Maha Shivaratri celebrations in India

Maha Shivaratri festival is celebrated in honor of Lord Shiva. It is celebrated every year on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna. Celebrations are held in Shiva temples all over the country. People fast throughout the day and ritual prayers are conducted in temples at night.

Mahashivratri means the big night dedicated to show respect to Lord Shiva. Maha Shivaratri is celebrated throughout the country with great devotion and faith.

On Mahashivaratri day the shivling is bathed with the five sacred offerings of a cow, called the panchagavya – milk, sour milk, urine, butter and dung. Thereafter the five food items symbolising immortality – milk, clarified butter, curd, honey and sugar – are placed before the linga.

Shivaratri celebrations in all over India:

The Vishwanath Temple at Kashi in Varanasi celebrates the linga and the manifestation of Shiva as the light of supreme wisdom.

In West Bengal, Mahashivaratri is observed almost as a folk festival.

The Sri Kalahastiswara Temple at Kalahasti and the Bhramaramba Malikarjunaswamy Temple at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh are visited by hundreds of pilgrims during the festival.

In Assam, the Umananda Temple at Peacock Island and the Sukresvara Temple on the banks of the river Brahmaputra become centers of activity on this auspicious day.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the festival is held for 15 days, the thirteenth day being observed as Herath, a day of fast followed by a family feast.

In Ujjain in the famous temple of Mahakaleshwar Shiv’s Lingum is worshipped with the performance of all the religious rites and rituals.

In Karnataka the festival of Maha Shivaratri is observed with pomp and enthusiasm. A grand Sri Shidlingappa’s fair is observed to mark the auspicious occasion. Deity is taken to the river in a palanquin accompanied by drummers (Dollu and Majalu) from several neighboring and is then worshipped.

The Temple of Bhutnath at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh is said to host the biggest Shivaratri Puja in the country. An eight-day-long fair is also organized which witness the participation of artists from India and even beyond.

In the state of Madhya Pradesh Maha Shivaratri is celebrated with religious fervor. As a tradition, people in Madhya Pradesh take a holy dip in Sagar tank in Khajuraho. The place houses a beautiful Shiva temple.

The state of Orissa Maha Shivaratri festival is celebrated with devotion and enthusiasm in. Major centres of Shivaratri celebrations in the state are Lingaraj Temple and Hakateswar Temple Atri. Shiva temples located at Mahendragiri, Gupteswar, Kapilas, Bhubaneswar and Khiching also draw a large of pilgrims from across the state.

Shivaratri celebration at Lokanath Temple, Puri is also quite popular. According to a legend popular in Orissa, long ago, Puri was a center of Shiva worship. The story goes, Lord Ramachandra himself installed the Lingam in the Lokanath Temple. This lingam is kept submerged, in a vat of water. It can only be seen on Pankodhar Ekadasi, before Shivaratri, when the water is removed from the vat. On that day, thousands of devotees come for a darshan.

In Bhubaneswar, thousands of devotees thronged the 11th century temple ,LingRaj temple and observed  fast and stood in long queues early Friday to offer prayers on the occassion of Mahashivratri.

The Murugeshpalya temple is located about 10 kilometres away from Bangalore city. The temple also has a huge lord Ganesh statue and Navagraha temple inside. Inside, there is a path where Models of Shiva lings different forms, such as linga made of ice is maintained.

How to Worship Lord Shiva

The lingam is the symbol of Lord Shiva who appeared in the form of Jyotirlinga before Brahma and Vishnu as It is difficult for a devotee to understand this formless nature. The lingam puja helps the devotee in understanding Lord Shiva. Each Lingam puja, step by step, takes the devotee to the eternal truth that he is the part of the Supreme Being.

Shiva Abhishekam is usually performed to a Lingam representing his manifestation as a creator of good by destroying evil. In many temples, one finds a vessel hung over the Lingam that continuously drips water or other offerings onto the Lingam in deference to Shiva’s desire for Abhisheka.

