Sunday, February 19, 2012: The state is all set to celebrate Sivarathri festival with fervour and gaiety tomorrow. Religious rituals, cultural programmes and display of fireworks will be held in temples as part of the festival.Only on the Sivaratri day, women are allowed to pray during day time at the Shreerajarajeshwara Temple at Thaliparambu in Kannur. On other days, women can offer prayers only after the athazha pooja.
Shivarathri is one of most celebrated festivals of India, and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is celebrated in all parts of the country with a lot of verve and devotion by Hindus. It is said that five is a sacred number for Shiva signifying his five syllabic mantra “nama shivaya”.
Generally, devotees of Lord Shiva go through a rigorous fast on this occasion. They are not even supposed to drink water on the day. Many married women worship Lord Shiva for welfare of their husbands and the family, while unmarried women observe fast on this to get an ideal husband.
According to the mythological story -Shivrathri (literally meaning the night of Shiva) is the night when he performed the Tandava Nritya or the dance of primeval creation, preservation and demolition. In the state of Kerala, the Sivarathri festival is celebrated in the month of Kumbham (February -March.) There are also other interesting mythological stories relating the powers of the Great Shiva. According to the Puranas, during the great legendary roiling of the sea water called Samudra Manthan, a container of poison emerged from the sea floor.
This incident baffled the gods and the demons and they were horrified that the entire world could be destroyed .Then, only Lord Shiva saved this world by drinking the lethal toxin. But he stored the poison in his throat instead of consuming it completely. This made his throat turn blue, and since then he came to be known as Nilkanta, the one with the blue-throat. Shivarathri celebrates this incident of saving the world by Lord Shiva.
The devout devotees fast rigorously all day long, intone the holy Panchakshara mantra “Om Namah Shivaya” and sing hymns in praise of the Lord Shiva. It is believed that one who devotedly chants the sacred name of Shiva during Shivarathri with proper devotion is liberated from all sins and consequently from the repetitive cycle of birth and death.
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