Maha Shiva Ratri

Mahashivratri: The Night of Shiva.

It's Story, Significance & Spiritual Meaning:

Har Har Mahadev!

This powerful chant means Mahadev resides in all of us. On Mahashivratri, this eternal truth is celebrated by millions across the world, as the cosmos itself feels the blessings of Shiva.

The Sacred Night: Legend of Mahashivratri

On the 14th night before the new moon of the Phalgun month, a transformative event occurred in the ancient lore of Hindu Dharma: Lord Shiva married the Daughter of the Mountain, Parvati. This night became known as Mahashivratri, the great night of Shiva.

This was the night when the ascetic, the great yogi who cared for none, embraced the life of a householder for the second time, showing that both renunciation and worldly responsibilities are valid paths for spiritual growth.

The celestial wedding of Shiva and Parvati brought together all beings of the universe. Devas, Asuras, Ganas, Yakshas, and Nagas, beings from all realms and walks of life, celebrated this cosmic union, for Shiva is not just a god of one domain or one class. He chose no sides. He is everyone’s Mahadev, the God of gods, the god of all. Equal to a human, animal, plant, or any living being.

Why Is Mahashivratri Unique?

Every deity has a special day: Janmashtami for Krishna, Ram Navami for Rama, and Ganesh Chaturthi for Ganesha. But Mahashivratri is different. Shiva has no beginning or end. He is Adi, the first, the source, the conqueror of time (Mahakal). Legends say his birth is unknown; he is not self-appointed nor created, but ever-present, God of the people, destroyer who also protects.

The Perfect Husband and the Adi Yugal

For generations, elders advise: if you wish for the perfect husband, pray for one like Shiva. Why? Because as a husband, none could surpass him. Shiva and Parvati are called the Adi Yugal, the first couple. They completed each other.

Shiva respected Parvati’s individuality, sometimes even praising her as greater than himself, though knowing the truth in his humble silence. She was his strength (Shakti) and he, her wisdom. Together, they journeyed through the joys and struggles of spiritual life, always as equals. It is said they were the first to marry following the rituals we know today, with Brahma himself as their priest.

How Mahashivratri is Celebrated

Mahashivratri is best observed with a fast, broken during the darkest hour of the night. This darkness itself is a symbol of Shiva, who evokes the mysteries of the unknown.

Legend tells that during this auspicious night, Shiva took the form of the Lingam in Adi Shakti's yoni. The Lingam represents the union and completeness of Purush (consciousness/Shiva) and Prakriti (energy/Shakti). Some traditions say the cosmic wedding took two days and nights; thus, devotees stay awake, singing or listening to Shiva Purana stories, and break their fast at dawn.

Worshipping Shiva is simple. He does not require elaborate rituals or costly offerings. Chanting his mantras can happen any time, anywhere. Dhatura and Akanda flowers, wild and readily found, are among his favourites. His garland is made of Rudraksha, a fruit that is poisonous and useless to humans, but gladly accepted by Shiva. Bel leaves, always offered in a sacred trio, represent Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva himself.

Ashes, snakes, and offerings humans might shun are accepted by him with grace: Shiva is Lord of the rejected and the wild. He loves simplicity, including a bowl of rice kheer or seasonal fruits, annam offered by Annapurna herself.

Shiva tells his devotees, “Call me in trouble, you do not need to praise me daily or flatter me with rituals. I am there for you.” Simple faith is his commandment.

Who is Mahadev?

Shiva is Adi, the beginning, and Anta, the end. He exists beyond time, beyond praise and ritual, beyond all duality. Known by countless names, Mahakal, Nageshwar, Somnath, Jateshwar, Shiva, Mahadev. He is formless, the embodiment of the infinite force.

Other Festivals Celebrating Shiva

Neel Sasthi: Commemorates the day Shiva drank the poison churned from the cosmic ocean to save all beings, turning his neck blue, becoming Neelkanth.

The Universal Lesson

Mahashivratri is a reminder that divine love, equality, and simplicity are the essence of spiritual life. Shiva belongs to all gods and demons, women and men, wild and tame, powerful and humble. He is the ultimate liberator, the destroyer and protector, the yogi and the householder.

Om Namah Shivaya!

Salutations to the auspicious one who resides in all.

Har Har Mahadev!

Let that great power, Shiva, awaken within us all.

