Maha Shivaratri

Maha Shivaratri — literally the Great Night of Shiva — is the most important annual festival devoted to Lord Shiva, the Auspicious One who within the Hindu Trimurti embodies the principle of cosmic transformation. The festival falls on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of the Hindu lunar month of Phalguna (typically February or March). According to Shaivite tradition, this is the night Shiva performed the Tandava — the cosmic dance of creation, preservation, and destruction — and the night Shiva and Parvati were married. Another tradition holds that on this night Shiva drank the halahala poison that emerged from the cosmic ocean during the Samudra Manthan churning, his throat turning blue and earning him the name Neelakantha. Unlike most Hindu festivals which are celebrated during the day, Shivaratri is observed entirely at night and into the following dawn.

Devotees observe a strict daylong fast — many take only fruit, milk, or water — and stay awake throughout the entire night in worship called the Shivaratri Jagran. Temple lingams are bathed continuously through the night with the panchamrit of milk, yogurt, ghee, honey, and sugar followed by water, with each rinse called an abhishekam. Bilva (bel) leaves, which are particularly dear to Shiva, are offered alongside flowers, dhatura, and rudraksha beads. Devotees chant the panchakshari mantra "Om Namah Shivaya" continuously and recite the Shiva Tandava Stotram and Rudram. The night is divided into four praharas — three-hour watches — with elaborate puja ceremonies performed at each transition.

The twelve Jyotirlingas — the most sacred Shaivite shrines including Somnath, Mahakaleshwar, Kashi Vishwanath, Kedarnath, Bhimashankar, and Rameshwaram — receive over a million pilgrims each on Shivaratri night. Nepal's Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu hosts a hundred thousand sadhus and devotees overnight, with vendors selling cannabis-infused bhang and ascetic Naga Sadhus performing tapasya rituals along the Bagmati River. Mandi in Himachal Pradesh hosts a week-long Shivaratri Mahotsav with two hundred local deities arriving by palanquin from across the Mandi district. Andhra Pradesh's Srisailam Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga and Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar Temple observe nightlong rituals attended by hundreds of thousands of devotees from across South India.