in the havan kund . Ravana’s extraordinary deed influenced Lord Shiva, who not only restored his heads but also conferred invincibility and immortality upon him.

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After obtaining this unparalleled boon, Ravana requested Lord Shiva to accompany him to Lanka . Shiva agreed to Ravana’s request and transformed himself into Shivling.

Lord Shiva instructed him to carry the Shivling and warned him not to set it down on the ground on his journey. Ravana began his journey towards Lanka and arrived in Baijnath, where he felt compelled to respond to nature’s call.

When Ravana saw a shepherd, he handed over the Shivling to him and went away to relieve himself.

When the shepherd discovered the Shivling was quite heavy, he placed it on the ground, and the Shivling became settled there, taking the form of Ardhnarishwar (God in form of Half Male & Half Female).

There is a similar story behind the Gokarna temple ( In Karnataka). But then these local legends are many a times similar in nature. You can read the story here.

Gokarna Temple – Sri Mahabaleshwar Temple Gokarna – Karnatka

Some interesting facts about baijnath temple Himachal Pradesh

The Dussehra festival, in which the effigy of Ravana is customarily burned to flames, is not held in Baijnath as a symbol of respect for Ravana’s devotion to Lord Shiva.
Another unusual feature in Baijnath is the lack of goldsmith stores.

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How to reach baijnath shiv temple

Shri baijnath shiv temple is very near to Palampur and Kangra.

How to reach Baba Baijnath Dham by Road:

From Dehli to Baijnath it is 480 Kms via NH44 and will take around 19 hrs if you drive by your own.

Chandigarh to Baijnath is around 250 Kms via NH503 and it will take around 6 to 7 hrs if you drive on your own.

Shimla to Baijnath – 205 Kms again around 6 hrs of drive.

There are regular bus service to Baijnath from Delhi, Chandīgarh, Shimla etc

How to reach Baijnath Shiv Mandir by Train:

Baijnath has a railway station – it is called as Baijnath Mandri Railway Station – BJMR

Trains passing through Baijnath Mandir Rauilway Station:

Name	Number	From	To	Days
PTK-JDNX PASS	52471	Pathankot	Joginder Nagar	ALL
JDNX-PTK PASSNGER	52472	Joginder Nagar	Pathankot	ALL
PTK-JDNX PASSANGER	52473	Pathankot	Joginder Nagar	ALL
JDNX-PTK PASSNGER	52474	Joginder Nagar	Pathankot	ALL
SVDK GKP SPL	4602	Joginder Nagar	Pathankot	ALL

How to reach Baijnath Shiv Mandir by Air:

So if you are travelling by Air, the best way is to reach Shimla, Chandigarh, Delhi first and then take a cab, or bus or train.

From Delhi/ Chandigarh you can go to Pathankot first and then take one of the trains or you can check if there are direct trains from Chandigarh or Delhi.

Places to visit near Baba Baijnath Dham

There are many other places which can be visited if you are visiting Baijnath. Please have a look at the list below:

Mukut Nath as Sansal ( 6 km)
Awahi Nag temple ( 2 Kms)
Mahakal Temple ( 5 Km)
Sherabling ( Tibetan Monastery ) ( 5 km)
Bir ( 14 km)
Bling ( 14 km) – World famous paragliding spot

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Temples in Chikkaballapur ( Temples near Bangalore )

Are you looking for a one day temples near Bangalore. Below are temples near Bangalore and these are temples in Chikkaballapur.

Chikkaballapur or also called as Chikkaballapura is a small town not very far from Bangalore.

It is very near to Bangalore International airport in Devanhalli. The drive to Chikkaballapura is around 1 hr 30 mins from Bangalore.

There are many temples in chikkaballapur which are of religious and historical importance. Below are temple in Chikkaballapur which you can plan for.

You can cover all the temples in single day as well if you plan well.

What our video on this topic on youtube

These temples which I talk about below are some of the very famous temples near Bangalore .

Famous temples in chikkaballapur

So let us look at some important temples of this region which you should visit.

Vir Anjaneya temple

A newly built temple located at the entrance of Chikkballapur.

The temple is dedicated to Lord Anjaneya (Lord Hanuman) and temple architecture is similar to other temples of South India.

The goupram of the temple is quite impressive and as soon as you enter the temple premises, you will find the main temple with Lord Hanuman idol.

The Lord Anjaneya idol is a old one, but the temple has been built new. So it looks new, but the temple existed well before.

Inside premises of the temple is quite big, it is a grand temple and a good visit.

Please follow this link to read more

Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple (Rangasthala )

Sri Ranganathaswamy temple is dedicated to Lord Ranganatha and is one of the very important Temples in Chikkaballapur.

Lord Vishnu is worshipped as Lord Ranganatha here. The temple is also called as Rangasthala.

The idol of Lord Ranganatha is 4.5 feet in length with Bhoo devi and Neela Devi sitting near the leg.

