Maha
Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in reverence of the god Shiva.
It is the day Shiva was married to the goddess Parvati.
The Maha Shivaratri festival, also popularly known as 'Shivaratri' (spelt as Sivaratri, Shivaratri, Sivarathri, andShivarathri) or 'Great Night of Shiva', marks the convergence
of Shiva and Shakti.
Maha Shivaratri is celebrated on the Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi of Hindu
calendar month Maagha as per Amavasya-ant month calculation. As per Poornima-ant
month calculation, the day is Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi of Hindu calendar
month Phalguna which falls in February or March.
Panchaakshari ::
Shiva, as the god of destroying
evil, is the third among the divine trinity of Hindu mythology. The holy mantra
consisting of five-syllables: "Na" "Ma" "Shi"
"Vaa" "Ya" (Om NamaH Shivaaya) in praise of Lord Shiva is chanted
incessantly on special occasions like Shivaratri. His thousands of names, each
of which describe His greatness, may also be chanted. Shiva means
"auspicious". As Shankara, He is the giver of happiness to all.
Nataraja (the king of dancers) is a favourite form adored by dancers and
musicians.
Story:: Once upon a time King Chitrabhanu of the
[[Ikshvaku dynasty]], who ruled over the whole of [[Jambudvipa]] (India), was
observing a fast with his wife, it being the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage
[[Ashtavakra]] came on a visit to the court of the king.
The
sage asked the king the purpose of his observing the fast. King Chitrabhanu
explained that he had a gift of remembering the incidents of his past birth,
and in his previous life he had been a hunter in [[Varanasi]] and his name was
Suswara. His only livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. The day
before the new moon, while roaming through forests in search of animals, he saw
a deer, but before his arrow flew he noticed the deer's family and their
sadness at its impending death. So he let it live. He had still not caught
anything when he was overtaken by nightfall and climbed a tree for shelter. It
happened to be a BAEL tree. His canteen leaked water, so he was both hungry and
thirsty. These two torments kept him awake throughout the night, thinking of
his poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously waiting for his return.
To pass away the time he engaged himself in plucking the Bael leaves and
dropping them down onto the ground.
The next day he
returned home and bought some food for himself and his family. The moment he
was about to break his fast a stranger came to him, begging for food. He served
the food first to stranger and then had his own.
Celebration of Mahashivaratri in Central India:
Central
India has a large number of Shiva followers. The [[Mahakaleshwar Temple]],
[[Ujjain]]. 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 passion.
Mahashivaratri in Southern India ::
Maha Shivaratri is celebrated widely
in the temples all over Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Shiva
is considered the Adi (first) Guru from whom the yogic tradition originates.
According to tradition, the planetary positions on this night are such that
there is a powerful natural upsurge of energy in the human system. It is said
to be beneficial for one's physical and spiritual well-being to stay awake and
aware throughout the night. On this day, artists from various fields such as
music and dance perform the whole night.
Mahasivarathri Procession ::
On Sivarathri day
evening a grand procession starts Among the varieties of festivals celebrated in
Kerala, Thrikkuratti Sivarathri Procession is one of the most thunderous,
spectacular and dazzling. It is an expression of popular fascination for sound
and colour, and because of the pageantry, it appeals to all people including foreigners.
Once the procession reaches the temple, Deeparadhana is followed by colourful
display of fireworks.
Sahasrakalasabishekam ::
This is a very special and rare puja
conducted during 10 days of Maha Sivarathri festival. It is well known that
Lord Siva is abhishekapriya (lover of ablutions). Lord Parasurama and Kroshta
Muni, during their worship of the Lord here, are believed to have bathed the
deity with Sahasrakalasam or a thousand pots of holy water according to Vedic
rites. Now during Mahasivarathri festival days the Head Priest (Thanthri) and
his team perform this puja. It is a ten day function, each day an offering of
101 Kalasam with mantras recited by
learned Brahmins seated on the Mukhamantapam. A
magnificent light is the indication or identity of Lord Shiva and the Shiva
Lingam is considered to be the symbol of it. Hence, the formal worship on Maha
Shivaratri consists of bathing the Shiva Lingam. Lord Shiva is said to be
burning with the fire of austerity and so only those items are offered to Him
that have a cooling effect. A cool water bath is believed to propitiate Him
best. There is a belief among devotees that participation in Sahasrakalasam and
offering holy worship materials, will lead to blessings with prosperity and
peaceful life. Hundreds of devotees thronging the shrine with chants of “Namah Shivaya”,
“Hara hara Mahadeva”, and “Sambho Mahadeva”...
