Vaidyanatham is located at Deogarh in Bihar. The temple has a great amount of wood work with huge pillars. The top of the Shiva Lingam is slightly bent. It is said that once Ravana, the king of Lanka, prayed to Lord Shiva to make his capital of Lanka invincible. After severe penance, he received the aatma lingam from Shiva.

Unable to carry the huge lingam, Lord Shiva made the lingam into two halves and placed it in a kavadi. As Ravana was carrying this back to Lanka, Lord Varuna caused Ravana's bladder to be full. Ravana was desperate to relieve himself. Seeing Lord Ganesha in the form of a Brahmin boy, he gave it to him to hold (Lord Shiva has said that the aatma lingam could not be placed on the ground, for wherever it was placed, it would take root). Before Ravana could get back, Lord Ganesha put the aatma lingam down. The enraged Ravana tried hard to pull the lingam from the ground. One half exists in Kokaram.

Ravana started severe penance to Lord Shiva, plucking and throwing one head after the other into the sacred fire. Ravana had many heads. Lord Shiva revived him by putting his heads back in place. Because of this role of Shiva as a healer, as a physician, he came to be called Vaidyanatha ( - physician). Darshan of this lingam brings healing.