Mahashivratri — vrat katha & puja vidhi
Mahashivratri, “the great night of Shiva”, falls on the Krishna Chaturdashi of Phalguna (Magha in the amanta calendar). Devotees fast, keep a night-long vigil, and worship the Shiva lingam with water, milk and bilva leaves — once in the night or in each of the four prahars — and break the fast the next morning.
Updated Thursday, 29 October 2026
Next date
The next Mahashivratri is on Saturday, 6 March 2027 (in 128 days). The Nishita (midnight) puja is 00:08 (7 March 2027) – 00:57 (7 March 2027). All times are for New Delhi; your city can differ by a few minutes.
How we work it out
- How the date is found — Our Panchang engine finds the tithi from the real Sun and Moon and applies the vrat’s classical rule (the tithi at sunrise, at pradosh, at moonrise or at midnight) against New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. These dates are checked against Drik Panchang’s New Delhi calendar.
Mahashivratri — timings (New Delhi)
- Date: Saturday, 6 March 2027
- Chaturdashi tithi: 12:04 – 13:47 (7 March 2027)
- Nishita (midnight) puja: 00:08 (7 March 2027) – 00:57 (7 March 2027)
- Night prahar 1: 18:24 – 21:28
- Night prahar 2: 21:28 – 00:32 (7 March 2027)
- Night prahar 3: 00:32 (7 March 2027) – 03:36 (7 March 2027)
- Night prahar 4: 03:36 (7 March 2027) – 06:40 (7 March 2027)
- Parana — after sunrise: 06:40 (7 March 2027)
Break the fast after sunrise, ideally before Chaturdashi ends.
Upcoming dates
- Saturday, 6 March 2027: Mahashivratri
in 128 days - Wednesday, 23 February 2028: Mahashivratri
in 482 days
A gentle note
A vrat is about devotion, not perfection. If you miss a step, cannot find an item or need to eat, that is fine — do what you can with a sincere heart. Anyone unwell, pregnant, elderly or on regular medicines should keep a lighter fast or skip it, and check with a doctor. BornClock does not sell pujas or any items.
What Mahashivratri is
Every lunar month has a Shivaratri on its 14th night of the dark half; Mahashivratri is the great one of the year. For Shaiva devotees it marks overcoming darkness and ignorance; Drik Panchang calls it the great festival of the meeting of Shiva and Shakti.
Source: Wikipedia — Maha Shivaratri · Drik Panchang — Maha Shivaratri (fasting and puja rules)
The katha
Several stories are linked to this night: the marriage of Shiva and Parvati; Shiva’s cosmic Tandava; Shiva drinking the Halahala poison from the churning of the ocean and holding it in his throat, which turned blue (Nilakantha); and, from the Linga Purana, Shiva appearing as an endless pillar of fire to settle a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu (Lingodbhava).
The Shiva Purana — the earliest text to mention the festival — tells of the hunter Gurudruha (Lubdhaka), who spent the night in a bilva tree and, without knowing it, kept dropping its leaves on a lingam below. The merit of that unknowing worship led him to spare a deer, and Shiva blessed him.
Source: Wikipedia — Maha Shivaratri
What you need
- For abhisheka of the lingam: water, milk, curd (yogurt), honey and ghee
- Bilva (bel) leaves — the most common offering
- Lamp and incense
Source: Wikipedia — Maha Shivaratri
Puja vidhi — simple steps
- The day before, eat only one meal.
- On Shivaratri morning, after the bath, take the sankalpa to fast for the whole day and break it the next day.
- Choose your fast: nirjala, or fruit and milk. Grains, onion, garlic and alcohol are avoided; rock salt is used instead of ordinary salt.
- Bathe again in the evening before the puja or the temple visit.
- Worship at night — once, or in each of the four prahars: abhisheka of the lingam with water, milk, curd, honey and ghee, and bilva leaves. Chant “Om Namah Shivaya”.
- Keep the night vigil (jagaran) with prayer, meditation or bhajans.
- Next morning, after the bath, break the fast between sunrise and the end of Chaturdashi.
Source: Drik Panchang — Maha Shivaratri (fasting and puja rules) · Wikipedia — Maha Shivaratri · Drik Panchang — Shravana Somavara vrat katha (Skanda Purana)
When it falls and what time to keep
The festival day is the one whose midnight (Nishita kaal) falls in Krishna Chaturdashi. The night from sunset to the next sunrise is divided into four equal prahars for the four pujas; the Nishita puja is around midnight. Drik Panchang notes the general view that both the puja and the parana should fall within Chaturdashi, though one view waits until Chaturdashi ends. This page shows all these times for New Delhi.
Source: BornClock festival calendar (dates checked against Drik Panchang, New Delhi) · Drik Panchang — Maha Shivaratri (fasting and puja rules)
Traditions differ
In Kashmir it is Herath (Har-ratri), observed by Kashmiri Pandits over about 23 days, with walnuts soaked in earthen pots shared as prasad. In Nepal it is a national holiday, with night vigils at the Pashupatinath temple. In Tamil Nadu devotees walk barefoot around the hill at Tiruvannamalai (girivalam), and in Kanyakumari district run the Sivalaya Ottam to twelve Shiva shrines.
Source: Wikipedia — Maha Shivaratri
Mantra (with meaning)
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
Meaning: Om, salutations to Shiva.
When: The six-syllable Shiva mantra, chanted while offering bilva leaves.
Source: Drik Panchang — Shravana Somavara vrat katha (Skanda Purana)
What these terms mean
Tap a term for a plain-language explanation.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Maha Shivaratri
- Drik Panchang — Maha Shivaratri (fasting and puja rules)
- Drik Panchang — Shravana Somavara vrat katha (Skanda Purana)
- BornClock festival calendar (dates checked against Drik Panchang, New Delhi)
The katha and vidhi above are paraphrased in plain language from the sources listed; customs vary by family and region — your family tradition comes first.