Temples for Health & Healing

Vaidyanath Dham in Deoghar, Jharkhand, is one of the 12 sacred Jyotirlingas, revered as the ultimate shrine of Shiva as Vaidyanatha — the Divine Healer or Supreme Physician.

According to Shiva Purana, the demon king Ravana performed intense penance on Mount Kailash, offering his ten heads one by one to Shiva. Pleased, Shiva restored Ravana's heads and granted him a invincible Atma-Lingam to carry to Lanka, warning that if placed on the ground en route, it would fix itself permanently. Lord Ganesha disguised as a cowherd tricked Ravana into placing the Lingam down at Deoghar. Ravana tried forcibly to dislodge it, leaving a thumb impression on top still visible today.

Located near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, Vaitheeswaran Koil is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams and the dedicated Navagraha temple for Angaraka (Mars).

According to legend, Lord Shiva cures all diseases here as Vaidyanathaswamy, accompanied by Goddess Thaiyalnayaki holding a pot of medicinal oil. When Angaraka (Mars) suffered from severe skin affliction, he worshipped Shiva here and was cured. Devotees consume Marundhu Urundai (blessed medicinal ash pellets) and dissolve salt and jaggery in the Siddhamirtham tank.

On the banks of the Swarnamukhi River, about 36 km from Tirupati, stands one of the five Pancha Bhoota Sthalams — temples where Shiva is worshipped as one of the five elements of nature. At Srikalahasti, he is Vayu, the air itself, and the temple's own priests point to proof of it: the flame of the sanctum lamp flickers constantly, even though no draught ever reaches it. Devotees have nicknamed the town "Dakshina Kailasam," the Kailash of the South, and also "Dakshina Kasi" for the intensity of devotion it draws.

The temple's name comes from an unusual origin story. Three creatures — a spider (Sri), a serpent (Kala), and an elephant (Hasti) — each worshipped the same Shiva lingam in their own way: the spider spun a web to shield it from the sun, the elephant washed it daily with river water, and the serpent laid gems upon it. A misunderstanding between the three led to a fatal clash, and all three died at the spot. Moved by the sincerity of their devotion regardless of form, Shiva granted each of them liberation and named the place after them.

Srikalahasti's real fame, though, rests on a different legend entirely: that of Rahu and Ketu. According to Puranic tradition, when the demon Swarbhanu was beheaded by Vishnu's discus after sneaking a taste of the nectar of immortality, his head became Rahu and his body became Ketu — both condemned to an eternal, headless (or bodiless) existence in the sky, and blamed ever since for solar and lunar eclipses. The two are said to have performed penance here and received Shiva's forgiveness, which is why Srikalahasti is the only major temple in India where Rahu and Ketu are worshipped as primary deities in a dedicated ritual, the Rahu-Ketu Kala Sarpa Dosha Nivarana Pooja. Unusually for a Shiva temple, this pooja is performed even on Amavasya (new moon) and eclipse days, when most temples restrict rituals.

The temple's inner sanctum dates to around the 5th century, with the grand outer structure — including a 120-foot Raja Gopuram — added by the Chola and Vijayanagara kings, most notably Krishnadevaraya in 1516 CE. It is also revered as the site where Bhakta Kannappa, a tribal hunter, offered his own eye to Shiva when he saw blood flowing from the deity's eye — a story that appears among the most cherished in Shaiva devotional literature.

Standing in the heart of Kerala's capital, Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams. The idol depicts Vishnu in Anananthasayana posture (reclining on serpent Anantha) carved from 12,000 sacred Saligramas brought from Nepal's Gandaki River.

In 1750 CE, King Marthanda Varma executed the solemn ceremony of *Trippadi Danam*, surrendering his entire kingdom of Travancore to Lord Padmanabhaswamy and ruling thereafter as "Padmanabha Dasa" (servant of Padmanabha). The temple's underground Vaults (Kallaras) inventoried in 2011 revealed ancient gold, diamonds, and jewels valued at over $20 billion, establishing it as the richest religious institution in human history.