Lord Shiva is one of the major Gods in Hinduism.The above picture shows Lord Shiva,also known as Shankar, in a meditation state.This is the statue in Banglore.
According to Hindu tradition, Lord Shiva is the God of all Gods. He is omnipotent, and is the source of all power in the Universe. Also known as the destroyer among the trio, He represents darkness and is said to be the 'angry god', when he opens His third eye for destruction. Idols and seals of Lord Shiva has aso been found in the remains of the ancient civilization of Mahenjodaro and Harappa.
According to Hinduism, creation follows destruction. Therefore Shiva is also regarded as are productive power, who restores what has been dissolved.
There are a number of popular legends related to the auspicious festival of Mahashivaratri. These legends of Shivaratri explain the popular custom of staying awake all night on Shivaratri while chanting the name of Lord Shiva.
History of Shiva Ratri
There are many stories and legends describing the origin of this festival.
According to the Shiva Mahapuranam, during the Samudra marthan, i.e the churning of the ocean by the Gods and Demons,a pot of poison emerged from the ocean. This terrified the Gods and demons as the poison was capable of destroying the entire world, and they ran to Shiva for help. In order to make sure that the Earth is not destroyed by the poison, Lord Shiva drank the deathly poison but held it in his throat instead of swallowing it. This made his throat turn blue, and he was given the name Neelakantha, the blue-throated one. Shivaratri is the celebration of this event by which Shiva saved the world.
According to the Shiva Mahapuranam, during the Samudra marthan, i.e the churning of the ocean by the Gods and Demons,a pot of poison emerged from the ocean. This terrified the Gods and demons as the poison was capable of destroying the entire world, and they ran to Shiva for help. In order to make sure that the Earth is not destroyed by the poison, Lord Shiva drank the deathly poison but held it in his throat instead of swallowing it. This made his throat turn blue, and he was given the name Neelakantha, the blue-throated one. Shivaratri is the celebration of this event by which Shiva saved the world.
Long age once when everything in the world got reduced into Lord Shiva, in that darkness of nothing being present, Mother Parvati worshipped Lord Shiva with great devotion for the benefit of all the creatures.Lord Shiva also known as Parameshwar pleased by Her prayer and blessed Her with a wish. She asked for the benefit of all the creatures that in future whoever worships Lord on the auspicious day of Shiva Ratri with strong devotion, they should be blessed and should be given the ultimate liberation.
There is also another story depicting the greatness of this day.The story goes on like this.....
Once a hunter went to a jungle in seach of food. After searching throughout the jungle, and could not get any animal for his food ,so he was quite tired. In the nightfall a tiger started chasing him. to escape from that he climbed a tree. That was a Bilva tree. The tiger sat under the tree waiting for him to come down. so that it could eat him.The hunter who sat on a branch of the tree was quite tense and could not sleep. He was plucking the leaves of that Bilva tree and putting down. Below the tree there was a Shiva lingam. The whole night went on like this. God was pleased with the Upavasa (hunger) of the hunter and the Pooja he had done with the Bilva tree leaves and the tiger did even without knowledge. He is the peak of the grace. He gave the hunter and the tiger "Moksha".
When is Shiva Ratri Observed..?
According to Skanda Purana,there are 4 Shiva ratri's which are observed by Hindus.The first one is Nitya Shivaratri (nitya meaning always i.e daily). The second one is the Masa Shivaratri which is observed on the Krishna paksha chaturdasi (14th moonday on the moons diminishing phase). The third one is the Magha Prathamadi Shivaratri which is observed for 13 days starting from prathama tithi (i.e first thithi) in the month of Magha and on the Chaturdasi night the Lord is worshiped throughout the night.
Below I have listed out the 12 Jyothirlingas with the links to Wikipedia for further information regarding each of the holiest Shiva temples
- Somnath—Prabhas Patan, near Veraval
- Nageshwar—Dwarka,
- Mahakaleshwar—Ujjain,
- Mallikārjuna— at Bhramaramba-Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam,
- Bhimashankar—near Pune,
- Omkareshwar—near Indore,
- Kedarnath—Kedarnath, Uttarakhand,
- Kashi Vishwanath—Varanasi,
- Trimbakeshwar—near Nasik,
- Rameswaram—Rameswaram,
- Grishneshwar—near Ellora and
- Vaidyanath—Deoghar.
As I am posting this on the auspicious day of Maha Shivaratri , I wish you all a happy Shivaratri......