Maha Shivratri 2027: Date, Puja Vidhi, Vrat & Muhurat

Nataraja — Lord Shiva in his cosmic dance · Shiv Kavar Samiti

Of all the nights in the Hindu year, one belongs to Lord Shiva above every other — Maha Shivratri, the Great Night of Shiva. On this night devotees stay awake, keep the vrat, and pour water on the Shivling through the four watches of darkness, drawing as close to Mahadev as the calendar allows. This guide answers, in plain and warm language, the questions bhakts ask most as the night approaches: when is Maha Shivratri 2027, what is the four-prahar (char prahar) night puja and its timings, how to keep the vrat, what to offer and what to never offer on the Shivling, the mantras to chant through the jagran, and how this great night differs from the Sawan Shivratri of the Kanwar season. Every date here follows the panchang, so please treat them as expected and confirm the exact tithi and muhurat with a reliable local panchang for your city.

What is Maha Shivratri and why is it the greatest Shiva night?

Maha Shivratri means 'the great night of Shiva'. While a Shivratri falls in every lunar month on the Chaturdashi of the dark fortnight, the one in the month of Phalguna (February-March) is the Maha, the greatest of them all. Devotees hold several beliefs about why this night is so sacred: it is remembered as the night Shiva and Parvati were wed; as the night Shiva performed his cosmic dance, the Tandava; and, in many traditions, as the night the formless Shiva first appeared as the infinite Jyotirlinga, the pillar of light without beginning or end. Above all, it is the night believed to be dearest to Shiva himself — a night when even a little worship, offered with love, is said to carry the weight of a lifetime of devotion.

Unlike festivals of lamps and colour, Maha Shivratri is a night of stillness, fasting and wakefulness. There is no feasting, no fireworks — only the vrat, the jagran (staying awake), and the steady sound of 'Om Namah Shivaya' rising from homes and temples until dawn.

When is Maha Shivratri 2027?

According to the panchang, Maha Shivratri 2027 is expected on Saturday, 6 March 2027. It falls on the Chaturdashi of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) of the month of Phalguna. As with all tithi-based dates, the Chaturdashi is expected to begin on the afternoon of 6 March 2027 and to end on the afternoon of 7 March 2027, so the worship is kept through the night of 6-7 March, when the Chaturdashi overlaps with the Nishita Kaal (the sacred midnight hour). These timings can shift by a little depending on your city and sunrise, so please confirm the exact tithi and shubh muhurat with a reliable local panchang.

• 🔱Maha Shivratri 2027 — expected Saturday, 6 March 2027.
• 🔱Chaturdashi Tithi — expected to begin around 12:03 pm on 6 March 2027.
• 🔱Chaturdashi Tithi — expected to end around 1:46 pm on 7 March 2027.
• 🔱Nishita Kaal (midnight) puja — expected around 12:07 am to 12:57 am on the night of 6-7 March 2027 (New Delhi).
• 🔱Vrat Paran (breaking the fast) — expected after sunrise on 7 March 2027, around 6:40 am to 1:46 pm.

The char prahar (four-prahar) night puja and timings

What makes Maha Shivratri unique is that the puja is offered not once but four times through the night — once in each prahar (a prahar being roughly a three-hour watch of the night). Each of the four prahars has its own abhishek (sacred bathing of the Shivling) and honours a different aspect of Shiva. Devotees who cannot stay awake for all four often keep at least the Nishita Kaal puja at midnight, which is held to be the most auspicious moment of the entire night. The table below gives the expected timings for New Delhi; please treat them as anticipated and confirm with a local panchang, as they move from city to city:

Between the abhishek of each prahar, devotees also offer milk, bel patra, dhatura, bhang, sandal paste and white flowers, ring the bell, wave the aarti, and return to the chant. The night moves in this gentle rhythm — offer, chant, rest a while, and offer again — until the first light of 7 March.

Maha Shivratri puja vidhi: how to worship at home

You do not need an elaborate setup to please Bhole Nath — a clean place, a Shivling or a picture of Shiva, and a sincere heart are enough. A simple vidhi many families follow is this:

• 🔱Rise early, bathe, wear clean clothes and take a sankalp (a clear vow) to keep the vrat and jagran.
• 🔱Clean the puja place and set the Shivling; light a diya and incense.
• 🔱Bathe the Shivling with water, then with the prahar offerings — milk, curd, ghee and honey — and finally with water again (this five-fold bath is the panchamrit abhishek).
• 🔱Offer bel patra (three leaves together, smooth side down), dhatura, white flowers, sandal paste, akshat (rice) and fruits.
• 🔱Chant 'Om Namah Shivaya' and, if you know it, the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra, through the watches of the night.
• 🔱Keep the jagran — stay awake, sing bhajans, read the Shiv Purana or Shiv Chalisa, and repeat the abhishek in each prahar.
• 🔱Break the fast (paran) after sunrise the next morning, once the Chaturdashi and the muhurat allow.

