MahaShivratri i.e. “Greatest night of Lord Shiva” is one of the most significant occasions for Hindus. Shiva signifies to enlighten and in Hindu mythology, Shiva is the only creator and the destroyer of the universe. There are many names of Lord Shiva like Shambhunath, Mahadev, Bholenath, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairav, Someshwar, Nilakantha, Umapati, and Vishveshwara. Shiva is the quintessence of calmness and silence and he is also popular as the Nataraja (King of Dance) who does the Tandava (known as the dance of ecstasy). It is a popular saying that Shiva is the demonstrator, preserver, and ultimately disperser of this universe. This cycle keeps on recurring eternally.
Why do we celebrate MahaShivratri?
Shivratri is the fourteenth day of every astral month or the day prior to the new moon. There are 12 Shivratri in a year. Among all the twelve Shivratris occurring in a calendar year, MahaShivratri, the one that falls in between the month of February-March has the highest religious significance. On the night of MahaShivratri, the earth’s northern hemisphere is in such a way that a natural recrudescence of energy in a human being. It is a day when nature pushes one towards its divine zenith. To allow this natural increase of energies to get their way, one of the essentials of this all-night-long festival is ensuring that you are awake with your all-night-long perpendicular all through the night.
Samudra Manthan initiated MahaShivratri
There are many stories related to MahaShivratri according to the Puranas. One of those stories says when Samudra Manthan was going on, a pot of poison came along with the Amrit from the ocean. Seeing this all the Gods and Demons got scared since it was capable enough to destroy the whole world. Therefore all of them asked Lord Shiva for help. To protect the whole world, Lord Shiva drank the scary poison and restricted it from moving further, and kept it in his throat only. Due to this, his throat appears blue and from then he is famous as Neelkantha. So people celebrate this day for what Lord Shiva did.
Fight of Lord Brahma and Vishnu & banned Ketaki flower
One Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma were fighting to claim who is the superior of all, at this other gods were horrified, so they asked Shiva to intercede. To make them realize their mistake, Shiva ignited a fire column between them and asked them to find its end. Due to this to prove their supremacy, Lord Brahma took the form of a swan where Lord Vishnu appeared as Varaha avatar. They started finding the end of that light but they couldn’t because light has no limit.
On his way, Lord Brahma had an encounter with Ketaki flower and he asked where did she come from to which Ketaki replied that she had been kept at the top of the fiery column. Then Brahma Ji asked Ketaki flower, “where are you coming from?” Ketaki flower replied, “from the top end of this fire”. To end his search, Brahma took Ketaki as the witness. Getting angry upon this Lord Shiva comes in his true form. And he punished Brahma for telling lie and he cursed him saying no one would ever worship him.
The Ketaki flower or the Kewra flower was also banned from being used in worship because she supported the prevarication of Brahma. Ketki flowers are only offered to Lord Shiva on MahaShivratri. As it was the 14th day of Faguna, so Shiva presented himself in the form of Linga. And the day when Shiva appears as Linga is MahaShivratri.
Another reason for MahaShivratri is that since it is a moonless night, people worship the Lord who wears the moon. Once the MahaShivratri is over, the trees start blooming and flowers start blossoming. People all over the world celebrate this festival is celebrated in different manners and traditions. Some people also celebrate this day as the birthday of Lord Shiva.
