Episode 1409
Maha Shivaratri
Fri, 2021-Mar-12 01:46 UTC
Length - 2:58
Direct Link
Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.
With 249,430 views on Thursday, 11 March 2021 our article of the day is Maha Shivaratri.
Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is an Indian festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance.
On this night there is an intense upsurge of energy on the planet due to it's solar positioning. If one stays awake and keeps their spine straight for the duration of this night (6pm to 6am) it brings tremendous benefits to their system. There is a Shivaratri in every luni-solar month of the Hindu calendar, on the month's 13th night/14th day, but once a year in late winter (February/March, or Phalguna) and before the arrival of Summer, marks Maha Shivaratri which means "the Great Night of Shiva". It is a major festival in Hinduism, and this 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 honesty, non-injury to others, charity, forgiveness, and the discovery of Shiva. The ardent devotees keep awake all night. Others visit one of the Shiva temples or go on pilgrimage to Jyotirlingams. This is an ancient Hindu festival whose origin date is unknown, though Shaivism itself is understood to have begun between 200 BC - 100 CE so the festival must have begun during or after that period. According to the South Indian calendar, Maha Shivaratri is observed on Chaturdashi Tithi during Krishna Paksha in the month of Magha, and in other parts of India, on 13/14 night of Krishna Paksha in Phalguna of Hindu calendar, the Gregorian date however remaining the same. In Kashmir Shaivism, the festival is called Har-ratri or phonetically simpler Haerath or Herath by Shiva devotees of the Kashmir region.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:46 UTC on Friday, 12 March 2021.
For the full current version of the article, see Maha Shivaratri on Wikipedia.
This podcast is produced by Abulsme Productions based on Wikipedia content and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Visit wikioftheday.com for our archives, sister podcasts, and swag. Please subscribe to never miss an episode. You can also follow @WotDpod on Twitter.
Abulsme Productions produces the current events podcast Curmudgeon's Corner as well. Check it out in your podcast player of choice.
This has been Amy Neural. Thank you for listening to popular Wiki of the Day.
|
|
Buy WotD Stuff!!
