Masa Shivratri 2011 – Shivaratri Days in a Month - Mas Sivaratri Vrat in 2011

Masa Shivaratri, or Mas Shivratri, falls on the Krishna Paksha Chaturdasi of each traditional Hindu lunar month. Below are the dates of Shivratri in 2011. ‘Krishna Paksha’ is the dark fortnight of a lunar month. It is the 13th day after full moon (Purnima) or more easy calculation one or two days before Amavasi. Shiva devotees observe the day with vrat, special prayers and pujas. Some devotees also keep vigil all night as in Mahashivratri.

Shivratri is celebrated a night before ‘amavasya’ (full dark night) in the month of Magh or phalgun (February – March). The significance of Shivaratri is closely associated with ‘amavasya.’ Amavasya represents Kaliyuga. Lord Shiva appeared just before the beginning of Kaliyuga to rid the world of evil and ignorance, which is symbolically represented through Amavasya. Therefore Mahashivratri is celebrated to get rid of evil and ignorance.

On the Shivratri day, Lord Shiva is worshiped in a special form of Linga called ‘Lingodabhavamurti or Jyotirlinga.’ It is a lingam in the form of fire which has neither a beginning nor an end. It must be noted here that ‘linga’ only means ‘sign.’ And it is merely an attempt to capture the formless.

Apart from this there are numerous legends and myths associated with Shivratri. An important myth is that Shivaratri is the birthday of Lord Shiva – this is mainly because the formless Lord Shiva appeared for the first time in the form of ‘Lingodabhavamurti’ before Lord Vishnu and Brahma.

Other important myths include that of Taandava, the consummation of poison during the churning of ocean, hunter accidentally dropping the leaves of bilva, the loss of importance of ketki flower, which is now only offered during shivaratri.

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KAISIKA DWADASI AND KARTHIKA VANABHOJANOTSAVAM CELEBRATED WITH RELIGIOUS FERVOUR

The two important festivals, Kaisika Dwadasi and Karthika Vanabhojanotsavam have been celebrated with religious fervour in Tirumala on Monday.

Earlier in the wee hours, around 4:30am Ugra Srinivasamurthy flanked by Sri Devi and Bhu Devi were taken on a procession along four mada streets and reached the temple before sun rise. Later Kaisika Dwadasi Asthanam has been performed by the temple priests. It is only on this day in the entire year that the deity of Ugra Srinivasa Murthy is brought out of the temple.

Later in the day, following Karthika Vanabhojanotsavam, the temple priests performed Visesha Samarpana to the processional deities of Lord Malayappa Swamy and his consorts. After tastefully decorating the deities, they were brought to Vahana Mandapam. Samarpana was again performed here and later the processional deity of Lord Malayappa seated on small Gaja Vahanam and his consorts in Tiruchi were taken out to Paruveta Mandapam in a colourful procession. Bhajan troupes, children in the guise of deities stood as a special attraction all along the route.

Later Snapana Tirumanjanam has been performed with religious fervour to the utsava murthies at Paruveta Mandapam. The deities were seated on a huge golden platform and Tirumanajanam was performed first with spices water followed by milk, curd, honey, coconut water, turmeric paste and finally sandal paste was applied to the deities. Later the deities who were draped in white silk clothes were adorned with Tulsi garlands and the priests in the presence of Tirumala Pedda Jiyangar and Chinna Jiyangar and other officials offered Nakshatra Arti and special arti to the deities marking the completion of the Tirumanjanam ceremony. Later the deities were decorated in colourful silk vastrams and dazzling diamond studded gold jewels and were seated on a special mandapam inside Paruveta Mandapam.

The holy hills reverberated with the chanting of "Govinda Namas" of the pilgrims who thronged to witness the colourful ceremony. Later all the TTD officials and pilgrims took part in the Karthika Vanabhojanam festival.

Later speaking to media persons the TTD board chief Sri Kanumuri Bapiraju said, "It was a momentous occasion to celebrate to festivals, Kaisika Dwadasi and Karthika Vanabhojanotsavam on single day. The pilgrims had darshan as well as the delicious prasadam in the presence of Lord", he added. Later the TTD EO Sri LV Subramanyam said, Tamil devotee Bhakta Nambaduvan sang the song in praise of Lord in Kaisika ragam and hence the festival got the name Kaisika Dwadasi. "Today this festival is being observed in all harijanwadas across the state. It is during this festival that the devotees have their community meals in the presence of Lord signifying the bond between Bhagavan and Bhakta", he added.

The kirtans sung by Annamacharya project artistes and Harikatha Parayanam stood as special attraction to the pilgrims on this festive occasion.

Joint EOs Sri KS Srinivasa Raju, Sri Venkatrami Reddy, CVSO Sri MK Singh, ACVSO Sri Shivakumar Reddy, DSP Tirumala Sri Umamaheshwara Sharma, Annamacharya Project Director Dr.Medasani Mohan, Temple Deputy EO Sri Munirathnam Reddy, SE II Sri Ramesh Reddy, GM Transport Sri Sesha Reddy, Health Officer Sri Bhishmaiah Naidu, EEs Sri Manohar, Sri Jaganmohan Reddy, Peishkar Sri Chandrasekhar Pillai, Parupattedar Sri Keshava Raju and others were also present.

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PUSHPAYAGAM CELEBRATED IN A COLOURFUL WAY IN TIRUMALA

The annual floral festival, Pushpayagam has been   celebrated in a colourful way in the hill shrine of Tirumala on Thursday.

TTD has cancelled arjitha sevas including Tiruppavadai,   Kalyanotsavam,Brahmotsavam, Unjal Seva, Vasanthotsavam on the day of   Pushpayagam on Thursday.
Following the birth star of Lord Venkateswara Sravana Nakshatram on   Thursday in the holy month of Karthika, the processional deities of Lord   Malayappa Swamy flanked by his two consorts Sri Devi and Bhu Devi has beenbrought to the Kalyanamandapam in Sampangi prakaram where Snapana Tirumanjanam was performed.
Later the deities were given a celestial floral bath with over seven   tonnes of 18 different varieties of traditonal flowers including Chamanti,   Lilly, Roses,Nandivardanam, Tulsi, Marukam, Davanam etc. As soon as the   flowers touched the chest of the Lord, they were removed and again floral bath was given to the deities amidst the chanting of vedic hymns by pundits. After repeating the process for 20 times the priests offered Nakshatra Harati and Special Harati.
Hon'ble minister Sri Kanna Lakshminarayana, TTD board chairman Sri Kanumuri Bapiraju, TTD EO Sri LV Subramanyam, Joint   EO's Sri KS Srinivasa raju, Sri Venkatrami Reddy, Chittoor MP Sri Sivaprasad, CVSO Sri MK Singh, Chief Engineer Sri   Chandrasekhar Reddy, SE II Sri Ramesh Reddy, Garden Superintendent SriSrinivas and other officials, temple priests, Grihasta Bhaktas took part in   this ritual.

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