At a glance :

Region : Uttarakhand

Attractive Features : Temple of Baijinath

Popular as : Religious pilgrimage centre

This temple is committed to Lord Shiva, but it is in the form of a tiger. There is a significant story related to this, that Lord Shiva used to visit different places and locations by wearing the costume of a tiger. The religious place has the atmosphere of a hill station, thats why people also come to spend their vacation at this hill station, which is close to Almora in Uttarakhand. This temple is also known as Bagnath. Within Uttarakhand state, this Bageshwar temple is most visited because of a numbers of pilgrims.Bageshwar temple is not only popular for the blessing of Lord Shiva but it is also very well known for it's Uttarayani Fair, it is one of the biggest fairs in India. In the surroundings of the Bageshwar temple, you can see several more temples and they are dedicated to different deities. Among those temples, the very popular temples are Gauri Udiyar temple, Chandrika temple and Haru temple. As per legends, Lord Shiva blessed this temple. The major Festival, which is celebrated in this temple is Shivratri, this festival is held in the month of March and on this holy occasion, they organize a fair where millions of tourists and devotees come to Bageshwar temple from a very long distance. There is one more popular fair, which is held at this temple which is the Uttarayani fair, which is celebrated during the month of January, after all the fairs of the state; this fair is demanded by the devotees. There are millions of people, who come to the Bageshwar temple to get blessings of God and get a chance to worship  Lord Shiva.There is a very famous belief that whatever requests are made by the devotees, are fulfilled or answered by Lord Shiva.

As per mythological History of the legends, the highly experienced Markandey stayed at this holy place. He used to continuously meditate day and night, as long as he got Lord Shiva's blessings. During the night , Lord Shiva used to visit Markandey where he wore the costumes of a Tiger. Because of this story, this temple was dedicated to Lord Shiva and named it after the tiger, that’s why this temple got the name Bageshwar because Bagh means Tiger. This Bageshwar temple was made by the Chandra dynasty rulers, during the sixteenth century. Repetitive attempts were done to install the idol of the Shiv Linga, after all the efforts when Manorth Pandey, the villager of Palayn succeded in placing the idol. This happened when people did the attrition on the occasion of the Shivratri festival. From this situation, the permanent fair was organized by the people every year.

Near By Temples :

Chandrika Temple :

Chandrika temple is committed to the Power Goddess. Mother Goddess is known as an incarnation of the Goddess Durga. This Chandrika temple is near the temple of Bageshwar. On the Navratri festival, the surrounding place of this temple is used for the fair. In this Navratri festival, worship and sacrifice are the two factors dedicated to Mother Goddess.

Shri Haru temple :

This temple is very popular because of the fair which is held on the spiritual festival of Vijay- dashami. Haru temple is around five kilometers away from Bageshwar temple . Local devotees have a lot of faith on this temple, because people believe after praying at this temple, God fulfills the wish but if you are under the premises of this temple. 

Baijnath :

This temple is very historical and it is located on the Gwaldam road, which is situated in the Gomti River's banks within the Katyuri valley. when the ancient temples and Kasturi dynasty's capital stood on the previous period. Baijinath temple is a very popular temple of Lord Shiva; it became popular because of the marvelous idol of Mother Parvati. Near this temple, you will also get to see the Kotkimai temple, which is around eight kilometers away from the Baijnath temple.