Maha Shivratri at Pashupatinath Nepal – Night of Lord Shiva

Shivaratri generally means ‘the night of Lord Shiva or Shiva Night’ ,is a major Hindu festival celebrated annually in honor of Lord Shiva in Nepal and also in different parts of  India before the arrival of spring.The day marks the marriage of  Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati generally falls upon the month of February/March,or Phalgun(Eleventh month in Nepali calendar)  on 13th night/14th day of the luni-solar month of the Hindu calendar.It is believed that Lord Shiva  performed  vigorous dance dance  known as Tandav, the dance of preservation, creation,dissolution and destruction on this night and also Lord Shiva drank the Kalkut poison that had emerged out of the churning of cosmic ocean in order to protect Earth.

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Maha shivratri Falling Date this Year and Next

Year	Date	Day
2020	21 Feb	Fri
2021	11 Mar	Thu
2022	1 Mar	Tue

Why do People celebrate Shivratri?

Well the straight forward reason is because it is a Hindu tradition to celebrate Shivratri every year before the spring.

• On this day Lord Shiva got married for the preservation and welfare of living species and as remembrance we celebrate it.
• Celebration as unification of two super powers Lord Shiva (One half) and goddess Parvati (other half) : According to Hindu mythology Lord Shiva is considered to be the one half and incomplete without the other half Parvati and composite androgynous form of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati is known ad Ardhanarishvara (fusion of half-male and half-female the right half is depicted as Shiva, while the left Parvati.)
• As tribute to lord Shiva for saving earth from goddess Ganga (River stream,Goddess of the Purity and Purification ,it is believed that bathing in Ganga river releases people from sins)  descending from heaven towards earth with full power. So that’s the reason Shivalinga is bathed on the Shivratri Night

Maha Shivratri at Pashupatinath Temple

The best place to witness the Maha Shivratri is at the Pashupatinath temple of Kathmandu, where thousands of Sadhus and many people visit this temple on this day to smoke marijuana.

Though due to the excessively high number of devotees it is very difficult to get inside the temple during Shivratri, the best you can do is go around the temple and if you get lucky you will get inside or else you can observe the festival from the outer boundary.

How is Maha Shivaratri celebrated?

Unlike other hindu festivals Maha Shivratri is celebrated during the night .Most of the people prefer to visit temple in the night and stay there for celebration.The common activities of devotees during the festival are Fasting,Meditation,Chant Mantras,Worshiping Shivling,pray and chant to Lord Shiva.

It is believed that praying and chant to Lord Shiva brings positivity and purity to the environment and nature and among the living specie.It is believed that Chanting the most powerful mantra ‘Om Namah Shivaay’ increases spiritual energy and concentration power and brings positive energy in the univers.

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