Maha Shivaratri

Saturday, 13 February 2010 12:27

Maha Shivaratri

Maha Shivaratri, the night of the worship of Lord Shiva, occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna. It falls on a moonless February night, when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction. Shivaratri (Sanskrit 'ratri' = night) is the night when he is said to have performed the Tandava Nritya or the cosmic dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction. Normally, the festival is observed for one day and one night only.

This Festival was celebrated in 3 Main Shiva Temples:

1. Sri Sathy Vinayagar Temple:

This temple was located in the main entrance of Mettupalayam, and the poojas held on every time of Shivaratri. People in and around this region will take part in this Pooja.

2. Banalingeswarar Temple:

It was located in S.M. Nagar often called as Sathya Moorthy Nagar just 3 Kms From Mettupalayam. This was carved out a cave temple with three lingams (Bana Linga) brought from the River Bhavani. It is believed that the people who took the abode of the Lord, actually attained Moksha.

To Know More about this Temple

3. Nanjundeswarar Temple:

Sree Nanjundeswarar Temple is located about 8kms from Mettupalayam near Sri Aranganathaswamy temple. It is believed that this temple was here even before the Sri Aranganathaswamy temple. There are 2 views to the history of this temple. One is that this temple was constructed some 1500 years ago and this is one of the views taken by the Archaeological department. The other is that the lord najundeswarar was transferred from Nanjangud in South Karnataka by the Vokkaliga community during the invasion of the troops of Tipu Sultan. It is also believed that the Vokkaligas who could not go to Nanjungud to offer their prayers could offer them here at this adode.