MAHA SHIVARATRI - PART 2
--- Continuation from the post Maha Shivartri - Part 1
https://divinediyaas.blogspot.in/2018/02/maha-shivaratri-part-1.html
Maha Shivaratri is considered as important day for women, as married women will pray to Lord Shiva for the health and longevity of their husband and children, unmarried women will pray for a life partner like Lord Shiva, as Lord Shiva is being considered as ideal husband.
It is believed that on this night worshiping Lord Shiva and following all the rituals, will please the Lord the most, by pleasing Shiva, one will get rid of their past sins and gets salvation (Moksha). The story behind this festival is explained in 'Maha Shivaratri - Part 1' post.
Rituals Followed During Maha Shivaratri:
Devotees observe full fast on that day with only fruits and juices.
1. On the day of Maha Shivaratri one should get up early in the morning and take bath in a holy river, else adding black sesame seeds into the water and taking bath will purify our body and soul.
2. After taking bath, devotees will take Sankalph (oath) to observe full fasting on that day and break the fasting on the next day with self determination and seeking blessings of Lord Shiva to complete the Sankalph without any obstacles.
3. People who observer fasting will take only one single meal a day (withour, rice, pulses and wheat. Mostly will eat Sabudhana khichidi)
4. Visiting Shiva temples and performing pooja to Lord Shiva in the morning time and abstain from all types of foods during the fasting, except milk and fruits.
5. In the evening time, devotees will take bath again before doing Shiva pooja / visiting the temple.
6. Shiva pooja should be done in the night also. Pooja can be performed either one time or four times during the night. The whole night is divided into four part to perform shiva pooja four times in the night.
7. Performing Abhisekam of Shiva Lingam using six important liquids has important significance of it. They are milk, Yogurt, Honey, Ghee, Sugar, Sandalwood paste and water.
- Milk - is for blessing of purity and piousness
- Yogurt - is for prosperity and family lineage
- Honey - is for Sweet Speech
- Ghee - is for Victory
- Sugar - is for happiness
- Sandalwood Paste- is for grace and blessings
- Water - (mixed with Ganges water ) is for purity and peace
In addition to these Abhishekams, at temple several other special abhishekams are also performed as mentioned below,
- Panchgavyam - It's a mixture of five ingredients Cow's milk, Curd, ghee, Cow's urine and Cow dung) - Removes all sins
- Panchamrutham - Gives wealth. It's a mixture of Ripened banana, sugar candy, jaggery, seedless dates and dry fruits.
- Cooked Rice (Annam) - Gives Majestic life
- Turmeric - For healing, free from diseases
- Bhasma (Holy ashes / Viboothi) - for eluding great sins
- Rice powder - to free from all debts.
8. After the Abhiseka rituals, Bilva leaves will be placed on top of Shiva Linga to cool the deity. Usually, garland of bilva leaves will be decoreated over the Shiva lingam.
9. After that, Viboothi / bhasma, Chandan and kumkum will be applied to Shiva Lingam, followed by lighting diyas (lamps), dhoops (Scented cones) and will take Deepardhana (Aradhana using fire) for Lord Shiva and chant Lord Shiva's names 'OM NAMASHIVAYA !!!'
10. Devotees will keep vigil on this whole night and break the fast on the next day after taking bath and worshiping Lord Shiva, before the end of Chaturdasi Tithi (14th day).
Chanting Maha Mrityunjay mantra is considered as very auspicious on this day, followed by 'Lingaashtakam', ' Shiva Puranam', 'Shiva Panjacharam' etc.
Shiva's Maha Mrityunjay mantra
|| OM Trayambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bhandhanan
Mrityor Mokshiya Maamirtaat ||
Meaning:
I worship thee, Three eyed god, Lord Shiva, who is fragrant, nourishes and grows all beings. As the ripened cucumber liberated from its bondage to the creeper when its fully ripens, May he liberate us from death, for the sake of immortality.
