Deoghar (Baidyanath Dham)

Baidyanath Dham (Jaya Durga)

Baidyanath Dham (Jaya Durga) in Deoghar, Jharkhand is one of the Shakti Peethas, the sacred shrines of the Divine Mother in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. According to tradition, this is where the heart of Goddess Sati fell when Lord Vishnu's Sudarshana Chakra divided her body. Here the Goddess is worshipped as Jaya Durga, and her guardian Bhairava (a form of Shiva) as Vaidyanath. It is counted among the eighteen Ashtadasha Maha Shakti Peethas — the most revered of all the seats of the Goddess. Shakti Peethas are among the holiest pilgrimage sites for devotees of the Goddess, drawing pilgrims especially during Navratri and Durga Puja. Each is tied to the legend of Sati, whose body parts fell across the Indian subcontinent and beyond, sanctifying the ground where they landed.