Today, the 13th of February is the festival of Maha Shivaratri. Maha Shivaratri or Shivaratri
festival is celebrated according to the Telugu lunar calendar on Chaturdashi
night (the night before the New Moon) during Krishna/Bahula Paksham of Palguna
Masam. Maha Shivaratri means the Great night of Shiva. Maha Shivaratri is a
very important festival celebrated throughout the length and breadth of the
country with great devotion. This is the day on which Lord Shiva married
Goddess Parvati. And it is on Shivaratri night that Lord Shiva performed
Thandavam dance (Shiva Thandavam). Performing Abhishekam and offering prayers
on this day is considered significant in seeking Lord Shiva's blessings. In the morning devotees bathe in a holy river if possible, fast the
whole day, visit a Shiva Temple and perform pooja and after sunset, they consume
some fruit and milk. Then the whole night they keep awake. To keep awake they
may listen to religious discourses, and stories, do bhajan, watch religious
movies that are telecast by almost all Telugu TV channels, play some indoor
games and Anthakshari etc.
Hindu
mythology also tells us of how some persons not knowing of Maha Shivaratri
inadvertently performed Shiva pooja on this day and attained God’s blessings
and Moksham. A very ancient King, Chitrabhanu was performing Maha Shivaratri
with great fervour and when asked about his devotion he narrated the reasons as
follows. He had knowledge of his previous birth. He was then a hunter, solely
living by killing birds and animals. The day before a New Moon he could not get
hold of any food till very late. As it became very dark by then he could not go
home. He climbed a tree to rest there. Then accidentally the water container he
was carrying started leaking and got emptied. Feeling thirsty, and hungry and
thinking of his family’s plight that night he could not go to sleep. Out of
frustration, he began to pluck the leaves of the tree and drop them down.
Unknown to him the water from his canister leaked onto the Shiva Lingam below
the tree which was as if he had performed the Abhishekam. And the leaves he
dropped down fell on the Lingam as an offering. The leaves of this tree called
Bilwa patram are considered a very important offering to Lord Shiva. And that
night happened to be Maha Shivaratri. As a result, he attained Moksham in that
life and went to heaven.
Another
popular and similar narration is that of Baktha Kannappa. Kannappa was also a
hunter. From a non-believer, he becomes a believer on Maha Shivaratri day after
inadvertently performing pooja from the top of a Bilwa tree to the Shiva Lingam
below. Unlike the King’s version, he gets on top of the tree that night afraid
of his wife’s scolding for not bringing home any food. He begins to perform
pooja in his crude way. Later one day when he cannot get hold of any fruit or
animal, he prays before the Shiva Lingam asking God to help him in his hunt and
that he would offer some of the food he gets to God. He then finds and kills a
wild boar. He cooks some of it and offers it to God. A little later he finds
that one eye of the Shiva Lingam has become red and is shedding tears. Thinking
that God is in pain after accepting his offering he pulls out his eye and
replaces it on the Shiva Lingam. Then the other eye of the Shiva Lingam also
becomes red and sheds tears. Then he pulls out that eye also from the Shiva
Lingam and marking the empty socket with his foot he pulls out his other eye
and places it in the Shiva Lingam. Lord Shiva is pleased with his devotion and
concern for him and appears before him. And to enable Kannappa to see him, God
blesses him with new eyes and asks him to seek any favour. Baktha kannappa seeks to
be with God in heaven. I picked up this story from the Telugu movie called
Baktha Kannappa.
Staying
awake on Maha Shivaratri is called Jagarna. The next day is a holiday for
schools and several establishments.
Abhishekam:
Maha
Lingarchana Harathi @ Srilekha:
