Maha Shivratri 2027: the great night of Shiva
Maha Shivratri, the great night of Shiva, is kept on the fourteenth night of the dark half before the new moon of Phalgun. Families fast through the day and keep watch through the night with Shiva's name.
When it falls next
Maha Shivratri in each region
What Maha Shivratri is
Every month has a Shivratri, the fourteenth night of its dark half; the one before the new moon of Phalgun is the great one. The tradition remembers it as the night of Shiva's wedding to Parvati, and as the night he appeared as a pillar of light without end.
It is a night of stillness more than of feasting: of fasting, chanting "Om Namah Shivaya", and staying awake, the jagaran, in the four watches of the night.
How families keep it at home
Many keep a fast through the day, some taking only water or fruit, and open it the next morning.
The Shivling at home or in a temple is bathed, the abhishek, with water, milk, curd, ghee and honey, often one in each of the four watches of the night, and offered bel leaves, the leaves of the bilva tree, three to a stem.
White flowers, dhatura and bhasma are offered, and the family chants the Mahamrityunjaya mantra or reads the Shiv Tandav Stotra.
Temples stay open through the night, and many families visit one in the evening and another before dawn.
How it differs by region
In Maharashtra families crowd to the jyotirlinga temples of the state, Trimbakeshwar, Bhimashankar, Grishneshwar, Aundha Nagnath and Parli Vaijnath, and to the Shiva temple of their own village.
In Kashi and Ujjain the night is kept with great processions, and in Kashmir the festival is Herath, kept over days with a puja of the family's own.
In the south the night is kept with a vigil at the great Shiva temples, with dance and music till dawn in some.
How its date is set
Maha Shivratri is the chaturdashi of the dark half of Magha where months end at the new moon (amanta, as in Maharashtra) and of Phalgun where they end at the full moon. The two reckonings name the same night.
It is kept on the night the chaturdashi holds at midnight, the nishita kaal, the hour of the chief puja.
Read the Shiva aarti, the Shiv Tandav Stotra and the Mahamrityunjaya mantra.