Date: 6th. day of March, 2008
Day: Thursday
The Event: Maha Shiv Ratri
From here
The term ‘Shiva' is a confluence of two syllables, ‘Shi' and ‘Va', meaning the ‘redeemer of sins' and ‘liberator of sufferings'.
The Shvetashvetara Upanishad says, "Shiva is more minute than the minutest".
He is often considered to convey a divine dot, a point or seed of cosmic creation, sustenance and conclusion. In numerical counting, the devout Hindus says ‘Shiva' instead of uttering ‘one' which points to His position in the universe as the originator.
Shivapurana mentions the oval flame or jyotirlinga form of Shiva. The Sanskrit suffix linga signifies mark, sign, symbol, quality or characteristics of an entity that has two phonetic parts: lin or laya and gam or agaman respectively, referring to the process of destruction and recreation which Shiva epitomises.
Shiva is effulgent and beyond three attributes of sattva , rajas and tamas . With rajas in the form of Brahma, He creates; with sattva in the form of Vishnu, He preserves, and with tamas in the form of Rudra, He destroys. When the world is in darkness of ignorance Shiva appears in the form of a column of light, Jyotirlinga , in front of deities Brahma and Vishnu. In the race to prove their superiority they try to fathom the column of light, but fail. Shiva, along with all human souls, dwells in the supreme abode of divine illumination and complete silence. It is called Shanti Dham or Param Dham and is located amidst the sixth element of sacred light, far beyond the physical universe.
Localised in incarnated bodies through successive births and interaction with material world, humans experience entropy and complete loss of all available energy. They pray for divine intervention and help. In human ignorance, Jyotirlinga Shiva descends on earth in the corporeal body of Prajapita Brahma and reveals His sacred knowledge about soul, supreme soul, world drama, law of karma and raja-yoga meditation for recharging human souls by linking their minds to the supreme source of spiritual energies. His divine knowledge, revealed through Brahma, gives us insight to see the self and other beings as soul (tiny conscient point of divine light in the forehead) and to experience its innate and original qualities of purity, peace, love, bliss, knowledge, power and happiness. The regular practice of such soul consciousness would make you so light, positive, peaceful, blissful and powerful that your meditation and contemplation become effortless.
Cultivation of soul consciousness would also foster essential unity, harmony and brotherhood of mankind under the spiritual fatherhood of one incorporeal Supreme Being. By seeking the companionship of Supreme Soul Shiva in meditation, we need not make special efforts to weed out unwanted, negative and harmful personality traits, habits, leanings and dependencies as they would automatically not only get sublimated in the subtle fire of intellectual communion or yoga of our inner self with the divine being, but would also be substituted with the natural, pure, positive, healthy and benevolent qualities, powers and proclivities. Being firmly seated in the joyful experience of our inner-self, we can smoothly connect and commune with the Almighty who is the eternal source of infinite spiritual knowledge, virtues and strength. By this simple and natural process of introspection and contemplation on self and the Supreme, we can empower ourselves and become one with Sat-Chit-Anand , truth-consciousness-bliss.
From here
Shiva is 'Shakti', Shiva is power, Shiva is the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity. Known by many names - Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath - Lord Shiva is perhaps the most complex of Hindu deities.
Hindus recognize this by putting his shrine in the temple separate from those of other deities. Shiva, in temples is usually found as a phallic symbol of the linga, which represents the energies necessary for life on both the microcosmic and the macrocosmic levels, that is, the world in which we live and the world which constitutes the whole of the universe.
In a Shaivite temple, the linga is placed in the centre underneath the spire, where it symbolizes the naval of the earth. The actual image of Shiva is also distinct from other deities: his hair piled high on the top of his head, with a crescent tucked into it and the river Ganges tumbling from his hairs. Around his neck is a coiled serpent representing Kundalini or the spiritual energy within life.
He holds a trident in his left hand in which is bound the 'damroo' (small leather drum). He sits on a tiger skin and on his right is a water pot. He wears the 'Rudraksha' beads and his whole body is smeared with ash.
Shiva is believed to be at the core of the centrifugal force of the universe, because of his responsibility for death and destruction. Unlike the godhead Brahma, the Creator, Shiva is the dissolving force in life. But Shiva dissolves in order to create, since death is the medium for rebirth into a new life. So the opposites of life and death and creation and destruction both reside in his character.
He is also often portrayed as the supreme ascetic with a passive and composed disposition. Sometimes he is depicted riding a bull called Nandi decked in garlands. Although a very complicated deity, Shiva is one of the most fascinating of Hindu gods.
Since Shiva is regarded as a mighty destructive power, to numb his negative potentials he is fed with opium and is also termed as Bhole Shankar, one who is oblivious of the world. Therefore, on Maha Shivratri, the night of Shiva worship, devotees, especially the men folk, prepare an intoxicating drink called Thandai (made from cannabis, almonds, and milk) sing songs in praise of the Lord and dance to the rhythm of the drums.
Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Shiva, occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna. It falls on a moonless February night, when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction.
Shivratri is the night when he is said to have performed the Tandava Nritya or the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction. The festival is observed for one day and one night only. According to the Puranas, during the great mythical churning of the ocean called Samudra Manthan, a pot of poison emerged from the ocean.
The gods and the demons were terrified as it could destroy the entire world. When they ran to Shiva for help, he in order to protect the world, drank the deadly poison but held it in his throat instead of swallowing it.
This turned his throat blue, and since then he came to be known as Nilkantha, the blue-throated one. Shivratri celebrates this event by which Shiva saved the world. Shivratri is considered especially auspicious for women.