Sivarathri Nrutham::
Sivarathri Nrutham at
Thrikkuratti temple, according to religious scholars, resembles the cosmic
dance of Shiva, called ‘Anandatandava,' meaning, ‘the Dance of Bliss’ symbolizing
the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, as well as the daily rhythm of
birth and death. The dance is a pictorial allegory of the five principle
manifestations of eternal energy - creation, destruction, preservation,
salvation, and illusion.
The Priest keeps sheeveli vigraha
(idol) makes seven rounds on Pradakshina Vazhi (holy walkway made of granite
around Sanctum Santorum). When the fifth round is reached at the west nada
(Parvathi nada), the door opens for just 10 minutes. This is an annual
ceremony. Thousands of Pilgrims rush to have a glance of this auspicious
moment. At this time all the pradakshina vazhi will be lit with camphor and
brass temple lamps by thousands of devotes who stay awake through the night
while chanting “Nama Sivaya”, “Hara Hara Mahadeva” and “Sambho Mahadeva”. In this
enlightened serene mood, the Priest performs Nrutham and runs the pradakshina
vazhi towards the east nada. During the next two rounds he accepts “Valiya
kanikka”. The Sivarathri Nrutham is followed by the well known magnificent
display of fireworks.
Rudrabhisheka ::
There is a special mantra in the
Vedas, (the most ancient scripture in the history of human race and which forms
the fountain-head of the Hindu culture) - Rudra Sukta (Rudri) - which is
recited by Bramhan/pundits while they offer a holy bath to Shiva-lingam. Which
are the symbol of Lord Shiva, with the waters of sacred rivers like the Ganges,
Cow milk, Curd, Ghee, Honey and Sugar powder. This ritual is known as
"Rudrabhisheka". Rudrabhisheka of the Shiv lingam is an important
part of Shiva-puja.
Mysticism or Religious
studies ::
According to the mystic mythology
of the Puraanaas, the Kailasa peak of the Himalayas is the abode of Shiva and
He bears the Ganges on His head. As the Lord of creatures, He is metaphorically
called as Pashupathi (with Nandi, the bull, His favorite animal) and His
fearless nature is euphemised as Sarpabhushana. Shiva's posture in the
meditation is recognized to Him as the head of Yogis (Yogiraja). Goddess
Parvati (who is also the daughter of Himalaya), is the deity of strength.
Shiva
as Divine Destroyer
In the trinity of gods -
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - Lord Shiva is the one who destroys or dissolves that
which is old and impure, in order to make room for a new creation of that which
is pure and divine. Lord Shiva annihilates our egos, our attachments, and our
ignorance. Many fear Lord Shiva's destructive capacity, and yet it is
destruction for the purpose of regeneration. Without death, life cannot begin. The
stories and the messages of Bhagwan Shiva are innumerable.
Shiva
as Mahadeva - the Swallower of the Poison
The story says that the
Gods and their brothers, the Demons, were churning the ocean in search of the
pot of the nectar of immortality. However, after a great deal of effort,
what emerged was not nectar, but poison!! The Gods and demons knew that in
order to continue churning, and ultimately to unearth the Divine nectar, they
could not simply toss the poison aside. Someone had to drink it. But,
naturally, no one was willing to drink the poison. Everyone had some excuse for
why he or she was too valuable to be sacrificed. Finally, Bhagwan Shiva came
forward and said "I will drink the poison if it will preserve peace and
enable my brothers and sisters to attain the nectar of immortality."
For the sake of humanity - swallowed the poison. However, if He swallowed the
poison it would harm His internal organs and His physical body. If He spit it
out, it would destroy the world. Thus, He kept it in His throat - hence the
name Neelkanth (which means "blue throat") - and sat peacefully in
meditation for eternity.
