Maha Shivaratri

About

Maha Shivaratri is the most important night of the year for devotees of Shiva. It falls on the Krishna paksha Chaturdashi (the fourteenth tithi of the waning Moon) in the month of Phalguna by the Purnimanta calendar used in North India. In the Amanta calendar followed in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and South India, the same night is in Magha. It is the same day; only the month name differs.

Every month has a Masik Shivaratri on Krishna Chaturdashi. Maha Shivaratri is the great one. The festival is observed at night, so the important rule is the Nishita Kaal, the midnight period when Chaturdashi is present. Check the computed times for your city, since the night can be split across two calendar days.

Significance and stories

Several accounts explain the night. One says it is the night of the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. Another says it is the night Shiva appeared as an infinite column of light (Jyotirlinga) to resolve a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu about who was greater.

A third story is the churning of the ocean, when the poison halahala arose and Shiva drank it to save the world, holding it in his throat, which turned blue, giving him the name Neelkanth. Devotees remember this selfless act with night-long prayer.

The story of a hunter (named Lubdhaka or Gurudruh in different tellings) is also told. He kept an unplanned vigil in a tree, dropping bilva leaves on a Shiva linga below, and received grace. It is told to show that sincerity matters more than perfection.

For many, Shivaratri is a night of inward stillness, meditation and awareness, as well as devotion.

How to observe (puja vidhi)

1. Take a morning bath and make a sankalpa (a quiet resolve) to keep the fast and vigil. Wear clean clothes.
2. Spend the day in remembrance of Shiva. In the evening, bathe again before the night puja.
3. Set up a Shiva linga, or an image, on a clean raised place. Many keep four pujas, one in each prahar (three-hour watch) of the night.
4. At each prahar, bathe the linga with water, then milk, curd, honey, ghee and sugar if your tradition does (panchamrit abhishekam), then water again.
5. Offer bilva leaves, white flowers, sandal paste or vibhuti, and chant "ॐ नमः शिवाय" (Om Namah Shivaya) while you offer. Ask a priest or elder to guide pronunciation.
6. Light a lamp and incense. Offer fruit and sweets if your custom includes them.
7. Keep awake through the night with bhajans, scripture reading, Rudram, or meditation. Make the most important puja at Nishita Kaal.
8. At dawn, bathe, offer a final prayer, and break your fast with prasad. Do so during the parana window shown on the site.

Puja items (samagri)

• Shiva linga or a picture of Shiva
• Water, milk, curd, honey, ghee, sugar (for abhishekam)
• Bilva (bel) leaves, preferably three-leafed and whole
• White flowers, and dhatura or akand (calotropis) flowers if your tradition uses them
• Vibhuti (sacred ash), sandal paste, rudraksha
• Fruits, sweets, dry fruits, betel leaf and nut
• Diya, incense, camphor, a bell

Fasting and food

Many devotees fast the whole day, some with water only (nirjala), others taking fruit, milk, sabudana, potatoes, sendha namak (rock salt) and makhana in a phalahar (fruit and permitted foods) meal. Grains and ordinary salt are generally avoided. Some families fast only until the evening puja.

Break the fast the next morning after the final puja, with a simple meal. People with health conditions, pregnant or nursing women, children and the elderly should follow their doctor's advice and may keep a lighter fast, taking fruit and milk.

Regional customs

• North India (Purnimanta): Falls in Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi. Large processions at Shiva temples, with bhang-based thandai in some places as an offering to Shiva.
• Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, South India (Amanta): The same night, called Magha Krishna Chaturdashi. Special pujas at Jyotirlinga temples.
• Nepal: Large gatherings at Pashupatinath.
• Kashmir: Kashmiri Pandits keep Shivaratri as Herath (from Hara-ratri, the night of Shiva), usually on Phalguna Krishna Trayodashi, with Vatuk Bhairava puja and its own customs.
• South India: Night-long Rudram chanting, abhishekam at each prahar, and temple cultural programmes.

Traditions vary; follow your family's custom or your priest's guidance.

Celebrating in the USA

Shivaratri often falls on a work night. You can do a short evening puja at home and join your temple's Nishita Kaal puja if it is nearby. Many temples hold abhishekam at all four prahars, with a late-night programme. Check the temple's schedule in advance.

Bilva leaves are hard to find fresh; Indian grocery stores sometimes carry them frozen or dried, or temples may supply them. A small linga on a tray with a bowl to catch the water works well for apartment living. Pour the used water into a plant or garden rather than a drain. Keep chanting at low volume for neighbours, and choose a candle or diya carefully near smoke alarms.