Lokvani wishes all its readers a very Happy Maha Shivaratri!
Maha Shivaratri ('The Great Night of Shiva') is an annual Hindu festival celebrated around this time of the year when the waning darkness of winter gives way to the emerging brightness of spring. This auspicious festival, which symbolizes the emergence from the darkness of ignorance into the light of wisdom, is celebrated with great fervor in Temples all over the world where Lord Shiva is enshrined.
There are different versions about the origin of the festival. It is believed to be of the day Lord Shiva got married to Goddess Parvati.
According to lore, Shivratri is celebrated on the day when Lord Shiva saved the world by drinking poison that emerged from the ocean during Samudra Manthan. This poison got stored in his throat thus making it blue which is the reason that Lord Shiva is also known as Neelkanth (blue throat).
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