7. Baba Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Temple

Ravanasura is the king of Lanka (Cylone) now Srilanka, is a great ruler and scholar, was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva of all time. Although he is a great scholar, he is considered very arrogant and stubborn. Although he is a demon, but with his incredible ability to rule the world, it is also said that he almost ruled the three worlds and he made some gods as his slaves.

Finally, Shiva was happy and allowed him to take his lingam with him to Lanka. Lord Shiva told ravana not to place or transfer this lingam to anyone. There should be no break during your trip to Lanka. If you deposit lingam anywhere on earth, during your journey, it will remain fixed there forever. Ravana was happy when he returned to Lanka. The other gods opposed this plan; If Shiva went to Lanka with Ravana, then Ravana would become invincible and his evil and anti-Vedic acts would threaten the world.

On the way to lanka from Mount Kailash, it was time for Ravana to perform sandya vandana and he could not perform sandya-vandha with Shiva linga in his hand and, therefore, he looked for someone who could hold it for him. Vishnu then appeared as a shepherd who raised sheep nearby. Ravana asked Ganesh to pretend as a shepherd to hold the linga while completing sandya-vandana and also told him not to place the linga on the ground.

Ganesha warned Ravana about leaving the linga on the bank of the river and walking away if he doesn’t return soon. Vishnu, pretending to be vexed by Ravena’s delay, set the linga down on earth. The moment linga was kept down, it got fixed to the ground. When Ravana after returning from Sandya-vandana tried to move the linga, but he could not. Ravan failed miserably in his attempt to uproot the linga. The Gods were happy with Shiva linga not reaching Ravana’s place.