Lord Shiva, the ultimate source of power tends to depict both evil and good. He is the third essential god of the Hindu Triumvirate. While Lord Brahma is known to have made the universe and Lord Vishnu is considered to preserve it, the role of Lord Shiva is to destroy the world for recreation.
So the festival of Mahashivratri is effectively celebrated to address and worship the powerful Lord Shiva. It is basically celebrated only a once in a year during the month of Phagun, the ‘Hindu Lunar Month’. The festival is usually held on the ‘Chaturdashi’ of the ‘Krishna Pasha’ which is regarded as the 14th day of the ‘warning of the moon’.
Story Behind The Celebration Of Mahashivratri
To be precise on the context, the festival is regarded as the wedding anniversary of Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva. In most of the regions, temples are beautifully decorated with fresh flowers. Thousands of unmarried girls and women pray for a husband just like Lord Shiva, who is considered to be the most amazing life partner possible.
One more legend that is attached to the celebration of Mahashivratri is quite interesting as well. During the mythical churning of all the oceans which was known as Samudra Manthan was conducted by the demons and the gods. The main reason behind the event was to obtain the nectar of immortality but instead, a container of poison emerged. As nobody was prepared to touch the poison, Lord Shiva agreed to consume the poison just to save the world from destruction.
As soon as he consumed it, his neck turned blue due to the effect of the poison and he was named as Neelkanth. Therefore, on the auspicious day of Maha Shivratri, the Hindus tend to acknowledge the fact and thank Lord Shiva for protecting the universe from the poison.
Acknowledgment Of The Festival
All the major temples of the country are beautifully decorated and attended during the festival of Mahashivratri. The famous Mandi fair is an essential celebration that is held for around seven days during this particular period. Although there are a number of Shiva followers based in the Central part of India, the festival is enthusiastically celebrated in different parts of India.
Married women tend to pray for the health and prosperity of their husbands. In various Indo-Caribbean communities, the Hindu people spend the entire night inside the temple. They also offer ‘jhalls’ which is an offering of curd and milk, sugarcane, flowers and sweets to Shiva.
Delicacies To Eat On Mahashivratri
The main tradition is to fast during the festival where people tend to eat simple food items that can be digested easily like yogurt, milk, fruits, peanuts, cashews, almonds and honey. While some people opt for a complete diet of milk and fruits, others prefer not to intake anything for the festival.
The Mahashivratri 2019 is scheduled on March 4, 2019. It is coming down on a Monday which is considered to be an auspicious day of the week. Get ready to celebrate and witness the amazing festival with a lot of pomp and show across the country.