The supreme night of Shiva worship; the midnight vigil and abhishekam.
Sunday, 7 March 2027·Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi, at Nishita (midnight)·Mumbai, Maharashtra
The principal midnight worship and abhishekam of the lingam.
Evening worship and the start of the Char Prahar vigil.
Daytime preparation, temple visits and general auspicious activity.
Maha Shivratri, 'the great night of Shiva', is the most important night of the year for devotees of Shiva. It is observed with fasting, a night-long vigil (jagaran), the offering of bilva leaves, and abhishekam of the Shiva lingam. The Nishita Kala worship at midnight is considered supreme, and the truly devout worship through the four watches of the night (Char Prahar).
The night marks the overcoming of darkness and ignorance in one's life and in the world. Fasting and vigil turn the devotee inward toward Shiva, the auspicious one, the destroyer of ego and impurity.
To keep the sacred vigil and worship Shiva at his supreme night, to seek liberation and the removal of sin, and to honour the marriage and cosmic power of Shiva.
Maha Shivratri is remembered in several ways. It is held to be the night of Shiva's cosmic dance, the tandava, through which the universe is created, preserved and dissolved. It is also celebrated as the night of the divine marriage of Shiva and Parvati. In a third account, when Brahma and Vishnu contested who was greater, Shiva appeared as an infinite column of fire and light - the lingodbhava, the lingam of light - whose ends neither could find, revealing him as the boundless supreme. A hunter's tale tells of a man who, trapped in a tree through the night, unknowingly dropped bilva leaves onto a lingam below and, by that unwitting vigil and offering, earned Shiva's grace - the origin of the night-long worship.
The Nishita Kala (midnight) puja is supreme; the Pradosh Kala evening worship begins the night-long vigil.
Worship of Shiva through the four watches (prahars) of the night, each with a separate abhishekam and offering.
Bilva (bael) leaves, water, milk, honey, dhatura and bhang, along with the Mahamrityunjaya mantra.