Lord is in Yoga Nidra and his Shesha (Lord Vishnu’s Snake) is spreading his hoods like an umbrella and Vainatheyan is sitting below.

There are many very important temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu in Karnataka. This temple is one of them.

The temple architecture is very impressive as with all other historical temples of South India.

The temple premises is quite huge and the main temple is inside the premises. The gopuram ( or the main entrance is quite big).

Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple

If you are in Bangalore you are not unaware of Nandi Hills.

Nandi Hills is probably the most visit tourist places near Bangalore and offer a beautiful view of the city from the top. But Nandi hills region is also famous for two very old and important temples.

One of them is called as Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple which is at the bottom of the hill, while the other one is called as Yoga Nandeeshwara , which is at the top of the hill.

These two temples are some of the very famous temples near Bangalore

Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple as mentioned before is a very old temple dedicated to lord Shiva at the foot of Nandi hills.

This is one of the oldest temples of Karnatka and is more than a 1000 years old.

The temple premise is huge and has 3 main temples –

Arunachaleswara,
Uma Maheshwara and
Bhoga Nandeeshwara.

The temple premises is actually very big with a huge lawn in front of temple and hence it is very good place for kids as well. Then can run around and have some good time.

But the temple is very old and beautiful and one should visit this temple, if you are planning for a trip to Nandi Hills.

Yoga Nandeeshwara Temple

Yoga Nandeeshwara temple is situated at the top of Nandi Hills. As I have mentioned before, out of the 2 temples, Bhoga and Yoga Nandeeshwara, this is the second one located at the top of the hill.

This is another very old and beautiful temple of Lord Shiva and one of the oldest temples in the region.

The temple was built by cholas.

The temple is supposed to be more than 1000 years old. The presiding deity of this temple is lord shiva.

Lord Annamalaiyar temple – Tiruvannamalai – Tamil Nadu

It has been long we wanted to visit this temple. Has always been on our mind. One of the most grand and most famous Shiva temple in this world. The Lord Annamalaiyar temple – Tiruvannamalai.

After visiting this temple, we felt why didn’t we paid a visit to Lord Annamalaiyar earlier. It magnificent just magnificent!

In a departure to my practice of giving the route information in end, let me give it at the start this time. We drove down to the temple from Bengaluru, but it is equidistant (almost) from Chennai.

How to reach Lord Annamalaiyar temple – Tiruvannamalai

Distance from Bangalore: Approx 200 Kms one way via NH48 and NH 77. Basically head towards Hosur and follow the marking. It is actually on half way through Pondicherry.
Distance from Chennai: Approx 200 kms froom Chennai as well. Via NH32 and NH77.
Just put google map. You are not going to get lost. It is a very straight forward route.
Road conditions: Very good
Eating options: Many on the way

Lord Annamalaiyar temple - Tiruvannamalai - magnificent Gopuram

Ok, now coming back to the temple, this temple is located at the base of Annamalai hills. The temple itself is spread across 10 hectares. It is just huge and one of the largest in the world. The it has four entrance one of each side and each entrance is a “gopuram” which is more than 11 stories. So you can imagine how big these gopurams are.

Inside this premises, the main temple is Sri Annamalaiyar temple and then there are numerous other temples.

The significance of this temple is that Lord Shiva is worshiped here as Agni Lingam. So this temple is part of Pancha Bhoota Stalam ( i.e set of five temple dedicated to lord shiva each representing five elements of universe that is earth, fire, water, air and space).

As such this temple is always full of devotees, but specifically during the full moon day between November and December each year a festival is celebrated here called as Karthikai Deepam. Where a fire is lit at the top of the hill and is seen and worshiped by millions of people who gather around the hill on that day (from across the world).

Apart from this there is ritual of Grivalam which is going around the hill. This is specifically performed by devotees during full moon and the total distance is around 14Kms.

Visit the official website => http://www.arunachaleswarartemple.tnhrce.in/ and you can get more information

Please note that full moon days and Karthikai Deepam days are days with huge rush. Devotees from all over the world come to Thiruvanamalai on this day and hence plan in advance as hotels may not be available.

There are lots of hotels around the temple and provide comfortable stay. You can walk down to the temple from these hotels and from my perspective it is a better option. But if you want a 3star+ hotel you have to look a bit away from temple and you need to drive down and parking can be an issue. So better hire a taxi or rikshaw. As fat as food is concerned, lots and lots of options there.

Sri Ramashree Ashram is also very near to temple and I would say its a must visit if you are there and there are many more temples around which could be visited. Unfortunately we did not had time and hence could not visit them.

But we will definitely go again with more time in hand!

Do visit once you have some time. You will find lots of peace there!

Have a good time!

Temples in Kolar = > Click Here

Temples Near Bangalore => Click Here

Temples Near Hosure = >Click Her e

Temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu = > Click Here

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