Maha Shivaratri 2022: Here's how India reveres Lord Shiva (Pictures)

This year, Maha Shivratri will be celebrated on March 1. As per Hindu beliefs, worshipping Lord Shiva on the day of Maha Shivratri can fulfil your every wish. Here are some pictures that show how India celebrate Maha Shivratri 

Each month on the 14th day of each lunar month, Shivratri is celebrated right before the moon’s phase shifts. Devotees conduct day-long fasts and pray for Lord Shiva on the occasion while a puja is also held. The festival of Maha Shivaratri is celebrated on Falgun Krishna Chaturdashi.

Lord Shiva’s appearance has often been described as a white body with ashes of corpses spread all over it, a blue coloured neck that depicts the poison he holds in his throat. He also wears the Ganges River, a crescent moon on the head and a snake (King Cobra) around his neck as a garland. Lord Shiva also has a third eye on his forehead. Let us look at some of the pictures clicked during Maha Shivratri in India and Nepal. 

Devotees stand in the queue as they wait for their turn to offer puja rituals to the Lord Shiva n the Shivratri festival at the Lingaraj temple in the eastern Indian state Odisha's capital city Bhubaneswar.

Naga Sadhus or holy man of Niranjani Akhara take a holy dip in the Ganges River on the occasion of the first royal bath of the Shivratri festival during Maha Kumbh Festival, in Haridwar.

Hindu women are seen offering prayers with Milk and water on the idol of Lord Shiva during Maha Shivaratri Festival at a temple of Kolkata.

A man with limes pierced to his body offers obeisance to a Hindu god in a temple during Maha Shivaratri in Kaveripattinam.

Hindu Devotees from Nepal and India come to this temple to take part in the Shivaratri festival which is one of the biggest Hindu festivals dedicated to Lord Shiva and celebrated by devotees all over the world.

A group of Sadhu holy men take part in a religious rally to mark the Mahashivaratri festival ahead of the Shivaratri festival. 

Students dressed up as Hindu deity Shiv and Parvati during Maha Shivratri festival at Tender Hearts International School, in Patna.

Artist Laxmi Gaud sprays colour on the sand sculpture of Lord Shiva prepared on the occasion of Mahashivratri at Juhu beach in Mumbai. 

Devotees perform rituals at a temple on the occasion of the Maha Shivratri festival, at Khajpura. Maha Shivratri literally translates as the great night of Shiva and according to legend, it is on this night that Lord Shiva performs his heavenly dance or tandav.