Fasting on Shivratri is also very significant for devotees. Devotional songs and stotras dedicated to Lord Shiva are also sung through the night. Devotees stay awake the entire night on Shivratri, perform puja and chant 'Rudram' or Vedic mantras for peace and energy. Shaivites or followers of Lord Shiva often do sadhana or meditation for days leading up to Maha Shivaratri. Maha Shivratri or the 'Great Night of Shiva' is observed by devotees of Lord Shiva across the country with great reverence. Maha Shivratri falls on the fourteenth night of the New Moon phase in the month of Phalguna, according to the Hindu lunar calendar. Benefit of singing Shivmahimna stotra is far greater than either the benefit of spiritual initiation (а¤¦аҐЂа¤•аҐЌа¤·а¤ѕ), charity (а¤¦а¤ѕа¤Ё), austerity (а¤¤а¤Є), pilgrimage (а¤¤аҐЂа¤°аҐЌа¤Ґ), knowledge of the scriptures (а¤њаҐЌа¤ћа¤ѕа¤Ё), or the performance of ceremonial sacrifice (а¤Їа¤њаҐЌа¤ћ-а¤Їа¤ѕа¤—).Maha Shivaratri, one of the most important festivals of India, is on March 11. 'Anyone who recites this hymn with a pure heart and devotion will be blessed with fame (а¤•аҐЂа¤°аҐЌа¤¤а¤ї), wealth (а¤§а¤Ё), long life (а¤†а¤ЇаҐЃ) and many children (а¤ёаҐЃа¤¤) in this mortal world, and will attain Kailas (Shiva's abode) after death. This very prayer became well known as the 'Shiva Mahimna Stotra'. Lord Shiva, was pleased with his prayers, absolved him and returned his divine powers. In order to seek forgiveness and please Lord Shiva, Pushpadant composed a stotra (song of praise) in which he elaborated at length upon Shiva's greatness as a prayer. He was shocked, but being a blessed devotee, he realized why that happened. This infuriated Lord Shiva and he punished Pushpadanta by taking away his divine powers.

Pushpadanta was unaware of this and unknowingly stepped on the bilva leaves. Left with no ideas to solve this problem, the king spread bilva leaves or bilipatra (а¤¬а¤їа¤ІаҐЂа¤Єа¤¤аҐЌа¤° - AEGLE MARMELOS tree leaves, which are considered to be sacred offerings to Lord Shiva) in his garden. But Pushpadanta had divine powers to be invisible and hence, the king could not find the culprit. The King did all he could to address the issue. As a result, King Chitraratha was left with no flowers to complete his prayers to Lord Shiva. Every day he tried to stop himself, but failed and picked up the flowers. Pushpadanta was so awestruck by the beauty of the garden, that he could not control his emotions and picked up the flowers from the garden. The King used to offer flowers from his palatial garden as a symbol of his devotion to Lord Shiva. It was King Chitraratha's royal garden, who was also a devotee of Lord Shiva. Once he happened to see a beautiful garden adorned with charming flowers. Pushpadanta was also a devotee of Lord Shiva and a lover of flowers. Pushpadanta (literally, Flower-Teethed) was a divine musician of such standing, in the court of Lord Indra(King of the Gods). They are not necessarily spiritually realised, but are superior to humans. Along with the kinnar (nymphs), yaksha (archangels), apsara (celestial dancers) etc., gandharva are beings which are said to live in the skies and in the atmosphere, in contact with the higher plane: that of the Gods. Pushpadanta was a Gandharva(а¤—а¤ѕа¤‚а¤§а¤°аҐЌа¤µ), a celestial musician. The famous and oft-repeated Sanskrit shloka Asiti girisamam., which means вЂ if an ocean is made the inkpot, the branch of the mythical Parijata tree made the pen and Goddess Saraswati (The Goddess of Knowledge) embarks to write the glory of Lord ( Shiva), it still will be impossible to comprehend the greatness of the Lord fullyвЂ™ вЂ“ is among the verses of this stotra. In the verses of the Stotram lie stories about various great acts of the Mahadeva. The thought behind the composition is вЂEnumerating the greatness of ShivaвЂ™, being a typical frame of devotion and dedication. 2 The Composition (Story of Pushpadanta).

Shiv mahima all song