MAHASHIVARATRI SIGNIFICANCE
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
Friday, February 18, 2011
Mahashivaratri Significance
Mahashivratri is one of the important Hindu festivals celebrated
with religious fervor across the length and breadth of India.
Followers of Lord Shiv consider the festival very special, as it is
the time to show their love and devotion to their favorite deity. It
is significant in every devotee's life, as it also tests ones ability
to abstain from food (because fast is observed on the day) and remain
vigil in the night without sleeping (because one has to remain awake
all through the night, on Mahashivratri). In addition to this, Maha
Shivratri bears significance in Hindu history. In the following
lines, learn all about the significance of Mahashivratri.
Significance Of Maha Shivratri
Importance In Hinduism
According to the Hindu mythology, Lord Shiv declared that the rituals
performed by his devotees on the 14th day of the dark fortnight in
the month of Phalgun please him the most. Therefore, year by year,
the day is observed as Mahashivratri, wherein devotees observe fast,
sing songs and bhajans and offer prayers to the Almighty to seek his
blessings. Poojas conducted in Lord Shiv temples during the day have
significance too. This is because the rituals are conducted strictly
in accordance with the method that is prescribed in Shiv Puraan, a
Hindu epic. According to the Puraan, poojas are conducted once in
every three hours, on Maha Shivratri.
Importance In Human Lives
It is believed that the devotion of Lord Shiv on Mahashivratri would
freed the devotee from the past sins. Moreover, the devotee would
reach the adobe of Lord Shiv and live there happily, because he/she
is liberated from the cycle of birth and death, once he/she attains
moksha or salvation.
Therefore, all the devotees of Lord Shiv would flock the temples to
offer their prayers. To serve the purpose, jujube fruits, stalks of
Bilwa leaves, flowers and garlands are offered to the Shiv Linga by
the devotees. If the devotee celebrates the festival at home, he/she
would perform the Mahashivratri Pooja by taking a holy bath (in warm
water) early in the morning, wearing new clothes and then smearing
bhasm (holy ash) on their forehead.
Importance For Women
Maha Shivratri is especially important for women. Ladies, both
married and unmarried, would perform Shiv Pooja and observe fast with
great devotion and sincerity. This is predominantly done to appease
Lord Shiv along with his consort Goddess Parvati, who is often
called Ma Gauri. It is believed that Ma Gauri bestows marital bliss
on unmarried women and blesses the married women with healthy and
blissful married life. Since Lord Shiv is regarded as the ideal
husband by the Hindu women, the unmarried women would not miss to
observe the stringent fast on Shivratri.
End of forwarded message from Jasbir Sethi
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.