Showing posts with label thandavam. Show all posts

What next ?

It was all very well to be able to stop someone out of a large number of people coming out of the temple hall and get his attention! I still haven't come to the subject matter at hand which was getting him to agree to sign up for a substantial donation to the temple for building the new Lord SIVA temple.

So I had to say something about Lord SHIVA and his festival MAHA SIVARATHRI. As I mentioned bits and pieces and different things to different people it won't constitute a readable narration though each piece of information I said must have been interesting to the listener as he continued to listen.  Anyway here is a good summary of the introduction, annotated from an authentic source!

MAHA SIVARATHRI falls on the 13th (or 14th) day of the dark half of Phalgun (February-March). The name means "the night of Shiva". The ceremonies take place chiefly at night. This is a festival observed in honour of Lord Shiva. Shiva was married to Parvati on this day.

People observe a strict fast on this day. Some devotees do not even take a drop of water. They keep vigil all night. The Shiva Lingam is worshipped throughout the night by washing it every three hours with milk, curd, honey, rose water, etc., whilst the chanting of the Mantra Om Namah Shivaya continues. Offerings of bael leaves are made to the Lingam. Bael leaves are very sacred as, it is said, Lakshmi resides in them.

Hymns in praise of Lord Shiva, such as the Shiva Mahimna Stotra of Pushpadanta or Ravana's Shiva Tandava Stotra are sung with great fervour and devotion. People repeat the Panchakshara Mantra, Om Namah Shivaya. He who utters the Names of Shiva during Shivaratri, with perfect devotion and concentration, is freed from all sins. He reaches the abode of Shiva and lives there happily. He is liberated from the wheel of births and deaths. Many pilgrims flock to the places where there are Shiva temples.


(continued on next post.....)                                    
(Curious what this is about ? See previous post)

Saturday, July 10, 2010
Posted by Unknown

Paybookclub Content Box

Get this Free auto refreshing Content Box for your website Now!

If you are looking for free content for your web site, it is right here.To increase your Google Page Rank and page hits, get this free auto updating content box on your page. Just copy and paste this code in your page html and watch your site updating with free and fresh content without you lifting a finger.
<div style="margin: 0 auto; width:100%; height:400px;"> <object type="text/html" data="https://paybookclub-v2.herokuapp.com/timelineOriginal.php" style="width:100%; height:100%; margin:1%;"> </object> </div>
If you want to see how fresh content is generated automatically everytime your page is visited, please download our Paybookclub Cash for Content App and sign up. Then try posting your content on Public Timeline and click the "Monetise" link. You can see how your content will appear on thousands of web pages simultaneously in our content boxes. Dowload and try our free app now!
  • - Copyright © 2013 Lasting Rose -Metrominimalist- Powered by Blogger - Designed by Johanes Djogan -

    Real Time Web Analytics