Maha Shivratri 2021

MAHA SHIVRATHRI

Date: 11^th March 2021

Shivaratri occurs every 14th day of each month. But the Shivaratri that comes in the month of Maga is considered as Maha-Shivaratri (The great night of Lord Shiva). Being a diverse country there are various beliefs in India related to different festivals. For Maha-Shivaratri, some believe that it marks the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvathi, whereas some others believe that this day marks the day of the mythical churning of the ocean (also known as Samudra Manthan) when Lord Shiva consumed the emanating poison, that turned his throat blue and thus gave him the name Neelkanth. Another popular belief is that Lord Shiva performed the Tandav Nritya on this day.

On 11th March 2021, the IBA fraternity celebrated Maha-Shivaratri with excitement and big smiles on everyone’s faces. Everyone gathered for puja in ethnic wear. The puja was done at Santripti, which was beautifully decorated, with a small sculpture of Shiva Linga placed in the middle. The puja started at 11:20 AM and ended at around 12:30 PM. The puja included Rudrabhishekam of the sculpture along with all other abhishekam rituals. The students enthusiastically took part in the rituals. As soon as the rituals ended, all the students were given sweets and teerth as prasad.

As no celebration is complete without good food, Santripti served a special lunch to the students to make the day more memorable. Some students, who were fasting, were given a special falhari (fruit-based) meal.

Even in the pandemic times, IBA managed to make the two worlds (offline and online) a part of this celebration with ease. Through zoom, members of the IBA family who weren’t present on campus became a part of the celebration as well.

Without a doubt, the day’s celebration ended with pleasant hearts and happy tummies!