Shivratri

Shivratri

Maha Shivratri (the 'Great Night of Shiva') is a festival celebrated every year by most Hindus in reverence of Lord Shiva for saving the world. According to the Puranas, during the great mythical churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan), a pot of poison emerged from the ocean. The gods and the demons were terrified because this poison could end the world. When they ran to Shiva for help he drank the deadly poison. However, rather than swallowing the poison, he held it in his throat. As a result, his throat turned blue, and since that day he became known as 'Nilkantha', or the blue-throated one. This is one of the events for celebrating Shivratri, when Shiva saved the world.

Shivratri is also the day that Shiva was married to Parvati. The Maha Shivratri festival, also popularly known as 'Shivratri', is observed on the 13th night and 14th day in the Krishna Paksha every year on the month of Falgun according to the Hindu calendar.

On the day of Shivratri, a three-tiered platform is built around a fire. The topmost plank represents “swargaloka” (heaven), the middle one “antarikshaloka” (space), and the bottom one represents “bhuloka”(earth). Eleven urns are kept on the “swargaloka” plank symbolizing the 11 manifestations of the destructive force of Shiva. These are decorated with a coconut atop mango leaves representing the head of Shiva. The uncut shank of the coconut symbolizes his tangled hair, and the three spots on the fruit represent Shiva's three eyes                       

         Written by Aditya Kalvani   

                                                                                  Assistant Director HYSC 2015