Maha Shivratri vrat and fasting rules

The vrat is kept in whatever degree your health and situation allow — sincerity matters far more than severity. The common forms are the nirjala vrat (without even water, only for the healthy), the phalahar vrat (fruits, milk and permitted vrat foods), and the fruit-and-water fast for those who cannot go without. Whichever you choose, the day is spent light, clean and turned toward Shiva. A few gentle rules devotees follow:

• 🔱Take the sankalp at dawn and keep the fast with a calm, devotional mind.
• 🔱Avoid grains, pulses, rice and wheat; use vrat-friendly foods such as sabudana, singhare ka atta, kuttu ka atta, fruits and milk, with sendha namak (rock salt) in place of ordinary salt.
• 🔱Avoid onion, garlic, non-vegetarian food and alcohol entirely.
• 🔱Those who are unwell, elderly, pregnant, or on medication should keep a lighter fast or take fruit and water freely — Shiva asks for love, not harm.
• 🔱Break the fast (paran) the next morning after the puja and the muhurat, ideally after offering the last abhishek and taking prasad.

What to offer on the Shivling

The offerings dearest to Shiva are simple, cooling and natural — a reminder that he is Bholenath, the innocent lord who is pleased by devotion, not by cost. On Maha Shivratri, devotees offer:

• 🔱Jal (clean water), and Gangajal if you have it — the most beloved offering of all.
• 🔱Milk, curd, ghee and honey for the panchamrit abhishek.
• 🔱Bel patra (wood-apple leaves) — three-lobed leaves that Shiva loves above most others.
• 🔱Dhatura and bhang (the ascetic's offerings), white aak flowers and other white flowers.
• 🔱Chandan (sandal paste), bhasma (sacred ash), akshat (unbroken rice) and fruits.
• 🔱A diya of pure ghee and dhoop, offered with the aarti.

What you must NEVER offer on the Shivling

Just as some offerings please Shiva, tradition holds that a few must never be placed on the Shivling. These cautions are old and widely kept:

• 🔱Tulsi (holy basil) — offered to Vishnu, but never to the Shivling, by an old vow in the scriptures.
• 🔱Turmeric (haldi) and kumkum — these are associated with auspicious married life and Shakti worship, and are avoided on the Shivling.
• 🔱Ketaki (kewda) flowers — cursed in the Shiva Purana, and never offered.
• 🔱Coconut water — used to bathe some deities, but not poured over the Shivling.
• 🔱Broken bel patra, wilted flowers, or anything already offered or impure.

On the great night of Shiva, a single lota of water and one bel patra offered with love are said to please Mahadev more than mountains of gold offered without it.

Mantras and the Maha Shivratri jagran

The heart of the night is the jagran — staying awake in Shiva's remembrance. The chant that carries most devotees through the watches is the simplest and greatest of all, 'Om Namah Shivaya', the five-syllable mantra (panchakshari). Many also chant the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra, 'Om Tryambakam Yajamahe Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam, Urvarukamiva Bandhanan Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat', for health and freedom from fear. Between the mantras, families sing Shiv bhajans, read the Shiv Chalisa or passages of the Shiv Purana, and simply keep the mind turned toward Mahadev until dawn. The jagran is not about grand recitation — it is about staying near him through the longest, most sacred night of the year.

Maha Shivratri vs Sawan Shivratri: what is the difference?

Devotees often ask how Maha Shivratri differs from the Sawan Shivratri of the Kanwar season, since both fall on the Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi. Both are nights of Shiva, but they sit in different months and carry a different mood — Maha Shivratri is the single greatest night of the whole year, kept with the all-night char prahar vrat, while Sawan Shivratri is the climax of the monsoon Kanwar Yatra, kept with the jalabhishek of Ganga jal. This table sets the two side by side:

Maha Shivratri and the seva of the Shiv Kavar Samiti

For our Shiv Kavar Samiti, the love that fills Maha Shivratri is the same love that fills the Sawan Kanwar season. Through the monsoon month of Shravan we run a free Kanwar Sewa Shivir on NH-8 at Mahipalpur, New Delhi — open day and night, serving pure vrat-friendly bhojan, clean water, rest, medical aid and kanwar stands to every bhakt who walks past, at no charge, as we have done for over thirty years. The same spirit of Shiva-seva that carries a kanwariya's water to the Shivling carries a plate of langar to a tired traveller.

Maha Shivratri is a beautiful night to remember that seva is worship too. If you keep the vrat and the jagran this Maha Shivratri, you might also consider offering a little daan in Shiva's name — so that the shivir can keep serving the bhakts who walk the road each Sawan.

How you can be part of the seva

Every plate of langar, every glass of water and every night the shivir stays lit is made possible by the daan of well-wishers. If you would like to contribute in Shiva's name this Maha Shivratri, you can donate online at our /donate page through Razorpay's secure checkout, or by bank transfer to our Punjab National Bank account (A/C 0149000104323988, IFSC PUNB0014900, Khan Market branch). To offer ration and supplies, to volunteer as a sewadar, or simply to ask how to reach us, message us on WhatsApp at +91 98189 08237. Whether you keep the great night at home or serve on the road, may Mahadev bless you with health, peace and devotion. Har Har Mahadev.