Creative Travel I A family story since 1977

Maha Shivratri — February / March

Rooted in ancient Hindu mythology, Maha Shivratri, the Great Night of Shiva, falls on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight in the lunar month of Phalguna. It marks the night Lord Shiva is said to have performed the Tandava, his cosmic dance of creation, preservation, and destruction. Some traditions also celebrate it as the night of Shiva and Parvati’s divine union.

Observed across India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, the festival draws its most breathtaking gatherings at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, where sadhus and devotees from across South Asia converge for night-long vigils and ritual bathing in the Bagmati River. Across India, temples from Varanasi to the Jyotirlinga shrines in Andhra Pradesh overflow with worshippers offering milk, bilva leaves, and chanting through the night.

For the spiritually curious traveller, there is nothing quite like witnessing thousands of oil lamps flicker against the dark, while sacred chants fill the air until dawn.