Items required for lord Shiva Abhishekam are:

Milk gives long life
Ghee gives Moksha state
Curd gives good children
Honey gives melodious voice
Rice powder frees from debts
Sugar cane juice gives good health
Panchamrutham gives wealth
Lemon removes fear of death
Sugar removes enmity
Tender coconut gives enjoyment

Panchamruta Curd based delicacy consisting of Panch5 items: Milk, Sugar, Ghee clarified butter, Honey, curd

Since Lord Shiva is said to wear Nageshwara Snake God as an ornament around his neck, it is said that the fragrance of Aloe which attracts snakes is also a very holy item to be used for the worship of Shiva

Before starting the Puja, the devotee takes a bath and wear freshly washed clothes. Hymns praising Lord Shiva or the mantra ‘om namaha shivayaa’ are repeated to create a mood for worship. Then, the devotee sits in front of the lingam and blows conch or ring bells. This indicates the beginning of the Puja.

First it is the panchamrit abhishek – the libation of five holy liquids over the lingam. The libation can consist of any five of the following – water from river Ganga, honey, sugarcane juice, milk, yogurt, ghee, seawater, coconut water or milk, fragrant oils, rose water or other precious liquids. Usually, only milk of cow is used. While pouring the liquid, om namah shivaya is uttered. Some devotees utter the Lord’s name 108 times and some 1008 times. There is no fixed rule.

After the panchamrit abhishek, the lingam is cleaned with water from Ganga. (This is might not be possible always so just normal water.) After this the lingam is smeared with sandalwood paste and is decked with flowers. Water and sandalwood paste is used to keep the lingam cool, as Lord Shiva is always in a highly inflammable state. In some Shiva temples, cooling liquid constantly drops from pot hung above the Lingam.

Next, sweets, coconut and fruits are offered to the Lord. Camphor and incense are lit and ‘arati’ is conducted. Some devotees fan the lingam and sing praises of the lord.

Finally, ringing of bells or blowing of conch indicates the end of Puja. White ash (vibhuti) is rubbed on the forehead and it is also distributed. Fruits, sweets and coconut are distributed as ‘prasad.’

Significance of Maha Shivaratri

Maha Shivratri, one of the biggest festivals of Hindus is celebrated religiously by the devotees of Lord Shiva throughout India. The prayer and puja performed by the devotees on the day of maha shivarari has lots of significance. Maha shivaratri festival is ‘The Night of Shiva’ celebrated with great devotion and religious dedication in honor of Lord Shiva, who is one of the deities of Hindu Trinity.

Ritual worship of Lord Shiva on Shivratri festival falls on the 14th day of the dark fortnight in the month of Phalgun pleases Lord Shiva the most. The real celebration of Shivratri takes place in the temples on the night of “Chauthasand lasts till the morning of Amavas. The occasion of Maha Shivaratri has a different significance for different people.

Mahashivratri is famous for its fast act by the devotee of lord Shiva. Devotee took a fast on this day to make happy the lord Shiva for their batter fortune and happy life.

It is believed that worship of Lord Shiva with devotion and sincerity absolves a devotee of past sins. The devotee reaches the abode of Lord Shanker and lives there happily. He is also liberated from the cycle of birth and death and attains moksha or salvation.

Mahashivratri festival is also considered to be an extremely significant festival by women. Married and unmarried women observe fast and perform Shiva puja with sincerity to appease Goddess Parvati. Unmarried women pray for a husband like Shiva, who is considered to be the ideal husband. For housewives, it is the time to seek blessings of the Lord for their family and children.

There are several stories which are associated with this special grand night of Lord Shiva:

1. During Samudra Manthan by the gods and demons, a highly toxic poison came out of the ocean. As per the advice of Lord Vishnu, gods approached Lord Shiva and prayed him to protect life by consuming this poison. Pleased with their prayers, out of compassion for living beings, Lord Shiva drank this poison and held it in his throat by binding it with a snake. The throat became blue due to the poison (Thus Lord Shiva is also know as Neelakantha) and Shiva remained unharmed. The wise men advised gods to keep Lord Shiva awake during the night. To keep him awake, the gods took turn performing various dances and playing music. A vigil was thus kept by the gods in contemplation of Shiva. As the day broke out, Shiva, pleased with their devotion blessed them all, and also said that whosoever worshipped & contemplated on him on this day shall be blessed with the fulfillment of his or her wishes. Since then, on this day and night – devotees fast, keep vigil, sing glories of Lord and meditate.