Poison
in Our Own Lives -
by Swami Chidananda (MUNIJI)
In our lives, in our
families, so much poison emerges - between parents and children, between
husband and wife. We wait and wait for the divine nectar to emerge, but it seems
that only poison comes. So many times people come to me, complaining, "But
why should I always be the one to compromise? Why should I always be the one to
give in? Why should I always say I'm sorry? It's not fair!"
On this night of
Shivratri, as we worship Bhagwan Shiva, it is also the night that we must pray
for the strength to take His message to heart! Let us not only worship Him, but
let us emulate Him. He who is willing to peacefully swallow the poison,
he who is willing to sacrifice for the family, for the community and for
humanity is the true Mahadev.
Bhagwan Shiva went to
the Himalayas, to the land now called Neelkanth to meditate after He drank the
poison. The message is - when poison emerges in the home, when poison emerges
anywhere in our lives, when we feel like if we swallow it we will die, but if
we don't drink it then the fight will continue - the secret is to meditate! You
don't have to go to the Himalayas. Just create your own Himalayas.
Wherever you are. First, be the one to accept the poison. Be the one to
sacrifice, apologize and concede humbly. Then go, sit and meditate
peacefully. This is not weakness, but strength.
Poison always
comes; obstacles always come. When we work for good causes, when we embark upon
divine work, the poison always comes before the nectar. However, we must never
get discouraged. We must never give up. If the Gods and demons had forfeited
the churning at the sign of poison, it would have been a tragedy for humanity.
Similarly, we must always have faith that the nectar WILL come. It is only a
matter of time. We must be willing to churn and churn, no matter what comes -
be it poison or nectar.
On the night of
Shivratri as we remember the churning between the Gods and Demons for the
nectar of immortality, we must take another lesson to heart. On the night of
Shivratri as we remember the churning between the Gods and Demons for the
nectar of immortality, we must take another lesson to heart. This battle
between the gods and the demons does not exist only in our scriptural stories.
Rather, the battle also exists within ourselves.
Similarly, by the grace of Bhagwan
Shiva, the night of Shivratri is especially auspicious for winning the battle
within ourselves, the battle between the Gods and the Demons, between right and
wrong, between poison and nectar, between death and immortality. Let us
use our puja, our prayers, our meditations on this night to pray for the divine
intervention that within ourselves the good might vanquish the evil, that the
nectar within us might emerge, rather than poison, that we too may be carried
from death to immortality. Live in Peace not in Pieces
Lastly, Bhagwan Shiva
is portrayed with ash on his forehead, and devotees of Lord Shiva frequently
apply sacred ash to various parts of their body. This is symbolic of the fact
that everything which today has a form on the Earth once was ash in the ground
and again will be reduced to nothing but ash. Therefore, the ash serves to
remind us that all that we are, all that we do, all that we earn and acquire
will only be reduced to ash one day, and therefore we should live our
lives dedicated to God, rather than to the accumulation of temporary
possessions and comfort.
It is our greed, our
expectations, our attachments and our desires which lead us to fight with one
another and to live our lives in pieces rather than in peace. When we realize
that everything we accumulate, everything we desire, everyone whom we envy,
everything and everyone to which we are attached will someday be nothing but
ash as will we, ourselves, then the question arises: "Why to fight? Why to
lose our peace? Why to covet? Why to envy? Why to anger?"
At the end of our
lives, nothing we've acquired, nothing we've fought for, nothing we've been
attached to can come with us. However, our karma does come with us - only to be
cleared in a future time. So, although the new car itself cannot come with us
into the next life, the negative karma we may have accrued by earning the money
in less than honest ways or stepping on someone else's head to get the raise
-- all of that karma DOES come with us.
Happy Lives are Healthy Lives ::
Let us pledge to be
calmer, more peaceful, more loving, more giving and sharing. These qualities
not only make our lives here on Earth more peaceful and joyful but also more
healthy. So many scientific studies have shown that those whose lives are
filled with joy, gratitude, appreciation, and acceptance are not only more peaceful
but actually live healthier, stronger, more productive, successful and longer
lives.
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