A Hindu
sadhu burns cow dung
cakes to perform some holy rituals in the revered Pashupati area in
Katmandu. Hundreds of devotees from different parts of Nepal and
India have been coming to the area to celebrate Maha Shivaratri
festival that falls on Feb. 23.
(Photo : Narendra
Shrestha)
This year, on the 23rd of February, Mahashivaratri is celebrated throughout India, Nepal, and the world, by devotees of Lord Shiva. Mahashivaratri means "the great night of Shiva". It is celebrated on the 14th night of the waning moon, (the dark moon night before the new moon), during the month of Phalgun. There are a number of legends connected with the origin of Shivaratri. One is that Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva were married on this day.
This year, on the 23rd of February, Mahashivaratri is celebrated throughout India, Nepal, and the world, by devotees of Lord Shiva. Mahashivaratri means "the great night of Shiva". It is celebrated on the 14th night of the waning moon, (the dark moon night before the new moon), during the month of Phalgun. There are a number of legends connected with the origin of Shivaratri. One is that Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva were married on this day.
The Marriage
of Shiva and Parvati
This is also
the day that Lord Shiva appeared as a luminous Jyotirlingam before
Brahma and Vishnu. All the twelve Jyotirlingams of Bharat
(India) are said to have manifested on this day.
The 12
Jyotirlingas
The Shiva
Purana relates a story of Maha Shivaratri's glory :
In ancient times, a Bheel (forest inhabitant) named Gurudruha trudged through a forest to hunt deer. At night, without having sighted a single animal, he climbed a Bilva (Eagle marmelos) tree on the banks of a lake. Later at night, a doe arrived to drink water. Gurudruha aimed his bow and arrow at her. While aiming, he unknowingly dropped some Bilva leaves and his drinking water below on a Shivalingam that happened to be under the tree. The deer then requested him to allow her to entrust her fawns to her husband, after which she would return. After much haggling he agreed. While awaiting her return, he stayed awake by aimlessly plucking leaves and dropping them below. Again they fell on the Shivalingam. Thus he unknowingly performed its puja (worship) while remaining awake all night. Finally the doe returned with her family, She informed him that along with her, he'd have to kill her family too. As he aimed, some more leaves fluttered down on the Shivalingam. The collective punya (spiritual merit) accrued from the puja performed unknowingly, eradicated all his sins. This purified his heart. Repenting his flawed life of sin, he set the deer free. As he sat repenting, Lord Shiva manifested in front of him and granted him a boon, "You shall be born in a town known as Shrungver, as a man named Gruha. Lord Vishnu will grace your home as Lord Rama and redeem you." (This event is described in the Ramayana.) Shiva also blessed the deer, which attained a better destiny.
On this day it is easy to please Lord Shiva by fasting and prayer. The main prayer is usually conducted during the night. Ever three hours the devotee worships Lord Shiva in the form of a Shiva Lingam. the Lingam is bathed with milk, ghee, honey, curd, rose water, etc. Lord Shiva is also greatly pleased by the offering of Bilva leaves. One also devotes time to chanting the Vedic Rudram, or the five-syllable mantra of Shiva - Om Namah Shivaya - and to meditating on Him, by remembering one's ultimate goal, which is God Realization, the purpose of human birth. Ascending to the top of Mount Kailash within oneself, and trying to experience the presence of God Shiva within as one's very own self, and simultaneously as the Universal Self permeating the entire universe, one draws close to Lord Shiva. on this night.
In ancient times, a Bheel (forest inhabitant) named Gurudruha trudged through a forest to hunt deer. At night, without having sighted a single animal, he climbed a Bilva (Eagle marmelos) tree on the banks of a lake. Later at night, a doe arrived to drink water. Gurudruha aimed his bow and arrow at her. While aiming, he unknowingly dropped some Bilva leaves and his drinking water below on a Shivalingam that happened to be under the tree. The deer then requested him to allow her to entrust her fawns to her husband, after which she would return. After much haggling he agreed. While awaiting her return, he stayed awake by aimlessly plucking leaves and dropping them below. Again they fell on the Shivalingam. Thus he unknowingly performed its puja (worship) while remaining awake all night. Finally the doe returned with her family, She informed him that along with her, he'd have to kill her family too. As he aimed, some more leaves fluttered down on the Shivalingam. The collective punya (spiritual merit) accrued from the puja performed unknowingly, eradicated all his sins. This purified his heart. Repenting his flawed life of sin, he set the deer free. As he sat repenting, Lord Shiva manifested in front of him and granted him a boon, "You shall be born in a town known as Shrungver, as a man named Gruha. Lord Vishnu will grace your home as Lord Rama and redeem you." (This event is described in the Ramayana.) Shiva also blessed the deer, which attained a better destiny.
