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Maha Shivratri is celebrated in grand scale by the
followers of Lord Shiva.
Maha means “great”, Shiv is for “Lord Shiva” and
Ratri means “night”.
Maha Shivratri means ‘great night of Lord Shiva’.
People stay up the whole night singing songs in
praise of Lord shiva, performing abhishek (sacred
bathing) of the shivling.
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Shiv means
one”.
“The
auspicious
Lord Shiv is one of the three
forms of God.
• Lord Brahma is creator of the
universe
• Lord Vishnu maintain the universe
• Lord
Shiva
looks
after
the
annihilation of the universe.
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His abode is Mount Kailash in
Himalaya mountains, where He
• Goddess Parvati, engaged in
lives with His divine consort,
deep meditation.
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Lord Shiv is clad in tiger skin & wears snakes as an ornament.
His hair is tied in a knot on top of His head, where he holds
the holy river Ganga.
On his head is the crescent
of the fifth day moon.
His favorite weapon is the
trishul, or the trident fork.
He loves the sound from
the beating of damru, a
small drum that he holds
in His palm.
He rides on the bull Nandi.
Different parts of country celebrate Maha Sivaratri for
different reasons.
• Some consider this day to be the one when Lord Shiv
married Parvati. Some temples in India celebrate by
reenacting the divine marriage at midnight.
• For some, It is the day when Lord Shiv drank all the poison
which came out from the churning of ocean. Lord Shiv
drank and confined it in his neck, to save the world ,
earning His name Neelkanth. So, it is the day of
thanksgiving to Lord Shiva for saving the world.
• For others, this is day when Lord Shiva danced the tandava
dance all through night. Dancing form of Shiva is called
Nataraj.
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Lord Shiva is known as “Abhishek Priya”.
He loves being bathed by milk, yogurt, ghee, honey,
Vibhooti(sacred ash), water and other cooling stuff, since it
helps cool down the effect of poison He holds in His throat.
Siva’s favorite is the sacred leaf, known as Bilva or Bael.
There is a story about it.
• Once a hunter was returning home through the jungle, and
found himself being chased by a tiger.
• He climbed up a tree, but tiger would not give up and sat under
the tree.
• As night fell, the hunter was scared that he would fall down in
the sleepiness so, started to plucking the leaves from the tree
and throwing them down ,to pass the time.
• That night happened to be Maha Shivratri, and tree happened to
be a bilva tree.
• Moreover, there was a lingam underneath the tree, and the
leaves plucked by hunter rained on the Lingam all night long.
• Lord Shiva was so pleased with the offering, that He appeared in
front of the hunter.
• Such is the power of bilva leaves to Lord Shiva on Maha Shivratri!
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Shivling word is made up of two words - Shiv +ling.
Shiv means “auspicious” and ling comes from Sanskrit
word lingam means “mark” or “symbol”.
Shivling or Shivlingam is a symbol of Lord Shiva
worshipped in many temples.
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All over the India, people wake up early in the morning
and take bath in holy rivers if possible.
After that, they begin their prayers to Lord Shiva and
keep fast.
The whole day is spent in chanting the Lord’s name and
when night falls, devotees visit the temple to participate
in the abhishek. Most temples are open all night long
on this day.
Singing songs, along with other devotees makes it
easier to stay awake, and so Shivratri is a community
festival.