महाशिवरात्रि पूजा विधि

In the popular tradition Maha Shivratri is the night of the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. Parvati had won Shiva through hard tapas, and his wedding procession held the gods and his own ganas too: ghosts and spirits, Nandi and the serpents, and the bridegroom himself smeared with ash. In memory of this, Shiva's wedding procession still goes through Kashi and many towns of north India on this day, and married women fast for a happy marriage and unmarried girls for a good husband.

The second memory is the Lingodbhava, the appearance of the Linga of light. The Shiva Purana tells that Brahma and Vishnu quarrelled over which of them was greater. Between them there rose an endless pillar of light. Vishnu took the form of a boar and went down to find its foot, and Brahma the form of a swan and flew up to find its top. Vishnu came back and said truly that he had found no end; Brahma said falsely that he had seen the top, and brought as his witness a ketaki flower that had been falling from above.

Then Shiva came forth from that very pillar. He honoured Vishnu's truthfulness and rebuked Brahma's lie. The ketaki flower, which had given false witness, was shut out of Shiva's worship from that day. The tradition holds that this Linga of light appeared at midnight on the Chaturdashi, which is why Nishita kaal, the midnight muhurta, is held to be the greatest time for worshipping the Shivling on Shivratri.

The third memory is of a hunter who sat awake all night in a bel tree, looking for prey. Below stood a Shivling, and the bel leaves and drops of water that fell from his hands reached it unknowingly through all four prahars; he also let go, out of pity, the deer he had aimed at, and by Shiva's grace his life was changed. The full story is on our Maha Shivratri Vrat Katha page.

In these three memories there is the union of Shiva and Shakti, light that rises above pride, and the simple devotion that bears fruit even without knowing the rites. So this fast is less one of strict ritual than of wakefulness, restraint and feeling: staying awake on the darkest night before the new moon and taking Shiva's name.

A Shivling or a picture of Shiva's family, a plate or vessel to stand the Shivling in so that the abhishek water collects, a copper or brass lota, clean water and Ganga jal, milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar for the abhishek (the five together make panchamrit), white sandal paste, bhasma or vibhuti (sacred ash), akshat (whole rice grains), black sesame, a sacred thread or mauli, and a rudraksha mala for japa.

To offer: whole bel leaves of three leaflets, dhatura, aak or madar flowers, white flowers and kaner, ber fruit, and in some homes bhang leaves. Also a ghee lamp, incense, camphor, fruit, makhana or a phalahari sweet for the naivedya, betel leaf and nut, a coin for dakshina, and a seat. For the puja of all four prahars keep milk, curd, ghee and honey in separate vessels, and plenty of bel leaves.

Many families pick the bel leaves a day earlier, because a common custom avoids breaking bel leaves on days such as Chaturthi, Ashtami, Chaturdashi, Amavasya, Sankranti and Monday. It is a common belief that a bel leaf never goes stale, so leaves offered before can be washed and offered again.

1. The morning vow: on the day of Maha Shivratri rise early, bathe and put on clean clothes. Bow to Shiva at your place of worship, take a little water, a few grains of akshat and a flower in your right hand, and say in your own words: 'O Mahadev, on this Maha Shivratri I resolve to keep your fast and your night worship as far as I am able; give me the strength to complete it.' Then let the water fall to the ground. No long Sanskrit sentence is needed; the feeling and a clear resolve are the sankalpa. Decide too whether the fast will be nirjala (without water), on phalahar, or with one phalahari meal.

2. The place: clean the place of worship and stand the Shivling in a plate or vessel so that the water of the abhishek collects. Face east or north while you worship. If there is no Shivling, shape a parthiv Shivling about the size of a thumb from clean clay with a little Ganga jal, or keep a picture of Shiva's family; a picture is not bathed, only sprinkled with water and given flowers and bel leaves.

3. Beginning: sit on your seat and light the ghee lamp. Remember Ganesha first and offer a flower and akshat saying 'ॐ गं गणपतये नमः' (Om Gam Ganapataye Namah), then bow to Mother Parvati and to Nandi.

4. The order of the abhishek: pour in a thin, slow stream from the lota and keep chanting 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' (Om Namah Shivaya) throughout. The order: clean water first, then milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar, with a little water after each. If you wish, mix the five into panchamrit and bathe the Linga with it at once. End with clean water and Ganga jal. A little milk is enough; many devotees give the milk left over to someone in need, and that too is service to Shiva.

