In short
A major night of Shiva worship, meditation and fasting, with special importance given to the night vigils.
The story
Maha Shivratri is associated with several Shaiva traditions rather than one single story. One widely remembered tradition sees it as the sacred night of Shiva and Parvati's union, symbolising the meeting of Shiva and Shakti. Another recalls the churning of the cosmic ocean, when the deadly Halahala poison emerged before the nectar of immortality. To protect the worlds, Shiva drank the poison and held it in his throat, which became blue and gave him the name Nilakantha. Shaiva texts also preserve the Lingodbhava story: Brahma and Vishnu argued over supremacy until an endless pillar of fire appeared. Neither could find its beginning or end, and Shiva revealed himself through it as a reality beyond measure. These traditions explain why devotees spend the night in prayer, meditation, mantra and repeated abhisheka of the Shiva Linga, treating wakefulness as both worship and an inner search for awareness.
Retold from the Shiva Purana
Why it matters
Maha Shivratri is valued for devotion, family tradition and the spiritual or seasonal meaning attached to the day.
What people do
A fast is kept through the day and the night is kept awake in four watches, with an abhishek at each - water, then milk, then curd and honey, then water again. Bilva leaves are offered in threes and nothing else is needed. Temples stay open all night, and in Gujarat the Bhavnath fair at Junagadh runs to it.
Retold from the Gujarati household practice
Told differently elsewhere
Kept everywhere Shiva is, and the twelve jyotirlingas take the crowds - Somnath in Gujarat, Kashi Vishwanath, Ujjain. Nepal draws sadhus to Pashupatinath. Kashmir keeps Herath over several days as the largest festival of the Pandit year. In the south, abhishekam through the night rather than a single midnight moment.
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