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Ganeshprasad
12 February 2010, 04:03 AM
Pranam All Aum namah Shivaya

Shiva the ouspicious, my Koti Koti Pranam

On this day of Maha Shivratri may he bestow his grace on all of us.
 
Karacharana kritam vaakkaayajam karmajam vaa .
Shravananayanajam vaa maanasam vaaparaadham.
Vihitamavihitam vaa sarvametatkshamasva .
Jaya jaya karunaabdhe shriimahaadevashambho .. 5

Whatever karma i have committed with my hands, feet, voice, body, actions, ears, eyes, or mind, whether prohibited by the scriptures or not, please forgive them all. Hail! Hail! O ocean of compassion! O great god! O benevolent lord!



Aum namah Shivaya

In the Shiv Purana, Lord Shiva explains the five - syllable Mantra Aum Namah Sivaaya affords protection from the fear of disillusions, defiled by unimaginable and inexpressible faults, mental verbal and physical.


 
 
 
Jai Shree Krishna

yajvan
12 February 2010, 10:35 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~

namasté

ॐशिवाप्रियायनमः
oṁ śivāpriyāya namaḥ
oṁ I bow (salutations) to śivāpriyāya

śivāpriyāya is composed of śivā + priya. We have śiva शिव and śivā शिवा. With śiva, this means the Auspicious one. With śivā - this is his wife, śakti (Śrī Devī, Pārvatī). And priya प्रिय means beloved, dear. Hence this is saying śiva is the beloved (priya) of śivā meaning Śrī Devī His wife.

It is said one of śiva's favorite places is Vārāṇasī - the city Benares more properly written Banaras. But there is much more to this name and meaning then meets the eye ( as you well would expect). So called after the names of two rivers , varaṇā and asi , or asī , also written vāṇārasī. Let me offer some posts for your kind attention.

Vārāṇasī
saidevo writes last year on mahá śivaratri

vAra = gate, gateway, obstruction, enclosure in space and time, an exquisite choice nAsikA - nostril, nose, of a place below So, vAranAsi as the Ajna Chakra obstructs the normal flow of breath upwards and directs it into the lungs and heart; and vAranAsi as the holy city is the gateway to Self-realization? And, as you have mentioned, fixing attention on the vAranAsi (third eye) heightens the effect of the time gap between the in and out breaths and helps momentary experience of the nature of that silence which is beyond thoughts.

I wrote a bit on this also: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2227&highlight=Varanasi (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2227&highlight=Varanasi)

And sarabhanga added more value: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=17684&postcount=10 (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=17684&postcount=10)

praṇām

satay
13 February 2010, 12:41 PM
namaskar,

Hopefully everyone had an excellent shivratri. Mine was great.

Eastern Mind
13 February 2010, 01:30 PM
Vannakkam:

We had a growing crowd from 7 until 9 or so, and it peaked with about 120 people at around 9. For the midnight abhishekham there were about 50, and right after that (about 1:20 or so, most of the people went home. This included me. I had intended to stay until 6 but I guess I'm older than I thought.. kept feeling like passing out and stuff.. might just have been the shakti, but I wasn't risking it. Through the grapevine 5 or 6 people stayed all night, and another 10 or so came back at 6.

The abhishekhams were impressive.

Aum Namasivaya

Ganeshprasad
13 February 2010, 04:07 PM
Pranam

Yes it was a great day

visited 4 temples in north London
at Wembly sanatan mandir queue was 2 hours but well worth it.

Also in wembly Eelapatheeswarar Aalayam, Pavitt hall, Siva Temple, incidental they were not celebrating Shivratri which was a bit of surprise,apparently they celebrate in March may be EM can shade some light on it.

Fast was fruit only no cooked food, I did not do full fast as before, since like EM i am not getting any younger, stayed well past midnight, there is always a scope for better chanting,

hope Bhole will be kind and give his Karuna to one and all.

Jai Shree Krishna

Eastern Mind
13 February 2010, 05:44 PM
Pranam
,apparently they celebrate in March may be EM can shade some light on it.


Jai Shree Krishna

Vannakkam Ganeshprasad: This is what I found:

KAPAA, HI, USA, February 10, 2010: The monks at the headquarters of Hinduism Today magazine have been contacting specialists on Hindu scripture and tradition to clarify the date when Mahasivaratri is celebrated.

Apart from regional variations, such as is the case in Bali, there are two basic ways to calculate Sivaratri, according to the lunar month or solar month. Those who follow the lunar month celebrate it in the month of Magha, or February 11/12 this year, a calculation most popular in North India. Those who follow the South Indian solar month are celebrating it on Masi, March 12.

Usually the two calendars overlap and there is no difference in date, but this year Sivaratri will be celebrated both months, depending on one’s locality and tradition, because Masi begins on February 12 but that is still the lunar month of Magha.

Aum Namasivaya

Ganeshprasad
14 February 2010, 08:01 AM
Pranam EM

Thanks for the info. that explains it.

Looks like this temple is run by Tamil or Sri Lankan, they were all having a nice looking Prasad which they serve on every Friday, it looked very nice.
i should make another visit there soon and find more info on it.

Jai Shree Krishna

Eastern Mind
14 February 2010, 08:13 AM
Looks like this temple is run by Tamil or Sri Lankan, they were all having a nice looking Prasad which they serve on every Friday, it looked very nice.
i should make another visit there soon and find more info on it.

Jai Shree Krishna

Most likely Sri Lankan. The war has there has spread Sri Lankan style Saivism across the globe accompanying the diaspora. There are about 20 new temples in Toronto serving the 200 000 displace Tamils there, so its no surprise to me that there's a new Sivan Koyil in London.

Aum Namasivaya

Suhita
15 January 2016, 04:15 AM
Hari Om,

Mahashivratri is the festival, which celebrated by Lord Shiva devotees and Hindus with great enthusiasm. I am waiting to celebrate Mahashivratri 2016 (http://www.rudraksha-ratna.com/mahashivaratri.html), hope you all are waiting for the same.

Eastern Mind
15 January 2016, 06:12 AM
Vannakkam Suhita. Before that we have Makar Sankranti (Thai Pongal for me) and Thai Pusam. Makar Sankranti is today, so I wish everyone here who partakes to have a joyous time, in whatever way or regional alternative you celebrate.

Thai Pusam will be different, as it's far more regional. I'm now following the Mauritius way, which is 10 days, culminating on Thai Pusam itself. So it's 10 days of temple attendance, focussing on Murugan, and then simple Kavadi/milk pot penance.

Sadly, here at my temple, MahaSivaratri has deteriorated some. The diverse crowd makes for a stressful evening, trying to maintain some semblance of balance with all the different groups wanting to celebrate. it does get more inner as the evening wears on.

Aum Namasivaya

Suhita
09 February 2016, 04:32 AM
Mahashivratri is really the great night of shiva and one can get blessing from him.