Maha
Shiv
Ratri
Photograph by Janhavi Khandhadia
In the evening, after the chores were done, as per tradition, the villagers
got together. It was the night of Shivratri, which meant staying up at
night and listening to stories of Shiv and Parvati. Prayer and faith are
omnipresent.
The gents gathered at the Otlo in the paadar. Chillum and Bidis were lit
and then the old man among them, all bones and weary, sat in a
crouching position and looked up at the sky. Everyone just assumed he
was collecting his thoughts for his storytelling. Turns out he was just
taking the new high…Feeling the effect of nicotine spreading in his weak
body.
One of the mean called him, “Dada! You are to tell us stories of Mahashivratri.”
“Oh, Yes! Yes!” said the man.
“Okay, let me start by this story first” he thought out loud.
“But since I only remember a tiny bit of whatever stories I grew up listening, you will have to understand the rest, Okay?”
Clarified and settled, the story was commenced by the old man.
“So, there was this demon named Apasmara. He had a giant head of a demon and the body of an infant. After acquiring the boon of Immortality from Bramha, Apasmara began terrorizing all the earthly and heavenly beings. He had prayed and gotten the power of affecting people he laid his eyes on, to suffer from ignorance and ego.
The Gods were in panic, the simpletons were scared of course, but, it wasn’t in their hands to do anything about it. After all the atrocities worsened, Shiv was prayed to by the rest of the gods as he was the Neelkanth their savior who was far more capable for this challenge than them. He was superior than most of the lot.”
“So pleased with the Stuti and pleas, Mahadev had to be ingenious in his way of defeating this demon. He broke into one of the fierce forms of tandav and crushed Apasmara under his right foot and has kept him fixed there ever since.
The iconography of all our deities always have meanings behind them, it will never be just for fun. It is like a coded message for us to decipher. For example the moon on Shiv’s forehead is the symbol of time. We Indian follow the lunar calendar which means based on the phases of moon we decide what time of the year or month it is. This conclusively suggests that Shiv is the Supreme Lord of Time which means he can maneuver it if he wishes to and which also means it is functioning smoothly due to him. I’m sure the Natraj form of his is full of ciphers too!”
About 50 meters from the Paadar is the house
of the Mukhya of the village. The women of the village were all huddled up, with the DadiBaa / Maa of the village seated on the jhoola. She was seated in a traditional gamthi way with both legs at a 90 degree angle, on rests on the wooden jhoola, other folded upright and her hand on the upright leg. The ladies crowded the floor, making garlands and samagri for the pratah kaal pooja.
DadiBaa started her story. She was much older
and wiser than any other in the village.
“My dadi baa used to say more than one story
about Mahashivratri. I’ll tell all of them to you
all, with whatever my old brain has been able
to retain.
Taandavs have been practiced or shall I say
they came into inception by Shiv and Shiva or
as we call her, Shakti.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “These new kids say Shiva and Krishna and Dharma! It’s so stupid! Our ancestors have crafted our lipi and bhasha with inexplicably delicate and well thought decisions. Shiv means Mahadev, Shiva means Parvati. Krishn means Lord Kanha and Krishna means Draupadi.”
“Anyway” she let out a deep sigh and continued.
“The taandav Shiv did in his Natraj form, which meant the universe being rescued from the tyranny of Apasmara is one of the angry forms. Then there’s Taandav and Lasya, the dance Shiv and Parvati do, in their tender and passionate forms, this might be considered as a kind of courtship dance.
Mahashivratri is the night of powerful energies of high cosmic levels and it has so many events to prove that!”