Mahashivratri 2027 (महाशिवरात्रि)
Fri 12 Mar 2027 · Nishita 12:08 – 12:56 AM.
The dates for 2027, the pujas families book, and the muhurat window for the main evening.
- Date
- Fri 12 Mar 2027
- Window
- Nishita 12:08 – 12:56 AM
- Pujas
- 3
- Rudrabhishek — the abhishek of Shiva with the Rudram, kept in the Shaiva tradition
- Havan — the fire offering, kept on its own or as part of a larger vidhi
- Navagraha Shanti — the puja of the nine planetary deities, in the traditional order
Mahashivratri is a vigil rather than a celebration. It falls on the fourteenth night of the waning moon in Phalguna, and the night is kept awake — the fast runs through the day before and is broken the following morning.
The night is divided into four prahars, and an abhishekam is offered in each: water in the first, curd in the second, ghee in the third, honey in the fourth, with bilva leaves laid on the linga after every one. The bilva is offered underside up, in threes, and is not removed until the next.
Nothing is decorated. A Shiva shrine on this night carries water, leaves, ash and datura, and the contrast with a Lakshmi or Durga rite — flowers, cloth, sweets — is the tradition making a point about what the deity is understood to want.
Ujjain keeps it longest, with the Mahakal sawari, and the Jyotirlinga temples stay open through the night. Most of the observance, though, is domestic: a linga of clay or a household image, water poured over it every three hours until morning.
