What is Maha Shivratri and how is it celebrated?

MAHA Shivratri is the biggest Hindu celebration annually.

Millions around the world come together to observe the Great Night of Shiva by fasting, praying and meditating.

What is Maha Shivratri?

Maha Shivratri is an annual Hindu festival and the most significant event in India’s spiritual calendar.

The festival celebrates Lord Shiva, the god of death and time.

Maha Shivratri happens once every year, typically in February or March, marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring and summer.

In the luni-solar Hindu calendar, the day before the new moon every month is called a Shivaratri – "night of Shiva".

Shivaratri is meant to be the night of that Shiva and Shakti converge, meaning a meeting of the masculine and feminine energies that balance the world.

But Maha Shivaratri, "the Great Night of Shiva", is a special celebration.

It is a solemn festival, marking a remembrance of "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in life and the world.

According to the legend, this is the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance of creation, preservation and destruction, known as the “tandav”.

It is also regarded as the night when Lord Shiva and Parvati got married.

How is Maha Shivratri celebrated?

Maha Shivratri is observed by remembering Lord Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating on ethics and virtues such as honesty, non-injury to others, charity, and forgiveness.

Unlike most Hindu festivals which are celebrated during the day, Maha Shivaratri is celebrated at night.

The celebrations include maintaining an all-night vigil and prayers – a "jaagaran".

Offerings of fruits, leaves, sweets and milk to Shiva are made, some perform all-day fasting with vedic or tantric worship of Shiva, and some perform meditative Yoga.

In Shiva temples, "Om Namah Shivaya", the sacred mantra of Shiva, is chanted through the day.

The festival is observed by Hindus around the world, but particularly in India, Nepal, Pakistan and other South Asian countries.

What is the science behind Maha Shivratri?

Maha Shivratri is always observed on a night of a new moon.

Typically, the Moon's gravitational pull on the night of a full moon and a new moon is the highest.

It is believed that this means fluids in the body flow in an upward direction towards the brain.

To maximise that effect, devotees observing Maha Shivratri try to remain with their spine in a vertical position throughout the night.

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