Mewari Miniature painting of the Lord's Marriage

The Prince of Mewar

Born on 16 March 1559 in the Kumbha Palace of Chittorgarh Fort, Bhanwar Amar Singh was the eldest son of Kunwar Pratap Singh (later Maharana Pratap) and Kunwarani Ajabdeh Punwar. As the first grandson of Udai Singh I, his birth prompted the Maharana's celebratory hunting expedition, during which a sage forewarned of impending danger. Heeding this, Udai Singh established a new palace by Lake Pichola, founding Udaipur as Mewar's capital. Amar Singh exhibited extraordinary valour from a young age, inheriting his father's martial skills and his mother's reputed compassion. His training commenced early; according to James Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, he participated in his first battle alongside Pratap at age eight. By ten, amid Chittorgarh's fall and familial divisions, he assumed responsibility for his siblings. Historical accounts recount his defence of the queens' entourage against enemy soldiers en route to Kumbhalgarh fortress. He shared a clo...

The Annals of Rajputana

Col. James Todd’s Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan describes Rajputana through History, Geography, Mythology, Folklore, Veer Gathas, Traditions, Cultures, Heritage, Rules, Valour and its people. However, one must remember that he was commissioned to write the narrative and his resources are not based on historical evidence. However, it is worth a read and very interesting. The following excerpts are from his book. Please take note that Todd's accounts are based on hearsay, stories, and commissioned by royals and hence aren't treated as historically accurate. However, his book is important as it is the first English-language book to have extensive work done on Rajputana. Rajputs are commonly believed to be people from Rajasthan; however, their branches have spread far and wide into Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and even parts of Bengal. The initial origination-based clans/tribes had been subdivided first in the book Prithvirajraso by Chand Bardai; howev...

Neel Kanth

In the vast tapestry of Hindu mythology, Neelkanth Sasti holds a significant place, as it honours Lord Shiva’s act of supreme compassion and courage. According to the Puranas, this day commemorates the pivotal moment during the Samudra Manthan, the cosmic churning of the ocean, when the deadly poison Halahal emerged. Halahal, described as the collective essence of all the universe’s negativity and toxicity, began to spread destruction among both Devas and Asuras. Its effects were so perilous that even the gods could not approach it, symbolising the universal truth that adversity and suffering make no distinction between divine or mortal beings. With the balance of creation at risk and the churning brought to a standstill, Mahadev Lord Shiva, the Destroyer and Transformer within the Hindu Trinity, was invoked for help. In an act of unparalleled self-sacrifice, he consumed the Halahal to protect all existence from annihilation. However, the potency of the poison was such that it threaten...

The Cortege That Shook The Raj: Kanailal Dutta

10th November, 1908 Around late morning, a procession of lacs made their way through the streets of Calcutta (Kolkata), India. Some were chanting “Vande Mataram”, others blew conch shells, and Ululation filled the air. Flowers were being showered from all directions, and garlands made their way through the crowd, being thrown at the procession in the middle. Bhagwat Gita and Ananda Math (Novel by Bamkim Chandra) were offered. No, this was no “ Sobha Jatra ” or celebration. There were no religious festivities either. That dawn, the Alipore Jail, which opened only two years back, witnessed the hanging of Kanailal Dutta, a twenty-year-old member of the “Jugantar Dol”, an anarchist group that was set up primarily by Aurobindo Ghosh (Later Rishi Aurobindo), his brother Barindra and their associates. Kanailal hailed from Chandannagore, and although he was not present in most of their meetings in Kolkata, he was still one of their early members from Chandannagore, then a French province. ...

Bijolia: Her Home

Journey to Bijolia: Lost Kingdoms and Timeless Temples of Mewar Bijoliya translates to a stop between two cities. Nestled in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district, Bijolia sits 55km from Bundi and 105km from Chittorgarh on the well-travelled Bundi-Chittorgarh road. Once part of Mewar, this seemingly sleepy town guards a rich and layered past: it was ruled from the 11th to the 13th century by the Punwars (or Parmar Rajputs) before falling under the Chauhan dynasty, who shifted the region’s capital to Bhilwara and constructed the imposing fort there. After a brief Chauhan rule, Bijolia was reclaimed by Rana Kumbha and became an integral part of the Mewar kingdom, with the Parmars serving as local Raos, representatives and stewards of the royal house. Despite its history and the famed Bijolia inscriptions (a treasure for historians), Bijolia has never found a seat on Rajasthan’s primary tourist circuit, especially if you’re venturing out by public transport or private car. While a handful of...

