🌙 Masik Shivratri 2026

When is the next Masik Shivratri — Shiva puja on the night (Nishita Kaal) of the Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi every month, the abhishek of the four prahars, the night vigil; the Maha Shivratri of Phalguna is its great form; the vrat of girls and married women; the Nishita Kaal and upcoming dates above.

Masik Shivratri falls on the Chaturdashi of the Krishna Paksha of every lunar month — a day before the Amavasya, when the Moon is almost gone; the night on which this tithi is present at Nishita Kaal (midnight) is the Shivratri. The puja is at night — in the Nishita Kaal (time above) and the abhishek in the four prahars; the fast from sunrise to the next sunrise, paran when the Chaturdashi ends.

The **Maha Shivratri** of Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi is its annual great form (separate page); the Masik Shivratri of Shravana is the second biggest. The scriptural tale is that on the night of Shivratri Shiva appeared in the linga form/Shiva and Parvati were married — hence girls keep it for the groom of their choice and married women for their marital fortune. Above are the date of the next Masik Shivratri, the Nishita and Pradosh times (Delhi) and the next 12 dates with month names; below the vidhi, the four-prahar puja, samagri, katha, food and regional customs.

Significance — why this vrat

Shiva/Skanda Purana: the night of the Krishna Chaturdashi is dear to Shiva — on this night the pillar of fire (Lingodbhava) appeared which Brahma and Vishnu could not measure; the vigil and abhishek of this night remove a year's sins; keeping the Masik Shivratri vrat for 12/14 consecutive years brings marriage, children and liberation (folk belief); the Chaturdashi is Nishita-vyapini — the night at whose middle the Chaturdashi is present is the vrat day (the list above follows this rule — sometimes it begins on the evening of Trayodashi).

The puja of the four prahars: the first prahar (evening — abhishek with milk), the second (night — curd), the third (midnight — ghee), the fourth (dawn — honey/sugar); 'Om Namah Shivaya', bel leaves and aarti in every prahar; householders should worship at least once in the Nishita Kaal (midnight ± 24 minutes — above).

The jalabhishek of the kanwariyas on Maha Shivratri and the Shravana Shivratri; the night aarti at Shiva temples on Masik Shivratri; the Masik Shivratri vrat is the folk-famous remedy for Chandra dosha/Mars/Saturn afflictions and delayed marriage in the chart; Pradosh (Trayodashi) + Shivratri (Chaturdashi) are two consecutive days of Shiva — the 'Pradosh-Shivratri pair'.

Puja vidhi (step by step)

This is the household vidhi of Masik Shivratri — the day's fast, the Shiva puja at night in the Nishita Kaal (the four prahars if possible), the vigil, paran the next morning.

1. Morning: bathe, remember Shiva, sankalp — 'the Masik Shivratri vrat, for (wish), the night puja and vigil, paran after sunrise tomorrow'; fruit/waterless in the day (as strength allows); Shiva temple darshan, water and bel leaves.
2. Evening (Pradosh — time above): at the puja place a Shivalinga (parthiva — made of clay too) or a Shiva-Parvati picture, north-east; kalash, lamp; the first prahar — abhishek with milk, bel leaves, 'Om Namah Shivaya' 108 times, the Shiva Chalisa.
3. Night (the second prahar): abhishek with curd, datura-aak-shami-bhang, sandalwood-bhasma; the Rudrashtakam/Shiva Tandava Stotra; hear the Shivratri katha (below — the hunter/Lingodbhava).
4. Nishita Kaal (time above — the third prahar): abhishek with ghee/panchamrit, Gangajal, 108 bel leaves (if possible — 'Om Namah Shivaya' on every leaf), the sacred thread, white flowers, perfume; suhag items for Parvati; the Mahamrityunjaya 108/11 times; the aarti 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara', camphor; this puja is essential — the other prahars as strength allows.
5. Dawn (the fourth prahar): abhishek with honey/sugar/sugarcane juice, then water; the final aarti; the vigil — bhajan-kirtan/Shiva's name all night (if not possible, sleep after the Nishita puja and rise at dawn for the fourth prahar).
6. Paran: after sunrise the next day, when the Chaturdashi ends (after the Amavasya begins — tithi window above); first the Shiva prasad (fruit-panchamrit), then a sattvic meal; charity to a Brahmin/the poor.
7. The parthiva Shivalinga (many homes): make a thumb-sized Shivalinga of wet (river/pure) clay and worship it, immerse it in water the next morning — special on the Shravana Shivratri and Maha Shivratri.
8. Women's custom: girls for the groom of their choice (Parvati puja, 108 bel leaves), married women for the protection of marital fortune; a vow of 12/14 Masik Shivratris → the udyapan on Maha Shivratri (a Shiva havan, feeding couples); no puja during menstruation — remembrance and japa; the pregnant take fruit, no vigil.

Puja samagri checklist

The abhishek liquids of the four prahars, 108 bel leaves, parthiva clay, the katha book for the vigil — the Masik Shivratri list.

