Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the first day of the first half of the lunar month of Phalguna. The festival commemorates the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, and the occasion of Shiva performing his ritual dance called tandava.
It is a notable festival in Hinduism, marking a remembrance of "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in life and the world. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating on ethics and virtues such as honesty, non-injury to others, charity, forgiveness, and the discovery of Shiva. Ardent devotees stay awake throughout this night. Others visit one of the Shiva temples or go on a pilgrimage to the Jyotirlingams. The festival is believed to have originated in 5th century BCE.
In Kashmir Shaivism, the festival is called Har-ratri or phonetically simpler Haerath or Herath by Shiva devotees of the Kashmir region.
Description
Maha Shivaratri is particularly important in the Shaivism tradition of Hinduism. Unlike most Hindu festivals that are celebrated during the day, Maha Shivaratri is celebrated at night. Furthermore, unlike most Hindu festivals that include expression of cultural revelry, Maha Shivaratri is a solemn event notable for its introspective focus, fasting, meditation on Shiva, self study, social harmony and an all-night vigil at Shiva temples.The celebration includes maintaining a jagarana, an all-night vigil and prayers, because Shaiva Hindus mark this night as "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in one's life and the world through Shiva. Offerings of fruits, leaves, sweets and milk are made to Shiva, some perform all-day fasting with Vedic or Tantric worship of Shiva, and some perform meditative yoga. In Shiva temples, the sacred Panchakshara mantra of Shiva, "Om Namah Shivaya" is chanted throughout the day. Devotees praise Shiva through the recitation of the hymn called the Shiva Chalisa.
Legend and significance
The Maha Shivaratri is mentioned in several Puranas, particularly the Skanda Purana, Linga Purana, and Padma Purana. These medieval era Shaiva texts present different versions associated with this festival, such as fasting, and offering reverence to a lingaman emblematic figure of Shiva.Different legends describe the significance of Maha Shivaratri. According to one legend in the Shaivism tradition, this is the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance of creation, preservation and destruction. The chanting of hymns, the reading of Shiva scriptures and the chorus of devotees joins this cosmic dance and remembers Shiva's presence everywhere. According to another legend, this is the night when Shiva and Parvati got married. A different legend states the offering to Shiva icons, such as the linga, is an annual occasion to overcome any past sins, to restart on a virtuous path, and thereby reach Mount Kailasha for liberation. It is also believed that on this particular day, Shiva gulped the Halahala produced during the Samudra Manthana and held it in his neck, which bruised and turned blue. As a result, he acquired the epithet Nilakantha. It is also believed that the famous Neelkanth Mahadev Temple is the place where this incident took place.
The significance of dance tradition to this festival has historical roots. The Maha Shivaratri has served as a historic confluence of artists for annual dance festivals at major Hindu temples such as at Konark, Khajuraho, Pattadakal, Modhera and Chidambaram. This event is called Natyanjali, literally "worship through dance", at the Chidambaram temple which is famous for its sculpture depicting all dance mudras in the ancient Hindu text of performance arts called Natya Shastra. Similarly, at Khajuraho Shiva temples, a major fair and dance festival on Maha Shivaratri, involving Shaiva pilgrims camped over miles around the temple complex, was documented by Alexander Cunningham in 1864.
Worship
India
Maha Shivaratri is celebrated in Tamil Nadu with great pomp and fanfare in the Annamalaiyar temple located in Tiruvannamalai district. The special process of worship on this day is Girivalam or Giri Pradakshina, a 14-kilometer bare foot walk around Shiva's temple on top of the hill. A huge lamp of oil and camphor is lit on the hilltop at sunset - not to be confused with Karthigai Deepam. A ritual marathon is undertaken by the devotees to the 12 Shiva shrines in the district of Kanyakumari on the day of Shivaratri called Sivalaya Ottam. In recent years, the Isha Foundation has been a major patron of such festivities in India, with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi having attended the celebration hosted at the site of the Giant Adiyogi in Coimbatore.The major Jyotirlinga Shiva temples of India, such as in Varanasi and Somanatha, are particularly frequented on Maha Shivaratri. They serve also as sites for fairs and special events.