Jahanara Begum Sahib: The Sufi Princess

Shah Jahan's quarters flanked on either side by identical bungalows for Jahanara and Roshanara. Background: The Timurid Dynasty, better (and wrongly) known as the Mughal Empire, ruled the Subcontinent from 1526 C.E. till the time the British East India Company successfully captured Delhi from Bahadur Shah II in 1857 C.E. (The size of the empire obviously varied). Hence, a large part of medieval Indian history revolves around the characters of this dynasty. Due to the extensive amount of contemporary records right from Babur, the founder of the empire, writing his own memoirs in “ Babar Nama ” to the accounts of court poets like Abu Talim and the extensive details of Abul Fazl, one has a clear idea about the functioning of the Timurid empire as well as the Harem involving the royal ladies of the dynasty. Almost nothing is left to the imagination when it comes to the lives of the first six and most famous and successful Timurid emperors, namely Babar, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir...

Asuras are not Demons

Demons in the Abrahamic religion are not the same as Asuras of Hinduism. Originally deities of Iranian origin, they were seen in the tribal context as no different from Devas but as counterparts to maintain balance. In early epics and Puranas, asura meant a chosen leader of great capacity. Only later, perhaps due to the Iranian link, their image declined. It was with the Brahmanas that the sharp divide appeared: devas as divine, asuras as evil. Puranic myths demonised them mainly to assert the superiority and immortality of devas, while asuras were cast as symbols of the "other." Since Tribes still worshipped them and embraced their power of negativity, being important to balance, they soon became synonymous with tribes, which was not the case mythologically. There are instances of Bali or Ravana being Kshatriya or Brahmin Asuras and competent kings. Indian demonology itself is vast and layered, shaped by surviving tribes, each with unique myths. Celestial, aerial, and terres...

DAMODAR GANGADHAR RAO : The Ill Fated Heir

In the shadowed halls of Jhansi's royal palace, a nine-year-old boy named Ananda Rao stepped into a destiny of struggle he was not born into. Born in 1848 to Vasudeo Rao and his wife, Ananda Rao was surrendered to the childless King Gangadhar Rao and his fierce young queen, Manikarnika (Manu), better known as Rani Laxmi Bai. It was November 19, 1853, on the king's deathbed, amid whispers of adoption rites that bound the boy to a throne teetering on the edge of empire. Queen Laxmi Bai was just nine when she married the 29-year-old widower Gangadhar. She had already endured heartbreak. Her biological son, Damodar Rao, arrived in 1851 but slipped away after three short months. With Gangadhar's death in 1853, Vasudeo, a distant royal relative, was instructed to hand over Ananda's adoption papers. Renamed Damodar Rao, the boy became Jhansi's last hope. But hope was fragile under British eyes. Enter the Doctrine of Lapse, Lord Dalhousie’s ruthless policy that devoured pri...

History: A Political Storytelling

History, as we know, is the study of the past. The primary sources of such study include coins, scriptures, seals, weaponry, architecture, things of daily use, palaces, forts, etc. However, when we talk of wars, events, and characters of people in the past, it is very difficult to be accurate about what we are reading hundreds of years later. Nowadays, History has become a hot political topic, changing narratives of what we have known for so long as history and challenging the past. In reality, all versions are somehow biased, and all in their entirety untrue. The art of storytelling plays a major part in the narration of history. We grow up hearing moral stories all our lives, right and wrong, heroes and villains. Our belief system starts functioning like that, as we believe that in every story there has to be a good and a bad. However, the reality is far from that. In reality, we don’t really have people who are pure evil or pure good like stories often suggest. Herein, the art ...

Chawand: The Maharana's Capital

The road from Udaipur quickly fades into quiet countryside as you head toward Jaisamand Lake and Chavand, a journey that few package tours offer, but one that is forever imprinted on my memory. Just shy of an hour and 59km from the city bustle, you reach Jaisamand (Dhebar Lake), the “Ocean of Victory,” sprawling as Asia’s once-largest man-made lake . Built in 1685 by Maharana Jai Singh, who followed his father’s legendary tradition of dam-building, this vast sheet of water shimmers in the sunlight. I watched local ferries pass, and marble stairs dip into blue shallows, imagining bygone queens slipping into cooling water beneath the massive embankment. Even today, friendly boatmen linger, eager to usher you onto the lake for a breezy ride. They tell you stories of how once a Maharana roamed these dense forests in search of freedom. Do pause here and soak in the peaceful air before venturing further southwest, toward the forgotten echoes of Mewar’s pride. The drive to Chavand, ...

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