The word ‘Jyotirlinga’ is made up of two parts – Jyoti i.e. light and Linga i.e. symbolic form of Lord Shiva. This is a Shivling in which Shiva himself is revered as fire or light. According to the Puranas, when there was a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu about superiority, then Lord Shiva appeared in the form of a huge pillar of fire and made them realize his infinity. Jyotirlingas were established at 12 places as a symbol of that divine pillar.

Earlier we have told the story of other Jyotirlingas, if you want to know how they originated then go to our website by clicking on this link and read it. Now let us begin with the Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Story.

Once Dashanan (Ravan) pleased Brahma ji and got the boon of being invincible from him. But his family gurus told him that Lord Shiva is the most powerful in this whole world, so you should do penance to please him. Ravana decided to do the same.

Ravan started doing tough penance to please Lord Shiva. He kept doing penance for a long time, but Lord Shiva was not pleased. After this Ravana started another tough penance, but even then Shiva was not pleased.

Finally Dashanan started sacrificing one of his heads to please Lord Shiva. Thus, when Ravana sacrificed nine heads and was forced to sacrifice the tenth head and commit suicide, then Lord Shiva appeared.

Lord Shiva told Ravana that I am very pleased with your devotion, penance and sacrifice. Shiva put his nine severed heads back on his torso and asked him to ask for a boon. Ravana said that make me the most powerful in the world. On this, Shiva was pleased and gave him the boon of being the most powerful.

Ravana told Lord Shiva that if he is pleased with his devotion then he should go with him to Lanka. On this, Lord Shiva said that he resides on Mount Kailash, but he manifested himself in the form of a Jyotirlinga and said,

“This is my form, you take it to Lanka. I myself reside in this Linga, but keep in mind that if you put it anywhere on the earth before reaching Lanka, then this Linga will be established there.”

Ravana was very pleased and started taking the Shivlinga with him to Lanka.

When Ravana was carrying the Shivling, all the gods were afraid that if Lord Shiva reached Lanka, Ravana would become invincible and he would also rule over heaven. Due to this fear, the gods made a plan to not let the Shivling reach Lanka.

The king of gods Indra, with his power, made Ravana have a strong urge to urinate. Even then Ravana kept moving forward. But a time came when Ravana was forced to stop. At that time Indra came in front of him in the form of a Brahmin.

Ravan said to that Brahmin,

“O great Brahmin, please hold this Shivling for a while, I will come after finishing my urination.”

As soon as Ravana disappeared from the sight of Brahmin Dev, Indra placed the Shivling on the ground and that Linga was established there.

The story does not end here. After this, Ravana, in the arrogance of his strength, set out to lift the Kailash mountain himself. He thought that he would take Lord Shiva along with Kailash to Lanka. Ravana even lifted the Kailash mountain with his strength. But Lord Shiva applied a little pressure with his toe to break his ego. Due to this, Ravana’s hand got pressed under the mountain and he started screaming loudly.

His scream was so loud that it started echoing in all the three worlds and that is why he was named Ravana. It is said that Ravana composed ‘Ravan Stotra’ to please Lord Shiva and sang it. Shiva was pleased with him and also gave him Chandrahas Khadga (special sword).