This year, I have decided to blog about all the major Hindu festivals as well as those of other faiths which are celebrated in Singapore. This will serve mainly as a repository of knowledge for GG & BB, when I am not around…

So yesterday, Hindus across the world celebrated Maha Shivratri. This is an annual festival which is celebrated in honor of one of the triumvirate of the Hindu pantheon of Gods – Lord Shiva. This day, celebrated as the convergence of Shiva and Shakti (male and female) is the day Lord Shiva married the Goddess Parvati. It is also said this is the day when Lord Shiva performed the Tandava dance, a dance which is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution.

Devotees celebrate this festival principally by fasting all day and offering bael leaves to the Lord as well as staying up the whole night in prayer and contemplation. It is said that the planetary positions in the Northern Hemisphere on this day act as a potent catalyst to help a person raise their spiritual energy. The benefits of powerful ancient Sanskrit mantras such as Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra increase greatly on this night.

This Wikipedia link has some nice stories on this day which is a nice read.

The holiest of the Shiva temples in India are called the Jyotirlingas. There are 12 such temples, spread across the country. More information is here

Personally, though Lord Shiva is the kuladevta (or family deity) of S’s family, we don’t really do anything special on this day. There are no special prayers or dishes we make to commemorate this day.