Bel (Bilva) leaves are special and having importance in worshiping Lord Shiva. Bilva leaves area from Wood apple tree, this leaf is trifoliate which signifies Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Since these leaves has cooling effect, they are offered / placed on Shiva lingam, to soothe the heat of the lingam (Lord Shiva).
The three segments of the leaf represents three Gunas, Tamas (Physical body), Rajas (Emotion) and Satvic (Intellect). The center segment of the leaf is taller and more in ratio, (i.e) Satvic guna of this leaf is more compared to other two gunas, hence this bilva / bel leaves are having more capacity to absorb and emit satvic frequencies. It is believed that even terrible karma will be vanishesd, if offer bilva / bel leaves to Lord Shiva.
Consuming Bilva leaves will alleviates disease caused by excess of Vata and kapha.
Six pointed Star
Lord Muruga in a Six pointed star
In some other states of India, there is a different story behind this festival 'Maha Shiva rathri'. It is believed that this is the day, when Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvati in front of Brahma, Vishnu, Saraswati, Lakshmi and all the gods.
Mount Kailash, the highest mountain and the center of the Earth, which is abode of Lord Shiva, where he sits in a perpetual meditation along with his wife Parvati. It is the pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges symbolizing lotus flower.
Mount Kailash is the most mysterious, secret, sacred and a holy mountain, Hindus does 'Parikrama' (Circumambulation around the mountain), a single round around the mountain (52 Km) equals to one turn of wheel of life and removes all our bad karma. In Hinduism, Mount Kailash is considered as paradise, ultimate destination of souls and spiritual center of the world. From this mountain flows four longest rivers of Asia, Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Ghaghara, stretches to four quarters of the world and dividing the world into four regions.
This Mountain is not climbed by anyone till now, whereas Mount Everest which is higher than Kailash has been climbed by many people. Nandi, the bull is the gatekeeper for Mount Kailash, there are many mysteries unresolved about this mountain. It is a cosmic axis and nodal point of Earth.
At 15,000 ft above sea level, it's a massive black rock of 22,000 ft height (6714 meters), at the foothills of Kailash there are 2 holy lakes Manasarovar and Rakshatal . Crescent shaped Rakshatal is the lake of demons, created by King Ravana to perform strict penance, to please Lord Shiva. It is salt water lake with no aquatic species over there, it is stormy even in calm weather condition.
Manasarovar lake remains calm irrespective of the weather conditions, 'Manas' means Mind or consciousness, 'Sarovar' means lake, Manasarovar means Lake of Consciousness and enlightenment. It is a sacred lake and in round shape like Sun. These two lakes represents Solar and lunar forces.
Armenia, Wheel of eternity
Star of David in Judaism (jews)
Khazars also used this six pointed star and no experts are able to crack the symbolic representation of Six pointed star used by Khazars
Six pointed star excavated at Khazar site
Shiva lingam around the world
At Petra, the civilization around this Shiva linga came to end, after it was vandalised.
Shiva Lingam at Petra.
Shiva Linga at Amsk city, Russia
Omphalos is the powerful symbolic stone worshiped by ancient Europeans, considered as 'navel of the world'. Of course, it's our Shiva linga black stone, the seed of Human DNA fallen from space. There are many greek mythological stories about this Omphalos. This stone has been found in several places like Thebes, Karnak in Egypt, ancient Levant, Cuzco in modern Peru, Sumerian city of Eridu (Modern day Iraq). But, the one which is found at Delphi, Greece is very famous one and it has been kept in the museum.
Khazars worshiped Shiva Lingam before Judaism. In the picture below, Shiva lingam is wrapped by serpent, being worshiped with water.
Khazars worshiping Shiva Lingam
Not only in Shiva lingam and Lord Shiva, Serpents have been used in many ancient worshiping around the world. Like pictured above, Khazars worshiped Shiva Lingam with serpent around it.
There are some reasons for using serpents in ancient times as symbolic representations
Here is the explanation for that. It is related to Kundalini in Hinduism.
On this festival day, lets pray Lord Shiva, get his blessings and raise our consciousness.
OM NAMASIVAYA !!!!
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