Siva Ratri

sincere thanks: www.webpages.uidaho.edu

Sivarathri is here – the night when Siva married Parvathi. There are many stories associated with Sivarathri and the most popular one is the marriage of Siva and Sakti. This is the fastival where fruits galore as many people fast and keep a vigil at night for the Abhisheka-priya bathing him with milk, curd, honey, sugar, ghee and washing him down with water between each. These abhishekas are for cooling down Halahala dhara and the practice of offering him behl (marjuana) leaves is to calm him down. All this goes on amidst continuous chanting of ‘Om Namah Sivaya’, believed to wash away one’s sins. Mahashivratri.org is dedicated to providing all the information related to Sivaratri legend and practices. A detailed  description of those fascinating legends has been provided there.   

Marriage of Shiva and Shakti	The story tells us how Lord Shiva got married a second time to Shakti, his divine consort…
Samudra Mathanam	This very popular Shivaratri legend from Puranas explains why people stay awake all night on Shivaratri. Besides, it also tells us why Lord Shiva is also known as Neelakantha.
Legend of Shiva Linga	The legend of Shiva Linga or Lingodbhavamurthy is deeply related to Mahashivaratri. The legend narrates the story of vain search by Brahma and Vishnu to discover the Aadi (beginning) and the Antha (end) of Lord Shiva…
The Legend of Lubdhaka	The legend of Lubdhaka is deeply related to Mahashivaratri and explains the popular custom of all-night worship of Lord Shiva on the festival. As a tradition devotees recite the legend of Lubdhaka while…
The Legend of Ganga	The legend of Ganga’s descent from the heavens into the earth has been narrated in the Hindu mythological epic of Ramayana. The legend explains the popular custom of giving bath to Shiv Linga on Shivaratri festival.
Lord Shiva’s Assurance	The legend of Lord Shiva’s assurance explains the popularity of Shivaratri festival amongst the devotees. Besides, it also tells us why we observe fast in the name of the Lord and perform ceremonial baths on a Shivaratri day…

DS had been studying about Siva in the previous semester and knows his stotrams and ashtakams by heart. I swell with pride as I type this – he loves to chant and sways with the rhythm. I am taking both DS and DD to our Sivarathri celebrations where everything will be explained in a lot more detail, where all DS’s questions will be answered. I am not a very religious person and not knowledgeable enough to answer his innocent yet thoughtful questions.

Valentine’s day?

I don’t get this Valentine’s day thing. I first heard about it in 1990, fresh out of high school. It wasn’t a big thing back then in India. Someone called me to wish me ‘Happy Valentine’s day’. No idea what it was. They told, ‘St.Valentine was a Roman saint who died on this day. His favorite activity was to marry off couples in love.’ So he did. But, why wish people around “Happy” Valentine’s day? Alright, this love message exchanging could be for people who are on the lookout for partners, but why in the world does my pre-schooler have to exchange ‘Valentine’ cards with her classmates? When my DS (now 7) was 3, a colleague told me that I should send a bunch of Valentine cards on V.day, for him to exchange with his buddies. I went to a drug store, got a pooh bear or something similar, box of cards, opened up that night to sign his name. Lo and behold! These were the phrases on those cards which were meant for young kids to exchange – ‘You ring the bells of my heart’, ‘Be mine’, ‘Love you forever’.. I made my own cards for him that night. Eversince then I sift through the packs to make sure there is no garbage which is not meant for young children not yet in the mating market. I do not take DD (now 4) to store when I have to buy these cards. All she cares is about princesses and the color pink. Guess what this disney princess tamasha is all about, finding a prince to get married, fall in love, kiss the guy, exhange ILUs and live happily ever after. Wrong message to our girls! Life is a lot more than that, don’t you think? Anyway, I buy the simplest cards around, with just ‘Happy Valentine’s day’ or snoopy’s cards which have funny riddles on them. The day ends and they come home with the goody bags. Goody bags for birthdays, goody bags for Feb 14th, for President’s day, for Easter, for St.Patrick’s day, for mother’s day, father’s day, my day, your day….. the list goes on. Do they really need that goody bag, filled with sweets? I am a little over 30 and H is 40. We do not have a single cavity. DS and DD have 3 or 4 cavities already. I have always, always taken good care of their teeth. Can’t do much about what they munch when I am not around. I am waiting for a change in people’s thinking, for them to realize that children don’t really need goody bags just because it was an important day on the calendar. They need to know the importance of all those days sans food. Yes, please, without food.