Grand festival Maha Shivaratri today

BY A STAFF REPORTER,Kathmandu, Feb. 18: Hindus all over the country are celebrating the festival of Maha Shivaratri by worshiping Lord Shiva at various shrines on Saturday.  

A big religious fair is being organised at the Pashupatinath Temple on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri. The devotees have already started thronging the premises of the temple.

The 145th Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Govardhan Peetham of Puri, Nischalananda Saraswati, arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday evening at the special invitation of Pashupati Areas Development Trust (PADT).   

The entire area of the Pashupatinath has been decorated with flowers. Any devotee heading to the main temple gets astonished seeing the flowers all around them, above their heads, the gates built with flowers, idols of oxen buried under flowers and the colourful marigold garlands hanging by the walls of all the buildings standing near the temple.   

The main entrance of Pashupatinath is decorated using lily, orchid, marigold and other kinds of flowers. The splendid flower decoration has already given the holy site a more attractive look.

On the eve of Shivaratri, many workers were seen busy decorating the areas with flowers. Some were giving final touch to the shapes of flower peacocks, elephants, Ganesh, Trishul, and Swastika while others were hanging

the flowers on the wall by the steel support erected above the routes leading to the main temple. 

Purna Bahadur Jethara, coordinator of the Festival Market and Decoration Sub-Committee, informed that more than 200 workers were mobilised for the decoration. 

Big amounts of flowers were used to decorate Pashupati area and the entrance gates of the temple are heavily decorated, he said.   

The Pashupati premise is also decked out with electric light, and all surrounding areas and temples and walls have been painted. 

The roads around the temple are filled with devotees, sadhus (holy men), beggars, foreign pilgrims and tourists. Many sadhus have come from various parts of the country and India.

Several myths and legends regarding Maha Shivatarti are popular among the Hindus.  According to one of the most popular legends, it is the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati. 

It is also believed that Lord Shiva performed ‘Tandava’, the dance of the primal creation, preservation and destruction on the auspicious night of Maha Shivaratri.

According to another popular legend in Linga Purana, it was on Shivaratri that Lord Shiva manifested himself in the form of a Linga for the first time. Since then, the day is considered to be extremely auspicious by the devotees of Lord Shiva and they celebrate it as Maha Shivaratri - the grand night of Shiva.

The Hindus from all over the world accord high significance to this particular day. It is believed that the devotees would overcome all sins and attain moksha by offering worship to Lord Shiva on the Maha Shivaratri day.