5. Adornment: after the abhishek wipe the Shivling gently with a clean cloth. Apply white sandal paste; if you wish, draw the tripund (three horizontal lines) with sandal or bhasma, and offer a little bhasma. Offer the sacred thread or mauli. Then offer akshat and black sesame.

6. Offering bel patra: the bel leaf should have three leaflets and be whole, none broken or cut. The common practice is to place the smooth side down, touching the Shivling, with the stalk pointing towards you. Say 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' with each leaf. Keep the number as your devotion allows, such as 11, 21 or 108; a single leaf offered with the heart is held to be enough.

7. Dhatura, aak and flowers: offer the dhatura fruit or flower, aak flowers, white flowers and kaner. The tradition says Shiva accepts even what the world thinks useless or poisonous. In some homes and temples bhang leaves are offered too; that is their own custom, not a need. In north India ber, the fruit of the season, is offered too. Dhatura and aak are poisonous: keep them away from children and never eat them as prasad.

8. Incense, lamp and naivedya: show the incense, move the lamp once or twice before the Linga as in an aarti, and then set out the naivedya: fruit, makhana, a phalahari sweet or plain thandai, whatever you can eat in the fast. The naivedya is not placed on the Shivling but in a plate before it. Offer betel leaf and nut and the dakshina coin.

9. Japa and recitation: chant at least one mala (108 times) of 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' on a rudraksha mala; this five-syllable mantra, the panchakshar, is the great mantra of the night, and anyone may chant it. Then recite as time allows: this library carries the Shiv Chalisa, Rudrashtakam, Shiv Panchakshar Stotram, Lingashtakam, Bilvashtakam and Shiv Tandav Stotram with meanings. Then read or hear the Maha Shivratri Vrat Katha with the family.

10. Aarti and asking forgiveness: sing the aarti 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara' with camphor or a ghee lamp, ringing the bell and blowing the conch. After the aarti fold your hands and ask Mahadev to forgive any slip in the worship. Pass your hands over the flame and touch them to your eyes.

11. The half circle: a Shivling is not circled all the way round. The channel through which the abhishek water flows out of the jaladhari, the Linga's base, is not stepped over, because that water is held sacred. So walk from one side up to the outlet and turn back, then from the other side up to the outlet and turn back again; this is ardha parikrama, the half circle.

12. The night puja and the paran: after sunset the same puja is repeated in a short form in each of the four prahars of the night, with the main puja at Nishita kaal (see the next section). Next day, after a bath and a puja of Shiva, break the fast with the prasad within the paran window given in the box above.

On Maha Shivratri the night, from sunset to the next sunrise, is cut into four equal parts; each is a prahar of roughly three hours, a little longer or shorter with the length of the night. In the box above, the four rows from 'Night, first prahar puja' to 'Night, fourth prahar puja' give these four watches. The four prahar puja means an abhishek and puja once in each watch.

One widely followed scheme for what is used in each prahar is this: milk in the first prahar, curd in the second, ghee in the third and honey in the fourth. Some traditions follow a different one, and a full panchamrit abhishek in every prahar is just as right. Offer clean water before and after each abhishek.

The puja of each prahar is a short form of the steps above: the abhishek with that prahar's substance, then water, sandal, bel leaves, flowers, incense and lamp, at least one mala of 'ॐ नमः शिवाय', one recitation and a short aarti. Do offer bel leaves in all four prahars.

Nishita kaal is the most important time of the night. The panchang divides the night, from sunset to sunrise, into fifteen muhurtas; the eighth is Nishita, which sits in the very middle of the night, around midnight. The midpoint of the night falls in the middle of this muhurta, so Nishita kaal always straddles the end of the second prahar and the start of the third. The tradition holds that the Lingodbhava took place at this hour. In this muhurta sit quietly, do the full abhishek, offer bel leaves and chant 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' as much as you can.

The vigil: this fast is held complete with a night's waking. Jagran does not mean passing the night with the phone or the television; the family sits together, sings bhajans, hears the katha, recites and does the puja of each prahar. The ill or elderly can stay awake up to Nishita kaal, do the puja and then rest; Shiva is pleased by feeling, not by hardship to the body.

Rudrabhishek: those who want a special rite have a learned priest perform a Rudrabhishek on this night, bathing the Linga while the Rudra recitation of the Yajurveda is chanted. For a simple puja at home, the abhishek of water and milk with 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' is complete in itself.

