Mahashivratri Puja

Auspicious festival of Mahashivratri falls on the 4th night of the moon during Krishna Paksha in the Hindu month of Phalgun. Devotees observe fast all through the day and night of Shivratri in honor of Lord Shiva and visit Shiva Temple. Ritual bath of Shiva Lingam with milk, water and honey is performed by the devotees. Many believe that the festival of Shivratri marks the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati. However, according to few, this auspicious night Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandava', the dance of primal creation, preservation and destruction.

On this day, it is also advisable to worship 'Rudraksha'. It helps to remove most of the negative energy. Two natural forces are said to be controlled by Mahashivratri Vrat. These two forces are 'Rajas Guna' (the quality of passion, activity) and 'Tamas Guna' (the quality of dullness or inactivity). It is believed that those who keep the fast, are able to disregard and subdue the feelings of annoyance, desires and jealousy.

Customs:

• People visit the Shiva temple wearing fresh clothes.
• They worship the Shiva lingam and bathe it with milk and honey.
• Worshippers apply Haldi-Kumkum on the Shiva Lingam and decorate it with the flowers
• Aarti takes place and devotional songs are performed.
• The chant of 'OM NAMAH SHIVAY' fills the air.

Why should we celebrate Mahashivratri? - Sadhguru

"I believe in God!" - One level of ignorance. "I believe there is no God!" - Another level of ignorance. Mahashivratri is not a regious festival. It has something to do with the astronomical face of this planet. This planet is a part of a larger family, 'The Solar System' which further is a part of larger family, The Milky Way' and so on, but essentially there is nothing happening here in an unrelated way. So, we understand that at certain times, in certain positions, the planet behaves in a certain way and we have figured out what faces of the planet are most advantagious to us. In that context, Mahashivratri, because there are 12-13 Shivratris in a year, ie, every month, the 14th day is called a Shivratri. Out of all these Shivratris, we have identified a specific Shivrati which comes in the month of Febraury and March, just in the beginning of Spring. In the Northern Hemisphere, there is a significant impact on your body on that day, ie, there is natural obserge of energies.

So, when there is such an obserge of energies, if you keep your body in horizontal postion then it could impact the body in a negative way. It's imortant that you keep your body in a verical posture because the natural movement of energy in the upward direction. If you lie down horizontally, it won't be good. So, you shouls stay up.

This festival is an opprotunity that the planet, the larger system is supporting you to move in an upward direction. So, please make use of it.

This year, Mahashivratri 2021 will be celebrated on March 11, Thursday which will begin at 02:39 pm on March 11, and end at 03:02 pm on March 12.