Shivaratri in Bengal is first of all a brata, a vow. On the fourteenth night of the waning Moon in Phalgun, women and unmarried girls fast through the day and the night, and pour water and milk over the linga in each of the four watches, asking for a husband as steadfast as Shiva. The greatest crowds go to Tarakeswar, to which pilgrims carry Ganga water on foot from Sheoraphuli.
The story
The story read out with the vow is of a hunter who, benighted in the forest, climbed a bel tree to be safe from beasts. To stay awake he plucked leaves and dropped them; his water-skin dripped. There was a linga below. He had fasted, kept vigil and made the offering without meaning to, and Shiva claimed him.
Bengal knows Shiva as Bholanath, the easily pleased, the ash-smeared householder of the folk songs who has nothing and gives everything.
ওঁ নমঃ শিবায়
Om, salutations to Shiva
Said with each offering
How the vow is kept
- UpabasA fast without water through the day and night.
- Four praharsThe linga is bathed with milk in the first watch, curd in the second, ghee in the third and honey in the fourth.
- Bel pataThe three-lobed leaf is offered, with dhutura and akanda flowers.
- Brata kathaThe story of the hunter is read aloud.
- ParanThe fast is broken next morning.
Why this date
Maha Shivaratri is the Chaturdashi of the dark fortnight of Phalgun by the Bengali count of months, on the day that tithi covers midnight.
Maha Shivaratri in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Wednesday | |
| 2026 | Sunday | |
| 2027 | Saturday | |
| 2028 | Wednesday | |
| 2029 | Sunday | |
| 2030 | Saturday |
More Bengali festivals
23 JanuarySaraswati Pujaসরস্বতী পূজা
3 MarchDol Purnimaদোলযাত্রা
26 MarchRam Navamiরাম নবমী
2 AprilHanuman Jayantiহনুমান জয়ন্তী
15 AprilPoila Boishakhপয়লা বৈশাখ
19 AprilAkshaya Tritiyaঅক্ষয় তৃতীয়া
Where to see Maha Shivaratri
In West Bengal
- Taraknath Temple, TarakeswarWest BengalBengal's chief Shiva shrine; lakhs queue to pour water on Baba Taraknath.
- BakreshwarWest BengalA Shiva temple and Shakti Peetha among hot springs in Birbhum.
- Jalpesh TempleWest BengalThe great Shiva temple of north Bengal, with a fair that lasts weeks.
- Bhootnath, Nimtala, KolkataWest BengalA Shiva temple by the burning ghat on the Hooghly.
Across India
- Baidyanath Dham, DeogharJharkhandThe Jyotirlinga closest to Bengal, and long the pilgrimage of Bengalis.
- VaranasiUttar PradeshKashi Vishwanath, where many Bengalis once went to spend their last years.
- BhubaneswarOdishaThe lamp raised on the spire of Lingaraj at midnight.