When is Maha Shivaratri?
The answer
Saturday, 6 March 2027
The fourteenth of the dark fortnight, kept through the night.
Nishita Kaal puja time
The window
12:07 AM – 12:56 AM
- Lasts
- 49m
- Sunset
- 6:23 PM
- Nishita Kaal
- 12:07 AM – 12:56 AM
Nishita Kaal is the eighth muhurta of the night: sunset to the next sunrise, divided into fifteen equal parts, of which this is the middle one. It is NOT midnight on a clock — at Delhi's latitude it drifts by half an hour across the year. The window above is the part of it where the tithi is genuinely still running.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Phalguna Krishna 14
This one is kept at MIDNIGHT. The tithi has to be running in the middle of the night, not at sunrise, which can move the day by one.
And after that
Wednesday, 23 February 2028
Phalguna Krishna 14
12:09 AM – 12:59 AM
Sunday, 11 February 2029
Phalguna Krishna 14
12:09 AM – 1:00 AM
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi — and it is the one great vrat that belongs to a night rather than a day. The date follows from that: Mahashivaratri is the night on which Chaturdashi is running in Nishita kaal, the eighth muhurta of the night, whether or not the next sunrise still carries it. The reason is in the stories: Shiva first appeared as the lingam on this night, he married Parvati on it, and on it he held the halahal poison in his throat. Hence the four-prahar puja — four watches of the night, four abhisheks.
The story behind it
The endless pillar
Brahma and Vishnu argued over who was greater. A pillar of fire rose between them with no visible top and no visible bottom.
The search
Brahma flew up as a swan, Vishnu dug down as a boar. Ages later both came back — neither had found an end.
Appearing
Shiva came out of that pillar. It was the first lingam, and that night is this night.
The poison
The second story is the churning — the halahal came up and nobody could take it. Shiva drank it and Parvati held it at his throat. He became Nilakantha, and the devas kept vigil all night to keep him awake.
The hunter
The third is a hunter who sat all night in a bel tree, dropping leaves without knowing on a lingam below — hungry, thirsty, awake. By morning he was changed. That is why bel leaves and the vigil are both at the centre of this night.
What to keep ready
- Bel leaves — three-lobed, unbroken
- Raw milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar for the panchamrit
- Ganga water and a copper lota
- Datura, bhang, and aak flowers
- White sandal, bhasma, akshat
- Black sesame and sugarcane juice
- Ber and seasonal fruit
- A rudraksha mala, and the Shiv Chalisa or Rudrashtakam
- For the four watches, separately: milk, curd, ghee, honey
How the puja is done
1
The vow
Bathe in the morning and take the sankalp — nirjala, fruit, or one meal. Shiva's name through the day.
2
First watch
The first puja after sunset — abhishek with milk, 'Om Namah Shivaya', and bel leaves.
3
Second watch
Abhishek with curd. The Rudrashtakam or the Shiv Chalisa.
4
Third watch
Abhishek with ghee — this watch falls around Nishita kaal, the most important hour of the night.
5
Fourth watch
Abhishek with honey, then Ganga water. The vigil holds until dawn.
6
Bel
Bel at every watch, smooth side down, three lobes to a leaf.
7
Parana
Break the fast after sunrise the next day, once Chaturdashi has ended — take the window from a panchang.
What to do
- Offer bel with the smooth side down, and only whole three-lobed leaves.
- Do the abhishek at all four watches; that is what this vrat actually is, not a pot of water in the morning.
- Look up Nishita kaal in a panchang — the third watch sits around it.
- Use raw milk for the abhishek, not boiled.
- Do not step across the channel that carries the offerings off the lingam; go round it and complete the circuit from the side.
- Break the fast after sunrise, inside the stated window.
What not to do
- Tulsi, ketaki flower, haldi, kumkum and coconut water are not offered to Shiva — ketaki he cursed himself.
- The abhishek is not done from a conch.
- The circuit round a lingam is never completed — go up to the channel and come back.
- Do not sit for the puja in black, and keep leather out of the puja place.
- Sleeping in the day and sleeping through the night both go against this vrat; the whole thing is the vigil.
- No broken bel leaves and no stale flowers.
The aarti
Om Jai Shiv Omkara
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा, स्वामी जय शिव ओंकारा।
ब्रह्मा विष्णु सदाशिव, अर्द्धांगी धारा॥
एकानन चतुरानन पंचानन राजे।
हंसासन गरुड़ासन वृषवाहन साजे॥
दो भुज चार चतुर्भुज दस भुज ते सोहे।
तीनों रूप निरखता त्रिभुवन जन मोहे॥
अक्षमाला वनमाला मुण्डमाला धारी।
चंदन मृगमद सोहै भाले शशिधारी॥
श्वेताम्बर पीताम्बर बाघम्बर अंगे।
सनकादिक गरुड़ादिक भूतादिक संगे॥
कर के मध्य कमंडल चक्र त्रिशूलधारी।
सुखकारी दुखहारी जगपालनकारी॥
ब्रह्मा विष्णु सदाशिव जानत अविवेका।
प्रणवाक्षर के मध्ये ये तीनों एका॥
काशी में विश्वनाथ विराजत, नंदी ब्रह्मचारी।
नित उठ दर्शन पावत, महिमा अति भारी॥
त्रिगुण स्वामी जी की आरती जो कोई नर गावे।
कहत शिवानंद स्वामी मनवांछित फल पावे॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.