• A Shivalinga (parad/Narmadeshwar/crystal) or parthiva (pure clay) or a Shiva-Parvati picture, wooden seat, white cloth, kalash
• The four-prahar abhishek: milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar, sugarcane juice, Gangajal, coconut water, panchamrit
• 108 bel leaves (3 leaflets, whole), datura fruit and flowers, aak (madar), shami, bhang, durva, white flowers (jasmine-kaner), blue lotus (if possible)
• Sandalwood, bhasma, akshat, sacred thread, mauli, roli-turmeric-kumkum, perfume (kewda-sandalwood), paan-supari-clove-cardamom
• Parvati: suhag items (bangles-bindi-sindoor-chunari), red flowers
• Lamp (ghee — unbroken all night, if possible), incense, camphor, aarti thali, bell and damru
• Naivedya: fruit (ber-banana-apple — ber on Maha Shivratri), panchmewa, kheer, halwa, thandai/bhang-milk, mishri
• Katha/stotra: the Shivratri katha, Rudrashtakam, Shiva Tandava, Mahamrityunjaya, the Shiva Chalisa; rudraksha mala; bhajans
• Fasting fare: fruit, milk, sabudana, kuttu, rock salt; paran: a sattvic meal, charity items

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Vrat katha (the story)

The tale of the hunter (Shiva Purana): a hunter, finding no game, sat at night on a bel tree beneath which was a Shivalinga; to stay awake and see below he kept plucking and dropping leaves — unknowingly 108 bel leaves on the Shivalinga; hungry and thirsty all night (an unknowing vrat and vigil); a deer family came four times, each time he spared them in pity (the four prahars); at dawn Shiva appeared — 'the Shivratri puja you performed unknowingly has cut your sins'; the hunter gained liberation, the deer family became stars (Mrigashira). The lesson — the fruit of bel leaves, the vigil and compassion on Shivratri night is infinite even when unknowing.

Lingodbhava: Brahma and Vishnu disputed 'who is greater'; on the night of Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi an endless pillar of fire (the Jyotirlinga) appeared — Vishnu as a boar went down, Brahma as a swan went up, neither found an end; Brahma made the ketaki flower a false witness — Shiva cursed the ketaki (forbidden in Shiva puja) and Brahma to be unworshipped; since then Shivratri is the night of linga worship, and Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai) is that very pillar of fire.

The wedding of Shiva and Parvati and the churning of the ocean: the wedding of Shiva and Parvati on Maha Shivratri (many Puranas) — hence girls for a groom; to keep Shiva awake after drinking the poison the gods kept a vigil of praise all night — hence the vigil on Shivratri; every Masik Shivratri is the monthly memory of that night — the Puranas say one who keeps the year's 12 Shivratris (13 with Maha Shivratri) with the vrat attains Shiva's realm.

Fruit, panchamrit, thandai, ber, kuttu — the fasting fare and paran of Shivratri

The fast through day and night on Shivratri — fruit (fruit-milk-sabudana-kuttu-rock salt) or waterless; fruit (ber-banana), panchmewa, kheer, thandai/bhang-milk (some customs) for Shiva, datura-bhang (dear to Shiva, not for eating); paran the next morning sattvic — khichdi/dal-rice-sabzi, halwa; no grain at night.

• Fasting fare: fruit (apple-banana-guava-ber), milk-curd-buttermilk, makhana, sabudana khichdi/kheer, kuttu/singhara poori-pakodi, potato-sweet potato, rock salt; those keeping waterless — nothing
• Shiva's naivedya: panchamrit, fruit, panchmewa, kheer (rice/makhana), halwa, mishri, thandai (almond-fennel-black pepper-rose — bhang optional, only by tradition)
• The four prahars: milk first, curd second, ghee third, honey/sugar fourth — the abhishek liquids themselves as prasad (panchamrit)
• Paran (the next morning): khichdi (moong-rice)/dal-rice-sabzi, halwa-poori, curd; the gift of grain to a Brahmin/the poor first
• Regional: Maharashtra (Shivratra) — sabudana khichdi, ratale, bhagar; south (Masa Shivratri/Shivratri) — fruit-milk, pongal-payasam the next morning; Bengal (Shiva Chaturdashi) — fruit-milk-mishri, paran khichuri; Gujarat (Shivratri) — faral, the Somnath palanquin

Regional customs

The night aarti of Kashi-Ujjain, the four-prahar puja of the south, the Shiva Chaturdashi of Bengal, the Shravana Shivratri of the kanwar — Shiva's night every month.

Do's and don'ts

Frequently asked questions

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Also read: Maha Shivratri (Phalguna) · Pradosh vrat (a day earlier) · Somvar / Sawan Somvar · Amavasya (the next day)

⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; the custom of your family and region comes first. The Nishita time is for Delhi — see your city's panchang; the vigil/waterless fast according to health; no intoxication with bhang etc.

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