By This series of essays is attempting to illustrate how ancient Shiva temples, separated by thousands of miles, share similar ‘origin’ stories.
In the first two parts of the series, we explored the Shiva shrines at Baijnath, Himachal Pradesh, and Baidyanath Dham, Deoghar. We now travel to Parali or Parli in Eastern Maharashtra, where Lord Shiva is worshipped as Parali Vaidyanath, again considered to be one of the 12 Jyotirlingas.
This Lingam too, similar to Baijnath and Baidyanath, is associated with the legend of Ravana of the epic Ramayana travelling to Mount Kailasha, Lord Shiva’s abode in the Himalayas, in order to obtain great powers.
When the Lord did not appear despite his fervent prayers, Ravana started chopping off his heads one by one, and putting them in the sacrificial fire. Moved and pleased by Ravana’s extreme devotion, Lord Shiva bestowed him with great powers. Ravana, thereafter, requested Lord Shiva to accompany him to Lanka.
Shiva agreed but placed one condition: Ravana, under no circumstance, should place the Shivalingam on the ground anywhere during the journey.
Ravana agreed and was soon airborne. After a while, he reached Parli, the site of this story. This is when Lord Vishnu uses Maya for Ravana to experience an urgent need to urinate.
Do note how the ancient storytellers expertly replaced the shepherd (associated with sheep) in the Himachal story with a cowherd, owing to the difference of ‘terroir’ between Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra! Also, ‘B’ gets replaced with ‘V’ due to difference in regional pronunciation.
According to this narrative, the cowherd-boy held the Shivalingam for some time, when Ravana went to relieve himself. However, the boy felt that the Lingam getting heavier with each passing minute. Finally, he could not bear its weight anymore, and kept it on ground. When Ravana returned, he realised that the damage was already done and proceeded to Lanka. Even here, Lord Vishnu’s Maya was at work that caused the Lingam to become so unbearably heavy!
Today, Parali is not just a place of pilgrimage for Shiva devotees, it is considered to be a meeting point of Hari (Lord Vishnu) and Hara (Lord Shiva).
So, both Vaishnavas and Shaivaites congregate to celebrate the Lords’ many festivals with much gaiety. On Chaitra-Parva, Vijayadashami, Tripuri Purnima, Maha-Shivaratri and Vaikunth Chaturdashi, huge celebrations take place at Parali.
Interestingly, during these celebrations, there is no distinction between Bel/Bael (Aegle marmelos) and Tulasi/Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), the traditional favourite offerings of Shiva and Vishnu, respectively.
At Parali, Lord Shiva is offered Tulasi leaves, while Lord Vishnu is worshipped with Bel leaves. This unique practice is apparently observed only in Parali Vaidyanath.
On another note, Rishi Markandeya, who was originally destined to die young, as told in the Shivapuran, was blessed with a long life by Lord Shiva at Parali. Perhaps, it is this attribute of Him as a Vaidya (doctor), saving lives that has contributed to the name, Vaidyanath. A pond nearby is named after ancient Rishi.
The writer is a communications professional. He explores various facets of ancient India and writes about the subcontinent’s shared heritage. He may be contacted at aditya_chatterjee@yahoo.com.