Shivaratri

(“Night of Shiva”) The most important
annual festival for devotees (bhakta) of
the god Shiva, celebrated on the fourteenth day of the dark (waning) half
of the lunar month of Phalgun
(February–March). Worshipers of
Shiva on this night are said to receive
unlimited religious benefits. The observances for this festival fall into three
general categories: fasting (upavasa),
wakefulness, and worship. Those fasting on Shivaratri must abstain from all
grains—which define the difference
between a “snack” and a “meal”—but
are free to eat all other things. During
the night observers stay awake, preferably at a temple, relating and listening to
Shiva’s mythic exploits, and worship
Shiva early the next morning. Shivaratri
is a major Indian festival, and in many
places the readings and discourses are
broadcast through loudspeakers, so
that those nearby may also share the
religious merit.
The charter myth for this festival
describes the power of any religious
observances performed on this day,
even if unknowingly. According to the
story, a hunter lost in the woods on the
evening of Shivaratri climbs a tree for
safety, and spends the night. Unknown
to him, at the base of the tree is a linga,
the pillar-shaped object which is Shiva’s
symbolic form. The hunter passes a cold
and miserable night, and through his
shivering shakes the tree, sending dew
and leaves from the tree as offerings
onto the linga; upon descending the tree
he kneels to pick up an arrow he has
dropped during the night and thus
kneels before the linga. Despite a lifetime of bad karma generated by his
livelihood as a hunter, the religious
merit from this unknowing observance
brought this hunter to the abode of
Shiva on his death, and to a later rebirth
as a king.