What is Mahashivratri?
Mahashivratri is one of the biggest festivals for all the Shiva clan followers who know that Shiva is the beginning and Shiva is the end and Shiva is the only everything in between as well.
Mahashivratri celebrates the union of Lord Shiva with his love, Goddess Parvati. It symbolizes long-lasting, forever-loving relationships and the victory of what is desired from the goal of life.
There are many different theories as to why Mahashivratri is celebrated.
One, The wedding night of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati
Two, The open view for the public to witness the Tandava dance of Lord Shiva to showcase anger, frustration, and tension.
Three, The victory of light over darkness and ignorance.
Fourth, Self Discovery the journey of finding oneself against all odds to rebuild self and everything around.
We will start with the most believed reason and story, the marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
Unison of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati
Lord Shiva for the longest time had decided against marriage. He was very impressed by the phenomenon of life and death and majorly, the after-death rituals of the souls, their journey to Vishnu Dhaam, Vaikunth, and the cycle of the souls again and again.
He was referred to as Aughaddaani, or the one who is not interested in anything and is giving away anything and everything around. Shiva had decided to renounce everything and leave all the luxuries of the world to stay in Mount Kailash. He was the unreserved giver and thus was permanently assured that he would not want to get married and start a family.
He wanted to give away all he had and not take in the pleasure of being in a relationship being loved by anyone or taking love and care from anyone. He even renounced respect by staying with departed and unrested souls so that no one should think about being close to him and offer him something of value at all.
Lord Shiva is the God of preserver of good and destroyer of evil. But when there was an ocean ordeal, to who would take what and the elements in the ocean could come to life, Lord Shiva was the only one who chose everything nobody selected so that the process would not come to a halt and the efforts of people involved do not go to waste.
This was exactly how he received the poison, the snake, the Pitra or the deceased, Nandi as the charioteer, the trident, Mount Kailash, and a lot of other things. Lord Shiva was also the owner of a golden palace built in the Lanka area but when he wanted to have someone inaugurate the palace and bless it with mantras, he contacted the best priest and the most knowledgeable saint, Ravana.
Ravana became so attached to the palace that he decided to ask it from Lord Shiva as his fee for the Pooja and thus, Lord Shiva, the Aughaddaani, gave the palace of gold away and settled with the least of things that followed him in the Mount Kailash.
So, Lord Shiva, when he was determined that he would not marry anyone and would live like a bachelor forever, Lord Brahma was very worried. There had to be someone to carry forward the Shiva legacy because the descendants of Lord Shiva will also be the preserver of good and destroyer of evil.
Lord Brahma had already decided to take his legacy of creation and knowledge ahead with Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge, being his wife, and his seven children, also called his Manasputras, or the mentally born sons of Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu were married to Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, with their descendants to be known as the administrators and managers, there had to be protectors and destroyers to maintain the balance of the universe.
Lord Brahma had then decided to play cupid and make Lord Shiva meet the right girl.
Parallelly, Goddess Parvati, who was the daughter of the Himalayas, was already in awe of and in love with Lord Shiva and she was the one who was sure that if she would ever marry in this life or any other, she would do so with Lord Shiva only.
So she was suggested by someone to meditate until she pleases Lord Shiva and when he will have to come to bless her with her meditation wish, Lord Brahma will help them unite and fall in love.
When Lord Shiva finally came to grant Goddess Parvati’s wishes, Lord Brahma shot an arrow of love and made Lord Shiva admire the beauty of women, like Goddess Parvati, for the first time. He was so mesmerized by her that when she asked for his hand in marriage, he could not say no as he was to grant her wish for which she did the penance.
So, Lord Shiva had committed to the marriage unknowingly, under the undue influence of Lord Brahma, and by the time he had realized, it was too late to go back on his word.
The only way he decided he could postpone his marriage was by scaring Goddess Parvati and more so, her parents and family and making them believe that Lord Shiva was not the right groom material.
He hatched a plan and took all his Pret (departed yet haunting souls) to his procession to give Lagan (an invitation to the bride's family for marriage). He took a huge risk and dressed as the most dangerous-looking zombie himself.
When Goddess Parvati saw this from her window, she understood that Lord Shiva was trying one last chance to delay the inevitable as her family was already shivering from fear of what they were witnessing.
The procession had an army of dead people, people in the most dangerous-looking shape, color, and form, people with broken body parts and tattered clothes all covered in ash and blood, representing death. Lord Shiva in front was looking even more so dangerous and frightening and everyone was worried about why Goddess Parvati chose to marry such a groom how she survived now and if she was going to cancel the wedding or not.
Goddess Parvati knew something such could happen and thus, she came running to the front door to greet the procession and when Lord Shiva saw her, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and was convinced that Lord Shiva could never get a better match than Goddess Parvati.
She was dressed in an equally terrible attire with blood oozing from some of her body parts and clothes equally malignated. It was a dreadful sight, but yet so sweet and super romantic for him to see his to-be wife matching to his frenzy and proving to him that he would not be able to leave her or get rid of her anytime soon.
Lord Shiva realized two things:
One, he was not selected by Goddess Parvati due to his power, position, status, and stature.
Two, Goddess Parvati truly loved him to pull this off in front of her entire family even if it could be the most embarrassing thing to do.
He therefore finally accepted the proposal and also accepted to marry Goddess Parvati without any more troubles and any further issues in life.
Mahashivratri, as the name suggests, is the Grand Lord Shiva Night. “Maha” means Grand, “Shiva” means Lord Shiva, and “Ratri” means Night. So the celebration of Lord Shiva marrying Goddess Parvati is one reason to celebrate this special occasion of Mahashivratri as the anniversary of Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati.
This was the reason for celebrating Mahashivratri. We will be talking about the other three reasons what and how and everything in the upcoming blogs. So do not forget to stay tuned here.
When is Mahashivratri in 2025?
On 26th February 2025, the entire world will celebrate Mahashivratri by enjoying, partying, rejoicing, and being happy with the best decision of Lord Shiva to marry Goddess Parvati symbolizing togetherness, harmony, relationship, love, sacrifices, adjustments, and staying put for each other.
How is Rudraksha Hub Celebrating Mahashivratri?
Join us at 09:00 AM on 26th February 2025 for Mahashivratri Rudrabhishek in Kashi (Varanasi) from Mahamrityunjaya Temple, Varanasi. We would want you all to immerse yourselves fully into this once-in-a-lifetime experience and rejoice in the bond, love, relationship, and celebration of the union of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
Have any questions? Ping us at wa.me/918542929702 and we shall be glad to answer all your questions. Alternatively, feel free to connect with us at info@rudrakshahub.com and we would love to answer your questions, the way you desire.
Har Har Mahadev..!!
