🌙 Masik Shivratri 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.
How to do Masik Shivratri — the steps
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
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
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- The puja at night — the Nishita Kaal (time above) is essential; the four prahars if possible; the vigil
- Bel leaves (108 — whole, face down), the abhishek with milk, curd, ghee and honey in order; 'Om Namah Shivaya'/the Mahamrityunjaya
- Paran the next morning when the Chaturdashi ends (tithi window); charity first
- Girls worship Parvati (for a groom), a vow of 12/14 Shivratris → the udyapan on Maha Shivratri
- The unwell/pregnant only fruit and the Nishita puja; no vigil
❌ Don't
- No Tulsi, ketaki, turmeric, sindoor or conch water on the Shivalinga; no broken bel leaves; no kumkum (on Shiva — fine on Parvati)
- No sleeping on the vrat night (the vigil rule — but health first), no grain, nothing tamasic, no intoxicants (bhang-liquor — no intoxication in the name of Shiva's prasad)
- No doing the puja in the day and skipping the night (Shivratri is a night vrat)
- No black clothes, anger, lies or quarrels; no continuing the abhishek and puja after the Amavasya begins (paran time)
- No parthiva Shivalinga in a drain/rubbish — immerse in water/at the root of a tree
Vrat katha
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 o… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is the next Masik Shivratri? The dates of {Y}?
Above are the date of the next Masik Shivratri, the Nishita Kaal and Pradosh times (Delhi) and the next 12 Shivratris with month names (the Maha Shivratri of Phalguna marked separately) — by the Nishita-vyapini Chaturdashi rule; sometimes the sunrise tithi is Trayodashi and Chaturdashi comes at night — the vrat is that night; match your city's panchang.
What is the difference between Masik and Maha Shivratri?
Masik Shivratri is every Krishna Chaturdashi (12 times); Maha Shivratri is Phalguna Krishna Chaturdashi (February-March) — the night of the wedding of Shiva and Parvati/Lingodbhava, the four prahars and vigil at their greatest, the kanwar, fairs; the vidhi is one, the fruit multiplied on Maha Shivratri; the Masik Shivratri of Shravana is the second biggest (the kanwar jalabhishek).
What is the Nishita Kaal and why the puja only at night?
The midpoint of the night (half of sunset to sunrise) ± one ghadi (24 minutes) — about 11:40-12:30; Shivratri is a 'night vrat' — Lingodbhava and Shiva's wedding were at midnight, hence the main puja in Nishita; the four prahars = the four parts from sunset to sunrise; both the Nishita and Pradosh times above.
How to do the four-prahar puja at home?
The first prahar (sunset ~6-9) the milk abhishek, the second (9-12) curd, the third (12-3 — Nishita) ghee/panchamrit, the fourth (3-6 dawn) honey-sugar; bel leaves-'Om Namah Shivaya'-aarti each time; if not possible, the one puja at Nishita is enough; set an alarm; keep the vigil if health allows.
Why do girls keep Masik Shivratri?
Shivratri is the night of the wedding of Shiva and Parvati — Parvati won Shiva by the vrat; girls keep 12/14 Masik Shivratris (or only Maha Shivratri + the Sawan one) for the groom of their choice and an early marriage, suhag items for Parvati, 108 bel leaves; folk-famous in delayed marriage — with a chart check.
When and what is the paran?
After sunrise the next morning, when the Chaturdashi ends and the Amavasya begins (tithi window above); if the Chaturdashi lasts late after sunrise, when it ends; first the Shiva prasad and charity, then a sattvic meal (khichdi-dal-rice); no grain at night.
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