Maha Shivratri for Kids: The Stories of Shiva’s Great Night

Most Indian festivals are bright and noisy. Maha Shivratri is different. It is a night festival, quiet and devotional, when families visit Shiva temples, offer milk, water and bilva leaves to the Shiva linga, chant Om Namah Shivaya, and many try to stay awake through the whole night. It falls on the fourteenth night of the dark fortnight in the month of Phalguna by one calendar, or Magha by another, usually in February or March.

For children, staying up late is exciting all by itself. But Maha Shivratri also has some of the most wonderful stories in all of Indian tradition. Here are four that children love.

The blue throat: Shiva drinks the poison

Long ago, the gods and the asuras decided to churn the great ocean of milk to find amrita, the nectar of immortality. They used the mountain Mandara as the churning rod and the great serpent Vasuki as the rope, with the gods pulling on one side and the asuras on the other.

But before the nectar appeared, something terrible came out of the ocean: a deadly poison called halahala, so strong that it began to choke the whole world. Gods and asuras alike ran in terror. Only Shiva stepped forward. To save the world, he gathered the poison and drank it. Parvati, alarmed, pressed his throat so that the poison could not go any further. It stayed there, turning his throat blue. That is why Shiva is called Neelakantha, the blue-throated one.

When everyone else ran away from the danger, Shiva took it into himself so that others would be safe. That is a kind of courage children can understand.

The pillar with no end

Once, Brahma and Vishnu began to argue about which of them was greater. Suddenly an enormous pillar of fire appeared between them, so tall and so deep that neither could see where it began or ended. They agreed that whoever found its end would be the greater.

Vishnu took the form of a boar and dug down, deeper and deeper, for ages, and never found the bottom. Brahma took the form of a swan and flew up, higher and higher, and never found the top. Vishnu returned and honestly admitted he had failed. In a well-known telling, Brahma claimed falsely that he had reached the top. Then Shiva appeared from the pillar of light, revealing that it was his own infinite form. He praised Vishnu’s honesty and rebuked Brahma for his lie. Many people remember this appearance of Shiva as a pillar of light on Maha Shivratri.

The hunter in the bilva tree

This is the story most often told for Maha Shivratri. A poor hunter went into the forest one day but caught nothing. As night fell, afraid of wild animals, he climbed a bilva tree to stay safe and awake until morning. To keep himself from falling asleep, he plucked leaves one by one and dropped them to the ground.

He did not know that at the foot of the tree there was a Shiva linga. All night long, the bilva leaves he dropped fell on it, along with drops of water from his water pouch. Without meaning to, the hunter had fasted, stayed awake and offered bilva leaves to Shiva all through Shivratri night. In many tellings, deer came to the tree during the night, and each time the hunter raised his bow, the animal asked to be allowed to go home to its family first. Moved, he let them all go. By morning, his heart had changed completely, and Shiva blessed him.

This is why bilva leaves are offered to Shiva and why people stay awake on Shivratri. It also carries a beautiful message for children: even a small act of devotion, done without knowing, counts, and kindness can change a person overnight.

Shiva and Parvati’s wedding

In many traditions, Maha Shivratri also celebrates the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. Parvati had performed long and difficult austerities to win Shiva, the great ascetic who lived on Mount Kailasa covered in ash. Shiva’s wedding procession was the strangest the world had ever seen, full of ghosts, goblins and wild attendants, and Parvati’s family were alarmed. But Parvati knew exactly who she was marrying. Children enjoy this story for the funny wedding procession alone.

How Maha Shivratri is observed

Devotees visit Shiva temples, many through the night, and perform abhishekam, bathing the linga with water, milk, honey and other offerings. Bilva leaves are offered. Many adults fast during the day and night. Temples are lit up, and the chanting of Om Namah Shivaya goes on for hours. Some people try to keep a jagaran, staying awake all night in prayer, singing and listening to stories.

Why Shiva is shown the way he is

Children often ask about Shiva’s appearance, and each detail has a story: the crescent moon in his hair, the river Ganga flowing from his matted locks, which he caught to stop her force from flooding the earth, the snake around his neck, the third eye, the trident and the small damaru drum. Going through them one by one is a lovely Shivratri activity with a picture in front of you.

Celebrating with children

Children do not need to fast or stay up all night to take part. Tell one story each evening in the days before. On the night itself, let them stay up a little later than usual, light a lamp, and chant Om Namah Shivaya together eleven or twenty-one times. If you visit a temple, let your child offer a bilva leaf and a little water themselves.

Karacharana Kritam, a short verse to Shiva asking forgiveness for any wrongs done during the day, is a perfect shloka for Shivratri night. It has its own page in our free shloka library, and our live shloka classes teach it with its full meaning.