In Karnataka, Mahashivaratri is one of the most important festivals that is celebrated with much grandeur. The ardent worshippers stay awake all night and visit temples to take part in the rituals. Popular temple destinations such as Dharmasthala, Murudeshwara, Gokarna, Nanjangud, Male Madeshwara Hills, Kadu Malleshwara, Kotilingeshwara, Mylaralingeshwara among others are thronged with devotees across the state and other neighbouring states. The Isha Foundation's festivities are replicated at the Adiyogi Shiva temple at Chikkaballapur which was inaugurated on 15 January 2023.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, special pujas are held at Pancharamas - Amararamam of Amaravati, Somaramam of Bhimavaram, Draksharamam, Kumararama of Samarlakota and Ksheerarama of Palakollu. The days immediately after Shivaratri are celebrated as Brahmotsavaalu at Srisailam, one of 12 Jyotirlinga sites. Mahashivaratri utsavalu are held at the Rudreshwara Swamy's 1000 pillar temple in Warangal. Devotees throng for the special poojas at Srikalahasti, Mahanandi, Yaganti, Antarvedi, Kattamanchi, Pattiseema, Bhairavakona, Hanamkonda, Keesaragutta, Vemulawada, Panagal, Kolanupaka among others. Shivaratri yatras are held at Mallayya gutta near Kambhalapalle, Gundlakamma Kona near Railway Koduru, Penchalakona, Bhairavakona, Uma Maheswaram among others.
The Mandi fair is in the town of Mandi is particularly famous as a venue for Maha Shivaratri celebrations. It is believed that all gods and goddesses of the area, said to number more than 200, assemble here on the day of Maha Shivaratri. Mandi, located on the banks of Beas, is popularly known as the "Cathedral of Temples" and one of the oldest towns of Himachal Pradesh, with about 81 temples of different deities on its periphery.
In Kashmir Shaivism, Maha Shivaratri is celebrated by the Hindus of Kashmir and is called, "Herath" in Kashmiri, a word derived from the Sanskrit word "Hararatri" the "Night of Hara". Shivaratri, regarded as the most important festival of the community, for instance, is celebrated by them on trayodashi or the thirteenth of the dark half of the month of Phalguna and not on the chaturdashi or the fourteenth as in the rest of the country. The reason for it is that this long drawn festival that is celebrated for one full fortnight as an elaborate ritual is associated with the appearance of Bhairava as a jvala-linga or a linga of flame. It has been described as Bhairavotsava in Tantric texts as on this occasion Bhairava and Bhairavi, his Shakti or cosmic energy, are propitiated through Tantric worship.
According to the legend associated with the origin of the worship, the linga appeared at pradoshakala or the dusk of early night as a blazing column of fire and dazzled Vatuka Bhairava and Rama Bhairava, Mahadevi's mind-born sons, who approached it to discover its beginning or end but miserably failed. Exasperated and terrified they began to sing its praises and went to Mahadevi, who herself merged with the awe-inspiring jvala-linga. The Goddess blessed both Vatuka and Ramana that they would be worshipped by human beings and would receive their share of sacrificial offerings on that day and those who would worship them would have all their wishes fulfilled. As Vatuka Bhairava emerged from a pitcher full of water after Mahadevi cast a glance into it, fully armed with all his weapons, he is represented by a pitcher full of water in which walnuts are kept for soaking and worshipped along with Shiva, Parvati, Kumara, Ganesha, their ganas or attendant deities, yoginis and kshetrapalas – all represented by clay images. The soaked walnuts are later distributed as naivedya. The ceremony is called 'vatuk barun' in Kashmiri, which means filling the pitcher of water representing the Vatuka Bhairava with walnuts and worshipping it.
Central India has a large number of Shaiva followers. The Mahakaleshwar Temple, Ujjain is one of the most venerated shrines consecrated to Shiva, where a large congregation of devotees gathers to offer prayers on the day of Maha Shivaratri. Tilwara Ghat in the city of Jabalpur and the Math Temple in the village of Jeonara, Seoni are two other places where the festival is celebrated with much religious fervour.
In Rajasthan, Maha Shivaratri is observed by those in the surrounding areas in the Geparnath Mahadev Temple, near the city of Kota.
In Punjab, Shobha Yatras would be organised by various Hindu organisations in different cities. It is a grand festival for Punjabi Hindus.
In Gujarat, Maha Shivaratri mela is held at Bhavnath near Junagadh where bathing in the Mrugi kund is considered holy. According to myth, Shiva himself comes to bath in the Mrugi kund.
In West Bengal, Maha Shivaratri is observed devoutly by unmarried girls and boys seeking a suitable husband or wife, often visiting Tarakeswar.
In Odisha, Maha Shivaratri is also known as Jagara. People fast for their wishes whole day and take food after 'Mahadipa' rises at the top of Shiva temple. It usually is held during midnight. Unmarried girls also worship for seeking a suitable husband.