Hindus across the world will celebrate Maha Shivratri on March 8. The festival marks the day Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvati and Shiva and Shakti finally became one. Also known as Shivratri, it comes on Krishna Pakshs Chaturdashi of the month Maagha, as per the Hindu calendar. The Maha Shivratri is the holiest of all the 12 Shivratris.
Believers begin the day by offering bael (woodapple) leaves to Shiva, fast all day, and pull an all-nighter, chanting Om Namah Shivaya. Maha Shivaratri also celebrates the night when Lord Shiva performed the Tandava, the cosmic dance. Shivratri, meaning Night of Shiva, is the night every true disciple of the Lord spends meditating, and observing a fast. Worshippers perform puja, offer flowers and other gifts on the Lingam, a symbol. They also bathe it with milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar, coconut water, butter and rose water.
Hindu Puranas offer many stories to the origin of the Shivratri and its traditions. One of them says that during the samudra manthan, a pot of poison emerged from the ocean which terrified the Gods and the Demons. They ran to Shiva for help, who drank the deathly poison but held it in his throat instead of swallowing it. This was how the Lord got the name Neelakantha; the blue throated one. Shivaratri is a celebration of the event where he saves the world from ending. Explaining the all-night worship, legend tells a story of a poor tribal man who was a great devotee of Shiva. One day he went deep into the forest to collect firewood, but lost his way and couldn't return home before nightfall. Terrified, he climbed on the nearest tree for shelter and afraid of dozing off, he started to pluck one leaf at a time and drop it while chanting Shiva's name. At dawn, the man realised he had been dropping leaves onto a Linga below, and the tree happened to be a bael tree. This worship pleased Shiva who rewarded the man with divine bliss.
Mahashivaratri is considered more than a ritual as it dispels ignorance, and makes one aware of the universe. It also indicates the onset of the Spring after cold and harsh winter.
