Shivaratri

Hindu festival of devotion to the creator Shiva, occurring in February/March. Devotees will rise and bathe, then either set up a lingam (a phallic symbol of generative energy) at home, or visit the mandir (temple). There is an all-day fast, although certain simple foods are permitted, and the worshippers make puja offerings, perform arti, and make libations of the lingam, bathing it in milk or coconut milk, and strewing it with flowers or bael leaves. From sunset Shiva mantras are chanted through the night until dawn, when the festival ends with a feast.

It is said that Shivaratri commemorates a lost traveller who was saved by Shiva. Unable to reach safety by nightfall, the traveller had continued to wander home through the forest until he saw a tiger. The terrified man climbed a bael tree and, in a state of extreme fear, spent the whole night repeating Shiva's name, and plucking leaves off the tree and letting them drop to the ground as he did so. At dawn, the tiger disappeared and in its place the man saw a lingam at the bottom of the tree. He had been singlemindedly worshipping Shiva all night, who had saved his life in return.