2. Another legend associated with the significance of Mahashivaratri is King Daksha, opposed Sati’s marriage with Shiva. At a yagna (holy sacrifice) the king ignored Shiva’s presence and thereby insulted the latter publicly. Sati was so angered by this that she jumped into the sacrificial fire and ended her life. Lord Shiva unleashed his fury at the death of his wife by performing the violent dance, Tandava. He wiped out Daksha’s kingdom, undertook rigorous penance and retired to the Himalayas. The Gods, who feared that the severity of Shiva’s penance might bring an end to the world, revived Sati in the new avatar of Parvati. Shiva-Parvati married and this reunion is celebrated on Maha Shivaratri.

This is important day in India because on this day lord Shiva appeared on the earth in an especial form of Linga which is also known as the name of ‘Jyortilinga’. The linga is just a sign of lord Shiva. It has neither a beginning nor end itself.

Incarnations of Goddesses Laxmi

Goddess Laxmi is the Hindu Goddess who governs all form of wealth, success and prosperity to those who worship her. As the Consort of Lord Vishnu, who is the god of preservation, Laxmi Devi is the goddess of health and beauty.

Goddess Laxmi has a fair complexion with four arms, seated on a lotus, dressed in fine garments and precious jewels. Her expression is always calm and loving sits in the lotus. The meaning of the lotus in relation to Shri-Laxmi refers to purity and spiritual power.

Goddess Laxmi is worshipped by those who wish to acquire or to preserve wealth. It is believed that wealth goes only to those houses which are clean and where the people are hardworking. She does not visit the places which are unclean/dirty or where the people are lazy.

Birth of Goddess Laxmi:

When the gods were in a race against the demons to obtain amrit (the nectar of immorality). The demons consulted Vishnu who was on earth as Kurma, in a tortoise avatar. They decided they would churn the oceans for the amrit. They created to churn by the threading the serpent Vasuki around Mount Mandara. Kurma dived to the ocean floor and balanced Mount Mandara on his back.

In the grip of Kurma’s cosmic clutch, the mountain could not sink into the ocean bed. The gods churned and received the Nectar of Immortality from Laxmi Devi and then fourteen treasures came to their hands. Then goddess Laxmi choose lord Vishnu as her consort. Vishnu carried Laxmi from the ocean into his heaven. Each time Vishnu descends on earth as an avatar. He is accompanied by an avatar of Laxmi in her different incarnations.

According to the mythology, along with various legends, Goddess Laxmi was born in various names. More than incarnations there are instances when Laxmi took various forms in order to fulfill the wishes of the one’s who worshipped her.

Primarily goddess Laxmi has eight kinds of wealth associated with her as :

 Adi Lakshmi         [The main goddess]

 Dhanya Lakshmi     [Granary wealth]

 Dhairya Lakshmi     [Wealth of courage]

 Gaja Lakshmi       [Elephants, symbols of wealth]

 Santana Lakshmi     [Wealth of progeny]

 Vijaya Lakshmi     [Wealth of victory]

 Vidya Lakshmi     [Wealth of knowledge]

 Dhana Lakshmi    [Monetary wealth]

Goddess Laxmi was the consort of lord Vishnu and married to lord Rama, in her incarnation as Sita, in the incarnation of lord Krishna to Rukmini, lord Venkateshwara to Alamelu.

Incarnated as Vedavati:

In this form of Vedavati, goddess Laxmi has taken birth into the house of king by name Rathadhwaja who worshipped Laxmi. Once Rathadhwaja was defeated in war and lost the kingdom. Rathashwaja had two sons Kushadhwaja and Dharmadhwaja. They observed rigorous penance, meditating for Laxmi. When she appeared they prayed, “Bless us so that we get back our kingdom. Grant us a favor by being born as our daughter.” Laxmi granted the boons. They bravely fought, won the kingdom again and were living happily.

And Goddess Lakshmi, in fulfillment of the boon granted by her, entered the womb of Malavati in subtle form and was born as a daughter. The parents named her ‘Vedavati’.

