"This year, on the 23rd of February, Mahashivaratri is celebrated throughout The Shiva Purana relates a story of Maha Shivaratri's glory – Pashupatinath Temple, Katmandu, Nepal During Shivaratri, the
I am reproducing below a narrative compiled by William Forbes that explains the mythology of Shivaratri and also the grand association of the Pashupatinath (Lord of Animal Life)
In ancient times, a Bheel (forest inhabitant) named Gurudruha trudged through a forest to hunt deer. At night, without having sighted a single animal, he climbed a Bilva (Aegle marmelos) tree on the banks of a lake. Later at night, a doe arrived to drink water. Gurudruha aimed his bow and arrow at her. While aiming, he unknowingly dropped some Bilva leaves and his drinking water below on a Shivalingam that happened to be under the tree. The deer then requested him to allow her to entrust her fawns to her husband, after which she would return. After much haggling he agreed.
While awaiting her return, he stayed awake by aimlessly plucking leaves and dropping them below. Again they fell on the Shivalingam. Thus he unknowingly performed its puja (worship) while remaining awake all night. Finally the doe returned with her family, She informed him that along with her, he'd have to kill her family too. As he aimed, some more leaves fluttered down on the Shivalingam.
The collective punya (spiritual merit) accrued from the puja performed unknowingly, eradicated all his sins. This purified his heart. Repenting his flawed life of sin, he set the deer free. As he sat repenting, Lord Shiva manifested in front of him and granted him a boon, "You shall be born in a town known as Shrungver, as a man named Gruha. Lord Vishnu will grace your home as Lord Rama and redeem you." (This event is described in the Ramayana.) Shiva also blessed the deer, which attained a better destiny.
On this day it is easy to please Lord Shiva by fasting and prayer. The main prayer is usually conducted during the night. Ever three hours the devotee worships Lord Shiva in the form of a Shiva Lingam. the Lingam is bathed with milk, ghee, honey, curd, rose water, etc. Lord Shiva is also greatly pleased by the offering of Bilva leaves. One also devotes time to chanting the Vedic Rudram, or the five-syllable mantra of Shiva - Om Namah Shivaya - and to meditating on Him, by remembering one's ultimate goal, which is God Realization, the purpose of human birth. Ascending to the top of Mount Kailash within oneself, and trying to experience the presence of God Shiva within as one's very own self, and simultaneously as the Universal Self permeating the entire universe, one draws close to Lord Shiva. on this night.
For more than a week before and after Shivaratri, the area around
Hindu sadhu burns cowdung cakes to perform some holy rituals in the revered Pashupati area in
On the day of Mahashivaratri, people gather on the hillside across the river from the Pashupatinath temple as well as around the vicinity of the temple complex in groups around campfires and in makeshift shelters, singing Bhajans, reciting Sanskrit verses, discussing various religious topics while maintaining a fast and a vigil in anticipation of the religious ceremonies. Marijuana smoking mendicants, many with long matted tresses, dot the area, serene and trance-like, emulating Lord Shiva himself, in their consumption of the sacred herb, either by smoking it in clay chillum pipes, or by eating bhang.
At
At about six o'clock in the morning priests start the recitation of sacred texts which can be heard for miles around being amplified through loud-speakers strategically spread all over the Pashupatinath temple complex. This chanting of prayers continues till mid-day followed by the singing of Bhajans. The mammoth turnout of pilgrims is such, that devotees and believers are still involved in the elaborate religious activities many days after the actual night of fasting. As is inevitable after a period of fasting, there is the ritual partaking of food and sweetmeats following the festivities of Shivaratri. Naturally there are vast numbers of food-stalls selling many varieties of food and sweets.
For the devout Hindus who come from far away to experience the Shivaratri festivities and take a dip in the holy waters of the Bagmati river, it is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
For non-Hindus, Shivaratri offers a fascinating insight into a very important religious event as well an opportunity to see diverse cultures, peoples and costumes with the most gawked at and photographed being the Hindu holy men - the Sadhus and Yogis, smeared in ash, their foreheads striated with many different and intriguing designs under many different types of hair-do. Completely naked ascetics, with rings in their genitals roam through the crowds, mindless of the stares and glances and to the intense cold of the Himalayan winter, having mastered their minds to withstand the heat, cold and inhibition of all types."
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