The ketaki flower (also called kewda, the fragrant screwpine): in the Lingodbhava story the ketaki gave false witness on Brahma's side, so by tradition this flower is not offered in Shiva's worship.

Tulsi: tulsi is held dear to Vishnu and is not offered in Shiva's worship. Folk belief gives the reason through the story of Vrinda and Jalandhar: Shiva slew the asura Jalandhar, Vrinda's husband, and Vrinda came to be worshipped as tulsi. The custom is the same everywhere: tulsi goes to Vishnu and Krishna, not to the Shivling.

Kumkum, roli and turmeric on the Shivling: the common explanation is that these are things of marriage and adornment, and Shiva is the ascetic god who wears ash, so the tradition does not put them on the Shivling and uses sandal and bhasma instead. Kumkum, turmeric and sindoor are offered lovingly to Mother Parvati.

Many families also do not pour water on the Shivling from a conch (blowing the conch at the aarti is fine), and do not offer broken rice or torn bel leaves. These are all commonly held beliefs, and they vary a little with family and region. If something is offered by mistake there is nothing to fear; ask forgiveness, for Shiva looks at the feeling.

The Maha Shivratri fast is kept in three ways: nirjala (neither food nor water through the day and night; only for those in good health), phalahar (fruit, milk, curd, makhana, dry fruit, sabudana, kuttu or singhara flour, potato and sweet potato), or one phalahari meal. In all three, grain, that is wheat, rice and dal, is not taken; use sendha namak (rock salt) in place of ordinary salt, and onion, garlic, meat, eggs and alcohol are not taken. Keep away from anger, quarrels and harsh words; the real meaning of the fast is restraint of the mind and the senses.

The ill, pregnant women, the elderly, children and those on regular medicine should keep a light or symbolic fast: take fruit and milk and do not skip medicine. With conditions such as diabetes or blood pressure do not keep a nirjala fast, and follow your doctor's advice. A fast that harms the body is no fast.

During periods: in the traditional view a woman does not touch the Shivling or the puja materials in these days; another member of the household does the abhishek while she joins with her heart in the japa, the katha and the aarti, and may keep the fast. Today many families hold that Shiva looks at the feeling and that she may do the puja with her own hands. Choose by your family's tradition and your own ease.

Paran means breaking the fast. In the box above, 'Paran' is the window on the next day that begins at sunrise and lasts until the Chaturdashi tithi ends, but never runs past three quarters of the day. That is the time to break the fast. Before the paran, bathe, pour water on the Shivling, offer a bel leaf, and break the fast by taking some of the night's prasad.

After the paran take water, fruit or milk first and then a light sattvic meal; after a nirjala fast do not suddenly eat a heavy meal. Giving food or fruit to someone in need on this day is held in the tradition to complete the fast.

In Kashi crowds wait through the night for the darshan of Kashi Vishwanath, and Shiva's wedding procession goes through the city. At Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain the nine days leading up to Maha Shivratri are kept as Shiv Navratri, with Mahakal adorned differently each day. In Gujarat a great fair is held at Bhavnath Mahadev at the foot of Girnar in Junagadh.

Kashmiri Pandits call the festival Herath and keep it as the greatest festival of the home, with the Vatuk puja and walnuts soaked in water shared as prasad. In the Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu the midnight puja is called the puja of Lingodbhava kalam, and a large fair gathers at Pashupatinath in Nepal. The customs differ, but the vigil, the abhishek and the bel leaf are the same everywhere.

By tradition the Maha Shivratri fast is kept for the quieting of past wrongs, peace of mind, a happy marriage, a worthy life partner and in the end liberation. The hunter's story says that even service given unknowingly on this night is not wasted. But do not treat it as a bargain; it is not a promise of results but a practice of faith and self-discipline.

The deeper meaning of the night lies in waking. The moon stands for the mind and on this night it is almost invisible; to be awake within when the light outside is least is what Shivratri is. 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' is a salutation to Shiva, the auspicious one beyond the ego; one mala chanted with a quiet mind holds the essence of the festival.

At the end of each prahar puja, and above all after the Nishita kaal puja, the Shiva aarti 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara' is sung; its full text is in this library. Do the aarti with camphor or a ghee lamp, with the bell and the conch, then ask forgiveness for any slip and share the prasad with the call of 'Har Har Mahadev'.