Masik Shivaratri
Masik Shivaratri is the monthly night of Shiva, kept on the 14th tithi of the dark half (Krishna Chaturdashi). The day is chosen by the tithi at midnight, and the year’s greatest is Maha Shivaratri.
Also known as: Masik Shivratri, Masa Shivaratri, Monthly Shivaratri, Mas Shivratri
Every lunar month, the night before Amavasya is Shivaratri, ‘the night of Shiva’. Devotees fast, keep vigil and worship the Shiva lingam, especially in the deep middle of the night, nishita kaal. Of the twelve or so each year, the one in Magha (amanta) or Phalguna (purnimanta) is Maha Shivaratri, the great annual festival.
Because the key worship is at midnight, the observance is kept on the day when Chaturdashi prevails at nishita, the midpoint of the night. That can differ from the panchang’s sunrise tithi, so Masik Shivaratri sometimes falls on a day labelled Trayodashi. Our Panchang shows the night’s Nishita muhurat and marks Masik Shivaratri by this rule.
It is a time for devotion and quiet discipline. As with any fast, families adapt it to health, age and circumstance.