On this day it is easy to please Lord Shiva by fasting and prayer. The main prayer is usually conducted during the night. Ever three hours the devotee worships Lord Shiva in the form of a Shiva Lingam. the Lingam is bathed with milk, ghee, honey, curd, rose water, etc. Lord Shiva is also greatly pleased by the offering of Bilva leaves. One also devotes time to chanting the Vedic Rudram, or the five-syllable mantra of Shiva - Om Namah Shivaya - and to meditating on Him, by remembering one's ultimate goal, which is God Realization, the purpose of human birth. Ascending to the top of Mount Kailash within oneself, and trying to experience the presence of God Shiva within as one's very own self, and simultaneously as the Universal Self permeating the entire universe, one draws close to Lord Shiva. on this night.
In Katmandu
for Mahashivaratri, tens of thousands of devotees and pilgrims from
all over Nepal, India and other parts of the world converge at the
Pashupatinath temple complex.
For more
than a week before and after Shivaratri, the area around Pashupatinath
Temple is transformed into a mammoth fair of sorts, with food stalls,
pavement markets and clusters of temporary shelters where life-styles
and human activities of a mind boggling variety can be witnessed.
Colorful costumes of the many different ethnic and tribal pilgrims
from India sporting intriguing headgear, ranging from turbans to
towels around the scalp; long flowing dresses, pantaloons and loin
cloths, along with the women's colorful saris, all form a fascinating
contrast to the many Sadhu-Babas and Yogis in their birthday
suits.
People fill the roads - holy men, some half clad, some covered
in ash but entirely nude; pilgrims in their distinct and colorful
tribal costumes; vendors selling practically everything from vermilion
powder, Rudraksha beads, monkey nuts, to Coca Cola and snacks. Foreign
tourists also form part of this vast collection of
humanity.
During Shivaratri, the temple of Pashupatinath,
dedicated to Lord
Shiva, becomes all spruced up in anticipation of the arrival of
Sadhus, Yogis and other holy men as well as the hundreds of thousands
of devout Hindu pilgrims. All devout Hindus believe that a visit to
the holy Pashupatinath temple will absolve them of all past sins and
the preference to make this pilgrimage during the time of Shivaratri,
and assure them of a good human birth in their next life.
On the day
of Mahashivaratri, people gather on the hillside across the river from
the Pashupatinath temple as well as around the vicinity of the temple
complex in groups around campfires and in makeshift shelters, singing
Bhajans, reciting Sanskrit verses, discussing various religious topics
while maintaining a fast and a vigil in anticipation of the religious
ceremonies. Marijuana smoking mendicants, many with long matted
tresses, dot the area, serene and trance like, emulating Lord Shiva
himself, in their consumption of the sacred herb, either by smoking it
in clay chillum pipes, or by eating bhang.
<>Best wishes for a happy and auspicious, unfathomable and delicious, dark night of Shiva!
Love and pranams,
Billy
PS: Much more on Shivaratri at http://www.mahashivratri.org/
At midnight
Shivaratri festival officially begins with the priests inside the main
temple making offerings of the auspicious Pancha Amrit to the Lingam
of Lord Shiva. All day and throughout the night, devotees in an
almost never-ending stream, file through the gates of the main temple
to sprinkle milk, flowers, coins and rice offerings on the Lingam of
Lord Shiva to be followed by a ritualistic bath in the river every few
hours as dictated by the rituals. At about six o'clock in the morning
priests start the recitation of sacred texts which can be heard for
miles around being amplified through loud-speakers strategically
spread all over the Pashupatinath temple complex. This chanting of
prayers continues till mid-day followed by the singing of Bhajans. The
mammoth turnout of pilgrims is such, that devotees and believers are
still involved in the elaborate religious activities many days after
the actual night of fasting. As is inevitable after a period of
fasting, there is the ritual partaking of food and sweetmeats
following the festivities of Shivaratri. Naturally there are
vast numbers of food-stalls selling many varieties of food and
sweets.
For the devout Hindus who come from far away to experience the Shivaratri festivities and take a dip in the holy waters of the Bagmati river, it is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
For non-Hindus, Shivaratri offers a fascinating insight into a very important religious event as well an opportunity to see diverse cultures, peoples and costumes with the most gawked at and photographed being the Hindu holy men - the Sadhus and Yogis, smeared in ash, their foreheads striated with many different and intriguing designs under many different types of hair-do. Completely naked ascetics, with rings in their genitals roam through the crowds, mindless of the stares and glances and to the intense cold of the Himalayan winter, having mastered their minds to withstand the heat, cold and inhibition of all types.
For the devout Hindus who come from far away to experience the Shivaratri festivities and take a dip in the holy waters of the Bagmati river, it is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
For non-Hindus, Shivaratri offers a fascinating insight into a very important religious event as well an opportunity to see diverse cultures, peoples and costumes with the most gawked at and photographed being the Hindu holy men - the Sadhus and Yogis, smeared in ash, their foreheads striated with many different and intriguing designs under many different types of hair-do. Completely naked ascetics, with rings in their genitals roam through the crowds, mindless of the stares and glances and to the intense cold of the Himalayan winter, having mastered their minds to withstand the heat, cold and inhibition of all types.
<>Best wishes for a happy and auspicious, unfathomable and delicious, dark night of Shiva!
May He always
shine in the heart.
Billy
PS: Much more on Shivaratri at http://www.mahashivratri.org/