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Shivaratri

Rediscover the significance of festivals. We need to relate the festivals to what's happening around us. Find out all about Maha Shivaratri and the significance it holds. 

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Sivaratri unifies many different levels of life. It combines the segments of their individual and communal lives, both morally and spiritually. The performance of the vows serves to solidify social ties in the family and community. At the cosmic level, it re-establishes the devotees' spiritual bond with the divine presence which establishes the cosmos on a firm foundation and provides for the welfare of a who serve HIM. 

Mahashivaratri, Siva's great night, venerates Parashiva. Devotees of Siva consider it the most holy night of the year. All over India, Maha Shivratri occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna. On a moonless night in February every year, occurs the night of Shiva, the destroyer. This is the night when He is said to have performed the Tandava or the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction. 

Devotees of Shiva fast during the day and maintain a long vigil during the night. In temples all across the country, bells ring, sacred texts are chanted and traditional offerings of leaves and milk are made to the Shiv lingam, the phallic symbol of the god.

On the day of Shivratri, the lingam is bathed with the five foods of immortality - milk, clarified butter, curd, honey and sugar - are placed before the lingam. Dhatura and jati, though poisonous fruits, are believed to be sacred to Shiva and thus offered at his temple. Eleven is considered to be the sacred number of the Lord. Devotees keep a fast (vrat) on Shivratri and observe strict rules, for vardan (boon).

Sivaratri as a religious Vow Sivaratri commences with a solemn vow to "mend one's ways" and to persevere in the performance of the vow. It concludes with a prayer of repentance, a petition for forgiveness, and a prayer of thanksgiving for the grace to repent. 

Sivaratri as a 'Vrata' 
The word 'Vrata' means "to will" or "to choose". A Vrata is a vow or a sacrifice, in which one offers a part of oneself (through fasting, prayer, meditation, etc) or a portion of one's goods, to God as a thank-offering and as a petition for some desired boon.

The word ratri, signifies not only the night time in a literal but also in a spiritual sense. The with-drawal of the senses into the mind, the mind into the soul, and the surrender of the Soul to the Supreme divinity, Siva, Lord of JIVA. 

The physical act of keeping Vigil (Jagarana) is symbolic of the cultivation of an inner wakefulness, an opening up of the conscious and unconscious mind to the descent of God into the humn realm. 

The withdrawal of food from the physical body is conducive to the starvation of lust, greed and envy', so that the mind and heart may become pure abodes for divinity.

All Siva bhaktas visit the temple on Siva's most sacred day of the year, Mahashivaratri.  On Sivaratri night, chant silently Siva's perfect mantra, Aum Namasivaya. Special celebrations are held at important Shiva temples at Chidambaram, Kalahasi, Khajuraho and Varanasi. Worship of Shiva is to release the worshipper from the cycle of birth and rebirth. In Kashmir, the festival is held for 15 days; the thirteenth day is observed as Herath, a day of fast followed by a family feast. 

The cult of Shiva already had its roots in the pre-Vedic period. Replaced provisionally by Indra during the first centuries of the pre-Vedic period, he was to be born again to become the  culmination of Hinduism. The Brahmans classified him under several aspects : 

The Creator God, who gives life and takes it when he wishes. He has the power to create, destroy and to recreate indefinitely : 

SHIVA, the Lord of peaceful sleep, the god of dreams and unconsciousness, which returns strength to tired bodies, RUDRA, the Lord of tears, caused by the death of beloved ones, MAHESHVARA the Lord of Knowledge, the god whose intelligence controls the movements of the universe that it created, and that wise men call the Great GOD : the place that concentrates all individualities to make ONE Being, ONE thought. 

The day is considered to be specially auspicious for women. According to one myth, Parvati performed tapas, and prayed and meditated on this day to ward off any evil that may befall her husband on the Moonless night. Since then, Mahashivaratri is also believed to bean auspicious occasion for women to pray for the well-being of their husbands and sons. An unmarried woman prays for a husband like Shiva, who is considered to be the ideal husband.

Shiva being an ascetic god, Mahashivaratri is very popular with ascetics. Thandai, a drink made with cannabis, almonds and milk, is essentially drunk by the devout. This is so because cannabis is said to have been very dear to Shiva. 

Phalguna is a peculiar month. Immediately after Mahashivaratri , almost like a miracle, the trees are full of flowers as if to announce that after winter, the fertility of the earth has been rejuvenated. And this perhaps is the reason why the linga is worshipped throughout India as a symbol of fertility. The festivities differ in various parts of India.