Every year it is celebrated on the Chaturdashi Tithi of Krishna Paksha in ‘Magha’ month. As per Hindu mythology, today, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati got married. To mark their union, the whole nation celebrates MahaShivaratri. On this day, devotees fast for the whole day and perform puja and Rudra Abhishek. Devotees all over the world go deep in the worship of Lord Shiva and dedicate songs and mantras to him. People also believe Lord Shiva consumed vish and held it in his throat. That poison turned his neck blue and that’s why people also call him ‘Neelakanth’. People also believed that worshipping Lord Shiva fulfills the wishes of his devotees.
Today on the occasion of Maha Shivratri, thousands of devotees throng to Har Ki Pauri ghat in Haridwar, Uttrakhand to take a holy dip in the early hours of the day. Also, priests at Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain offer prayers and perform ‘shiv abhishek’ on the occasion of MahaShivratri. Streets outside the Kashi Vishwanath Temple are blocked by hundreds of devotees as they queue up for ‘darshan’ earlier this morning. Also, devotees in Gorakhpur arrived in a huge number to offer prayers to Mahadev on the occasion of Maha Shivratri.
Maha Shivratri is being celebrated on 11 March this year. This festival is celebrated because many devotees believe that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati got married on this day. Shivaratri is an amalgamation of two words, Shiv and Ratri, where Shiv means ‘Lord Shiva’ and Ratri means Night. Shivratri is known as the night of Lord Shiva.