|
 One
of the most remarkable monuments of the
Kangra
valley is the temple of Baijnath. Baijnath is situated East of
Dharamsala
on the main road that leads from the
Dharamsala
to Mandi. Baijnath is in reality
the appellation of the chief temple dedicated to Siva Vaidyanatha (“Lord
of Physicians”) by which the town itself has become known. The original
name of the town was Kiragrama. This we learn from the two extensive
Sarada inscriptions incised on stone slabs, which in elegant and florid
Sanskrit verse give the history of the foundation of a temple, by two
local merchants.
"There is in Trigarata," we read in the inscription, "the pleasent village of Kiragrama,
the home of numerous virtues where the river called Binduka, leaping from
the lap of the mountain, with glittering wide-waves resembling
playing-balls, merrily plays, like a bright maiden in the first bloom of
youth. That village is protected by the strong-armed Rajanaka Lakshmana."
The river Binduka, so well described by the poet, is the modern Binwa, a
tributary of the
Beas. The date of the inscription is expressed both in
the Saptarishi and in the Saka eras. Cunningham
first read the Saka date as 726, corresponding with A.D. 804. The true
date, however, must be the Saka year 1126 corresponding with A.D .1204.
 The
Baijnath temple is oriented due west. It consists of a puri or adytum. 8
feet square inside and 18 feet outside, surmounted by a spire of the usual
conical shape, and of a mandapa or front hall, 20 feet square inside,
covered with a low pyramid shaped roof. The adytum, which contains the
linga known as Vaidaya natha, is entered through a small anteroom with two
pillars in antis. The roof of the mandapa is supported by four massive
pillars connected by raised benches which form, as it were, a passage
leading to the entrance of the sanctum. The architraves resting on these
pillars divide the space of the ceiling into nine compartments, each of
which is closed by means of corbelling slabs.
In front of the mandapa rises a stately porch resting on four columns.
"The shafts of these pillars," Fergusson remarks "are plain cylinders, of
very classical proportions, and the bases also show that they are only
slightly removed from classical design. The square plinth, the two toruses,
the cavetto or hollow molding between are all classical, but partially
hidden by Hindu ornamentation, of great elegance but unlike anything found
afterwards."
Set amidst a backdrop of Snow-clad Mountains and lush green Valleys the
temple is visible from a far distance. Close flows the Binwa Khund
(stream). Considered sacred by local people. The temple surrounding area
has been developed into a beautiful lawn and flowerbeds so that the
devotees are able to rest a while amidst congenial surrounding.
Rockcut Temple Masroor |