Vedavati grew up to be a beautiful, virtuous girl. She came of age. Both gods and demons came forward to wed her. She undertook a rigorous penance praying for Vishnu’s becoming her husband. The penance dragged on for a long time. One day a voice from heaven was heard: “Vedavati, you have to be born again.  In your next birth, Vishnu will also be born and he will become your husband.” Even then, Vedavati continued her penance without losing heart.

Incarnated as Sita:

After the birth of Vedavati, goddess Laxmi took the birth of Sita the  daughter of king Janaka. King Dasharatha was ruling over Ayodhya who had four wives and lord Vishnu was born to one of his wife named Kausalya and became famous as Sri Rama.

Then King Janaka, having admired Sri Rama’s valor, gave Sita in marriage to Sri Rama.

Incarnated as Tulasi:

Goddess Laxmi was born to Dharmadhwaja’s wife Madhavi. Her parents named her Tulasi. The child was very beautiful and got  married Vishnu. Vishnu told her: “You leave this body and stay with me. Let your body become a river by name Gandaki. I will became a Saligrama stone and will reside in Gandaki River. Let your hair grow into a plant, become famous as Tulasi and be worshipped by people. I love a garland of Tulasi petals.”

Tulasi’s body flowed after becoming river Gandaki. Narayana became a stone and was residing in it. Tulasi plant was born from the hair of Tulasi and became sacred.

Incarnated as Rukmini:

In the kingdom of Vidharbha lord Vishnu was born as Sri Krishna for killing Kansa and with a view to establishing righteousness. When he was thus born as Krishna, Lakshmi was born as Rukmini, daughter of Bhismaka. She was beautiful and virtuous. Rukmini’s marriage with Shishupala was fixed. But Rukmini, having heard of Sri Krishna’s good character and greatness, had mentally accepted him as her husband. She sent a messenger to Dwaraka with the message that she would marry Krishna; and if not possible, she would give her life.

Sri Krishna had already heard of Rukmini’s character, virtue and beauty. He wished to marry her. Therefore, he immediately boarded a chariot and came to Bhishmaka’s town. In the capital of Vidarbha all arrangements were being made for Rukmini’s marriage.Rukmini completed worship of Gowri and came out of the temple. Instantly Sri Krishna brought his chariot, made her mount it and drove away towards Dwaraka. Thereafter the marriage of Sri Krishna and Rukmini was celebrated grandly at Dwaraka.

Incarnated as Padmavati:

When Laxmi left the heaven for dishonoring her when the great sage Bhrigu in anger kicked at Vishnu’s chest where she resides and not punishing him for such an act. Then Lord Vishnu became sad. He went from Vaikuntha to Tirupati and settled in Venkatadri under the name of Venkatesha.

Akasharaja, the king of Chola country, had no children then he found a female child lying in lotus. A voice was heard from heaven saying, “O King, this girl is very fortunate. Bring her up considering her as your daughter. With pleasure the king gave the child to his queen Dharanidevi. The child was named ‘Padmavati’.

Padmavati was brought up with great affection and she grew up into a woman bright as the moon in the first phase of the month. When sage Narada saw her and said, “O Mother, I know who you are. You are truly goddess Laxmi. As you could not bear the separation from Vishnu, you have been born thus and come here.

Lord Vishnu, is in the form of Venkatesha, is suffering due to the separation from you and living in Tirupati. Within a few days you two will be married,” and went away. One day when she was amusing herself in the garden Venkatesha came there and saw her. They became acquainted and love grew between them. When Akasharaja came to know of this, he gladly agreed to their marriage. With the invitation of lord Venkatesha, Brahma and other gods attended the wedding.

Incarnation of Lord Jagannath

A divine creation of tribal deity, Lord Jagannath bears the divinity over the many other gods and goddesses in the universe. The supreme lord Jaganatha has been worshiped in the form of Lord Vishnu. The origin of Jagannath has brought new facts to surface.

The present day God Lord Jagannath originally manifested in Purusottama-kshetra “Nila Kandara” as a giant sapphire gem stoned avatar called “Nilmani” or vigraha named “Neelamdhava”. After the disappearance of Neelamadhava the Lord remanifested in his present Chaturdha vigraha daru form. The significance of the Lord’s manifestation in wooden form is revealed by Lord Brahma.

