five miles north and west of the town of
Almora. Baijnath contains a temple
complex believed to date from the thir-
teenth century C.E. Many of the temples
are quite well-preserved, although only
one is still used as a place of worship.
Although the name of the site is a ver-
nacular form of Vaidyanath, a form of
the god Shiva, the presiding deityin the
temple is Shiva’s wife Parvati. Her main
image is over four feet tall and is a mag-
nificent work of art, carved from a piece
of rose-colored granite. Smaller figures
carved into the image itself illustrate the
mythic story of Shiva’s wife Sati, her
rebirth as Parvati, and Parvati’s remar-
riage to Shiva. The statue is clearly the
work of a master sculptor, and it far
exceeds the quality of the artwork one
normally finds in such isolated places.
Another temple in a nearby village has a
statue of Vishnumade from a similar
type of stone and carved in a similar
style. The simplest explanation for this
correspondence is that a single
sculptor was commissioned to create
both images.
Bairagi
(“dispassionate”) This is the general
name for any asceticwhose patron deity
is Vishnu, but it is particularly applied to
the fighting ascetics known as Nagas. See
also Chatuh-Sampradayi Nagas.
Baisakh
According to the lunar calendar by
which most Hindu religious festivals
are determined, Baisakh is the second
month of the lunar year, usually falling
within April and May. This is estab-
lished as one of the months of spring,
but in northern India the weather is
beginning to get quite warm at this
time, especially in the middle of the
day. The major holidays in Baisakh are
Shitalashtami, Baruthani Ekadashi,
Parashuram Jayanti, Narasimha
Jayanti, Baisakhi, Mohini Ekadashi,
and Buddha Purnima.
Baisakhi
Annual festival taking place in the
lunar monthof Baisakh(April–May),
for which it is named. Baisakhi marks
the sun’stransition into Aries, which
according to the Indian estimation
occurs around April 14. This festival
marks the beginning of the solar year
on the traditional calendar. Baisakhi
is celebrated mainly in the north, par-
ticularly in the state of Punjaband its
surrounding regions. In the days when
pilgrims still traveled through the
Himalayas on foot, this festival
marked the beginning of the
Himalayan pilgrimage season; during
the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies, Baisakhi was the occasion for
a great trading festival in the town of
Haridwar, the gateway to the
Himalayan shrines. Although this fair
has long been eclipsed, Baisakhi is
still the climactic bathing (snana)
day for the Haridwar Kumbha Mela
and Ardha Kumbha Mela, each of
which is a bathing festival that occurs
about every twelve years when
Jupiteris in the sign of Aquarius (for
the Kumbha Mela) or Leo (for the
Ardha Kumbha Mela).Baithak
(“seat”) In the Vaishnava sect
known as the Pushti Marg, a reli-
gious community whose members
are devotees (bhakta) of the god
Krishna, the baithaks are a group of
108 sacred sites (tirthas). Each site
is somehow associated with the life
and activities of the philosopher
Vallabhacharya, the Pushti Marg’s
founder. Most of these baithaks are
in well-established sacred areas that
were considered holy long before
Vallabhacharya’s time, but the char-
ter story for each baithak records
some activity of the philosopher in
that particular place, to further
sanctify it for his followers. These
baithaks create a sectarian network
within the existing pilgrimageBaithak