Mahashivratri at home: the fast, the four prahar puja, and the night vigil

When

• The fast begins at sunrise on Mahashivratri and closes the next morning after sunrise, within the time the panchang gives for the end of Chaturdashi.
• The night is divided into four prahar of roughly three hours each, from sunset to sunrise. The most important moment is nishita kaal, the hour around midnight; the panchang prints its exact window for your city.
• If four separate pujas are too much, one full puja in nishita kaal is the traditional minimum, with the rest of the night kept in japa or bhajan.

The day before and the morning

On the day before, Trayodashi, eat one simple meal without onion and garlic. Clean the puja space, wash the Shivling and jalhari, and gather the samagri, especially the bel leaves, which are hard to find late on the day itself.

On Mahashivratri morning, bathe early and take the sankalp: with water in your right palm, say that you keep the Mahashivratri vrat for Shiva and will close it tomorrow morning. Then offer water to the Shivling and a few bel leaves. The day is kept quietly, in japa of Om Namah Shivaya, reading, or visiting a Shiva temple.

What you can eat

Most households keep a phalahar fast: fruit, milk, curd, dry fruit, sabudana, potato, kuttu or singhara flour, and sendha namak instead of ordinary salt. No grains, lentils, onion or garlic.

Some keep it nirjala, without water, until the nishita puja. That is a choice for the fully able. Anyone unwell, pregnant, elderly or on medication should keep phalahar and take their medicine; the vrat is complete.

The four prahar puja

Each prahar has the same shape: a short abhishek, offerings, japa and aarti. Tradition assigns one liquid to each prahar, and you can follow it or simply use water and milk each time.

1. 1

   First prahar, after sunset: milk

   Light the diya. Pour water, then milk, slowly over the Shivling while chanting Om Namah Shivaya. Rinse with clean water, apply chandan, offer bel leaves and flowers, and do a short aarti.

2. 2

   Second prahar, late evening: curd

   Abhishek with curd, then water. Offer bel leaves with akshat, and read the Shiv Chalisa or any Shiva stotra you know.

3. 3

   Third prahar, around midnight: ghee

   This is nishita kaal, the heart of the night. Abhishek with ghee, then water. Apply bhasma as three horizontal lines, the tripundra. Offer bel leaves, dhatura and ber, and do a full aarti with camphor. Then sit for japa: 108 rounds of Om Namah Shivaya on the rudraksha mala, or the Mahamrityunjaya mantra.

4. 4

   Fourth prahar, before dawn: honey

   Abhishek with honey, then water. Offer the last bel leaves and the fruit as naivedya. Close with the aarti Om Jai Shiv Omkara and a prayer of thanks.

Offerings Shiva receives, and a few he doesn't

• Bel leaves go smooth side down, with all three leaflets whole. Tradition holds that bel patra never goes stale, so a washed leaf can be offered again.
• Offer white chandan and bhasma. Haldi, kumkum and sindoor are offered to Parvati and the Devi, not to the Shivling.
• Tulsi, which belongs to Vishnu, and the ketaki (kewda) flower are not offered to Shiva.
• Water from a shankh is not poured on the Shivling in most traditions. Use a lota.
• Walk only half a circle around the Shivling and turn back, so you never step across the spout where the abhishek water flows out.

The vigil and the morning after

Jaagran, staying awake through the night, is the heart of Mahashivratri for many families. Bhajans, the Shiva Purana, a film of the Mahakal aarti, or simply sitting with the mala all count. If you must sleep, sleep after the nishita puja.

In the morning, bathe, offer water and a flower to the Shivling, and break the fast with prasad, then a normal meal. Do this after sunrise and before Chaturdashi ends; the panchang gives the time. Pour the collected abhishek water into a plant or garden, never down a drain.

What usually goes wrong

• Buying bel leaves on the day. They sell out in the afternoon; buy them a day early and keep them wrapped in a damp cloth.
• Pouring milk into the drain. Collect the abhishek water and milk in the jalhari's bowl and give it to a plant.
• Offering haldi or kumkum on the Shivling. Keep them for Parvati.
• Crossing the jalhari's spout during parikrama. Go half-way and turn back.
• A nirjala fast kept by someone on medication. Phalahar with medicine is the vrat for them, and it is complete.

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