Married women pray for the well being of their husbands and sons, while unmarried women pray for an ideal husband like Shiva, who is the spouse of Kali, Parvati and Durga. But generally it is believed that anyone who utters the name of Shiva during Shivratri with pure devotion is freed from all sins.
He or she reaches the abode of Shiva and is liberated from the cycle of birth and death. On the day of Shivratri, a three-tiered platform is built around a fire. The topmost plank represents swargaloka (heaven), the middle one antarikshaloka (space) and the bottom one bhuloka (earth).
Eleven urns or kalash, are kept on the swargaloka plank symbolizing the eleven manifestations of the Rudra Shiva. These are decorated with bilva (woodapple leaves) and mango leaves atop a coconut representing the head of Shiva.
The uncut shank of the coconut symbolizes his tangled hair and the three spots on the fruit Shiva's three eyes.
Hindus recognize this by putting his shrine in the temple separate from those of other deities. Shiva, in temples is usually found as a phallic symbol of the linga, which represents the energies necessary for life on both the microcosmic and the macrocosmic levels, that is, the world in which we live and the world which constitutes the whole of the universe.
In a Shaivite temple, the linga is placed in the centre underneath the spire, where it symbolizes the naval of the earth. The actual image of Shiva is also distinct from other deities: his hair piled high on the top of his head, with a crescent tucked into it and the river Ganges tumbling from his hairs. Around his neck is a coiled serpent representing Kundalini or the spiritual energy within life.
He holds a trident in his left hand in which is bound the 'damroo' (small leather drum). He sits on a tiger skin and on his right is a water pot. He wears the 'Rudraksha' beads and his whole body is smeared with ash.
Shiva is believed to be at the core of the centrifugal force of the universe, because of his responsibility for death and destruction. Unlike the godhead Brahma, the Creator, Shiva is the dissolving force in life. But Shiva dissolves in order to create, since death is the medium for rebirth into a new life. So the opposites of life and death and creation and destruction both reside in his character.
He is also often portrayed as the supreme ascetic with a passive and composed disposition. Sometimes he is depicted riding a bull called Nandi decked in garlands. Although a very complicated deity, Shiva is one of the most fascinating of Hindu gods.
Since Shiva is regarded as a mighty destructive power, to numb his negative potentials he is fed with opium and is also termed as Bhole Shankar, one who is oblivious of the world. Therefore, on Maha Shivratri, the night of Shiva worship, devotees, especially the men folk, prepare an intoxicating drink called Thandai (made from cannabis, almonds, and milk) sing songs in praise of the Lord and dance to the rhythm of the drums.
Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Shiva, occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna. It falls on a moonless February night, when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction.
Shivratri is the night when he is said to have performed the Tandava Nritya or the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction. The festival is observed for one day and one night only. According to the Puranas, during the great mythical churning of the ocean called Samudra Manthan, a pot of poison emerged from the ocean.
The gods and the demons were terrified as it could destroy the entire world. When they ran to Shiva for help, he in order to protect the world, drank the deadly poison but held it in his throat instead of swallowing it.
This turned his throat blue, and since then he came to be known as Nilkantha, the blue-throated one. Shivratri celebrates this event by which Shiva saved the world. Shivratri is considered especially auspicious for women.
Married women pray for the well being of their husbands and sons, while unmarried women pray for an ideal husband like Shiva, who is the spouse of Kali, Parvati and Durga. But generally it is believed that anyone who utters the name of Shiva during Shivratri with pure devotion is freed from all sins.
He or she reaches the abode of Shiva and is liberated from the cycle of birth and death. On the day of Shivratri, a three-tiered platform is built around a fire. The topmost plank represents swargaloka (heaven), the middle one antarikshaloka (space) and the bottom one bhuloka (earth).
Eleven urns or kalash, are kept on the swargaloka plank symbolizing the eleven manifestations of the Rudra Shiva. These are decorated with bilva (woodapple leaves) and mango leaves atop a coconut representing the head of Shiva.
The uncut shank of the coconut symbolizes his tangled hair and the three spots on the fruit Shiva's three eyes.
From here
167 Hindu pilgrims arrive in Lahore
LAHORE: About 167 Hindu pilgrims crossed into Pakistan on a special train from Wagha Border on Monday to celebrate Maha Shivratri. The pilgrims will stay till March 10. Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) officials Syed Faraz Abbass, Syed Raghib Ali and Azhar Abbass received the guests and accompanied them to Gurdwara Dera Sahib, where the ETPB had made arrangements for their stay. About 200 pilgrims were expected to visit Pakistan to celebrate Maha Shivratri, but only 167 pilgrims arrived. ETPB official Aslam said the pilgrims would stay at Gurdwara Dera Sahib for a night and then would proceed to Katas Raj Temples, Chakwal, on Tuesday. He said the pilgrims would stay at the temple till March 7. He said the pilgrims would then return to Lahore. The pilgrims would stay in Lahore on March 8 and March 9, and then would visit Krishna Mandar. He said the pilgrims would leave for India on March 10. He said the authorities concerned had made special security arrangement for the pilgrims. The ETPB authorities have set up a medical dispensary, deputed Rescue 1122 squads and made provision for langar (charity meal). The word Maha Shivratri means the night of Shiva, and ceremonies are pre-arranged chiefly at nighttime. Maha Shivratri is the night on which lord Shiva and Parvati got married. Maha Shivratri falls on the 13th (or 14th) day of the dark half of ‘Phalgun’ (February-March). The event marks the night when lord Shiva performed the Tandav dance (the dance of destruction).
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