The three idols represent the god Jagannath, his elder brother, Balabhadra and their sister, Subhadra. The wooden idols being worshipped are renewed during special occasions. This wooden idol prepared from a log of wood floating on the ocean finds a mention in the Rig Veda, where it is referred to as Purushottama. Sudarsana was added and, therefore, the quadrangle worship.

Legend related to the origin of Lord Jagannatha:

There was a king of Malava called as Indrayumna in Satya Yuga, was a great devotee of lord Vishnu.  Once dreamt of Nilamadhava Vishnu and got curious to find where the Lord was being worshipped. His emissaries adventured in all directions to discover the truth. One among them was a clever Brahmin named Vidyapati who adventured towards east. Inside dense forests of Utkala he took shelter in the house of the Savara King Viswavasu.

In order to extract the secrets of Nilamadhava, clever Vidyapati married to Viswavasu’s daughter Lalita. Clever Vidyapati persuaded Viswavasu thru Lalita to take him along while going inside dense forest to worship Nilamadhava.

The supreme god Lord Jagannath was installed in a blue cave Niakandara in the form of “Nilmani” the sapphire gem stoned vigraha Neelamdhava. Viswavasu agreed on the condition that Vidyapati will be taken to the cave and brought back from there with a blindfold.

Although smart Vidyapati was blindfolded, but he sprinkled mustard seeds on his way so that he can retrace the path by himself from the sequence of mustard plants. Having heard the entire story from Vidyapati, King Indradyumna started with his retinue for Utkal to see Nilamadhava.

In the dense forest he followed the grown up mustard plants to reach Nilakandara, but found the lord missing. A divine voice aired him to build a temple on Nilasaila (Blue Mountain)at sea shore. The king immediately ordered for temple construction. He searched for a carpenter to make the deities. King Indradyumna found a mysterious old Brahmin carpenter who appeared and took the responsibility and took a few days to accomplish that. Surprisingly the carpenter insisted that he would not be disturbed while he was carving the deity and start working closed door.

Every one including King and his Queen were very much anxious and come every day to the closed door and there was sound of working. After 6-7 days waited anxiously outside his room, but after some time, all sound stopped. The impatient Indradyumna’s Queen worried what had happened and assuming the worst, opened the doors – only to find the deity half-finished and the carpenter vanished! The mysterious carpenter was none other than Vishvakarma, the heavenly architect.

The king was distraught as the deity had no arms and legs. Utterly repentant that he had interrupted the carving, the king was only pacified when the sage called Narada appeared and explained that the form the king now sees is a legitimate form of the supreme personality of godhead. The second story here was narrated to further explain and remove any doubts and confusion.

On completion of the temple, the king went to Brahmaloka to invite Brahma to consecrate the temple. But, Brahma being in meditation, he had to wait for nine Yugas. The temple thus got buried in sand in his absence. In the mean time, a new dynasty came to rule at Utkala. Galamadhva, a king of that dynasty, detected the buried temple.

He was considering installing images in the temple when Indradyumna with Lord Brahma appeared before him. Both the kings had a tussle over the ownership of the temple. However, Lord Brahma decided in favor of Indradyumna and asked him to install deities in the temple.

Now, the king was at a loss as to where to find the deities from. Therefore, god told him in his dream that he would be floating in the sea in the form of a log of wood. Then Sage Narada assured Indradyumna that Vishnu would appear to him in the temple form of three wooden images. When a big tree, radiant with light was seen floating in the sea, Narada told the king to make three idols out of it and place them in a pavilion.

Indradyumna got Visvakarma, the architect of Gods, to build a magnificent temple to house the idols and Vishnu himself appeared in the guise of a carpenter to make the idols on condition that he was to be left undisturbed until he finished the work. But just after two weeks, the Queen became very anxious. She took the carpenter to be dead as no sound came from the temple. Therefore, she requested the king to open the door. Thus, they went to see Vishnu at work at which the latter abandoned his work leaving the idols unfinished. But a divine voice told Indradyumana to install them in the temple.