Thousands of Hindu pilgrims gathered at the Guyana Sevashram Sangha, popularly known as the Cove and John Ashram on the East Coast of Demerara, to offer their prayers to Lord Shiva as they celebrate the festival of Maha Shivaratri.
Maha Shivaratri translates to “great night of Shiva,” and for 24 hours, Hindu pilgrims offer special prayers to Lord Shiva at auspicious intervals.
Devotees making holy offerings into the kundh
The celebrations at the Ashram began at 05:30h on Tuesday, and following the mass Havan ceremony, Administrator of the Cove and John Ashram, Swami Shivashankarananda, explained the meaning of Maha Shivaratri.
“Shivaratri means ‘the night of Shiva’, and is observed on the 13th or 14th day of every month; but once a year there is a Maha Shivaratri, or ‘great night of Shiva’ on the new moon in the month of February or March, before the arrival of spring,” he explained.
Swami Shivashankarananda, in addressing the gathering of students from the Cove and John Hindu School, invitees from the Indian High Commission, and pilgrims, noted that in different parts of India, the tale of how Shivaratri came about differs, but the celebration remains the same.
“It is on this day that Shiva is said to have saved the world from destruction on the condition that people worship him with great enthusiasm. Another legend said that Shiva simply named this as his favourite day when asked by the Goddess Parvati; and a third story said that a hunter was unable to find any game, so decided to rest in a wood apple tree. He threw down leaves in the hope (they) would attract a deer, but was unaware that there was a sacred worship place to Shiva beneath the tree,” the Hindu scholar related.
He said religious texts explain that during the vigil night of Shiva, one is brought to the moment of internal interval between destruction and regeneration. That process symbolizes the night when one must contemplate what to grow and what to eradicate.
“During Maha Shivaratri, we have to be alone with our souls, the Shiva in you; we have to look behind and before to see what evil need we have to eradicate from our hearts, and what growth of virtue we have to encourage. Shiva is not only outside of us, but within us, to unite our soul with oneself to recognize the Shiva in us,” Swami Shivashankarananda noted.
The festival is solemn, and marks a remembrance of overcoming darkness and ignorance in life and the world. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating on ethics and virtues such as self-restraint, honesty, non-injury to others, forgiveness, and the discovery of Shiva.
The ardent devotees keep awake all night, and would visit one of the Shiva temples or go on pilgrimage, as it is believed that Shiva appears at certain intervals throughout the night. “Om Namah Shivaya”, the sacred mantra of Shiva, is chanted throughout the day to invoke Shiva’s presence.
