Stories Associated With Maha Shivratri

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Shivratri is one of the most important festivals for the devotees of Lord Shiva. It is the festival in which the devotees fast and stay awake to get blessings from the Lord. This festival is celebrated with great fervour all over India as it is believed to mark the wedding of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati.

Maha Shivratri is considered to be the day when Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvati and became a householder from a hermit. Girls fast and worship Lord Shiva on this day to get a good husband like Him. Married women fast for the well being of their husbands and the family.

Apart from the story of the great wedding of Lord Shiva, there are many other stories associated with Shivratri. Take a look at the stories which are associated with Maha Shivratri.

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The God Of The Gods
Lord Shiva is often referred to as Mahadev or 'Devo Ke Dev' which means the superior of all Gods. So, here is another story associated with Shivratri. Once Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu had a fight as to who among the two is superior. As the fight aggravated, a burning pillar or lingam appeared between the two. A voice from the lingam resounded that the one who is able to find the end of the lingam will be judged as the superior.

So, Lord Brahma went towards the upper end of the lingam and Lord Vishnu towards the lower end. But none of them could find the end of the burning pillar. After a while, Lord Vishnu realised that the lingam had no end and stopped searching for it. Lord Brahma however decided to play a trick. He decided to tell a lie that He had found the end of the lingam and He brought the Ketaki flower to testify His lie. But Lord Shiva became extremely outraged at His lie and cursed Lord Brahma that He would never be worshipped on Earth.

This legend explains that Lord Shiva is the superior of all the Gods and that He is the beginning (Adi) of everything and He has no end (Ananta). It is believed that it was the day of Maha Shivratri when Lord Shiva manifested Himself first time in the form of a lingam. Hence, the festival is popularly celebrated.

The Night Vigil
Another popular story explains why people stay awake on Shivratri. Once a poor tribal was lost in the woods while he came to gather firewood. As it started getting dark, he heard the wild animals growling in the forest. The tribal was scared and he climbed up a tree. Perched among the branches, the tribal was afraid of falling down lest he dozed off.

So, to keep himself awake, the man started plucking leaves from the tree and dropping it on the ground, taking the name of Lord Shiva. He stayed awake the whole night doing this. By dawn, he realised that he had climbed a bel tree and had been dropping the Bilva leaves on a Shiva Linga which was hidden among the leaves. This unwitting all night worship pleased Lord Shiva and He blessed the tribal with divine bliss. Hence the night worship of Maha Shivratri came into existence.

These were a few stories associated with Maha Shivratri. The stories may differ across regions, but the essence of the festival remains the same. Maha Shivratri ushers in the season of spring after the cold and dry months of winter. The motive of the festival is to dispel ignorance and emanate the light of knowledge to all human beings.