Maha Shivaratris biggest celebrations took place in the Hindu homelands, India and Nepal.

Show more reactions

The festival where the gods come to life ; Dancing revellers take to the streets of India and Nepal dressed as Shiva and Parvati for a day of wild celebration in glorious technicolour.

Maha Shivaratris biggest celebrations took place in the Hindu homelands, India and Nepal. Worshippers mark the date by dressing up as Shiva and Parvati. Sadhus joined the processions and pray with the crowds.
They spent their days chanting mantras and dress in the colourful saffron robes favoured by the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Maha Shivaratri, a festival celebrated all over the world, although nowhere does it quite so exuberantly as India and Nepal, the two homelands of Hinduism. Shivaratri dedicated to Lord Shiva, the bringer of death and destruction, marks the day of his wedding to the goddess Parvati as well as the day he first performed his cosmic dance, the Tandava.

A colourfully dressed devotees hold human skulls and a python during a procession dedicated to Shiva. They paint faces elaborately and dress up with make up to look like various Hindu deities. Many dress up as a demon and lie shrouded in smoke from a fake funeral pyre. Devotees dress up as Shiva and Parvati and wave to the crowds during procession through the streets. All, however, partake in the key elements of Shivaratri: making offerings of bel leaves to Lord Shiva, fasting for a full 24 hours and by taking part in the jagaran - a night-long vigil held on the eve of the festival. Many worshippers also choose to show their respect for Lord Shiva by chanting 'Om Namah Shivaya', a sacred Panchakshara mantra dedicated to Shiva. Others show their respect for the god by wearing his favourite colour, saffron yellow, or by dressing up as the god himself. It's a day that is worshiped both in India and Nepal in scores of different ways. ✨👁🕉📿🎨🙏