The Bharat Sevashram Sangha will be celebrating Maha Shiva Ratri at all its worldwide Sanghas for 24 hour worship, commencing at 5:30 hours on Monday 20th February and concluding on Tuesday 21st at 6 a.m. The Guyana Sevashram Sangha will be blessed with the presence of its spiritual and administrative head, His Holiness Swami Vidyanandaji Maharaj (Guruji).
During the twenty-four hour observances devotees from every part of Guyana and all over the world would make what has become an annual pilgrimage to pay obeisance at the holy feet of the Lord and seek His divine blessings.

The Night of Shiva
Maha Shivratri (Devanagari) is a Hindu festival celebrated every year in reverence of lord Shiva.Other alternate common names/spellings include Maha Sivaratri,Shivaratri,Sivarathri,Shivaratra.Shivaratri, which literally means the great night of Shiva or the night of Shiva.It is celebrated every year on the 13th night/14th day of the Maagha or Phalguna month of Hindu calendar.Since many different calenders are followed by various ethno-linguistic groups of India the month and the Tithi name is not uniform all over the India.Celebrated in the dark fortnight or Krishna Paksha (waning moon) of the month of Maagha as per Shalivahana or Gujarati Vikrama or Phalguna, the festival is principally celebrated by offerings of Bael or Bilva/Vilvam leaves to the Lord Shiva,all day fasting and an all night long vigil. Per scriptural and discipleship traditions, the penances are performed in order to gain boons in the practice of Yoga and meditation, in order to reach life’s summum bonum steadily and swiftly.A week long International Mandi Shivratri Fair is held at Mandi in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh every year is one of the major tourist attractions..

Customs associated with Maha Shiva Ratri
According to the scriptures, Lord Shiva’s consort, Mother Parvati performed tapas, prayed and meditated on this day to ward off any evil that may befall her husband on the moonless night. Since then, Mahashivaratri is believed to be an auspicious occasion for women to pray for the well-being of their husbands and sons. An unmarried woman prays for a husband like Shiva, who is considered to be the ideal husband.

Pralaya (the Deluge)
Ii is also believed that the whole world was facing destruction and the Goddess Parvati worshipped her husband Shiva to save it. She prayed for the Jivas (living souls) remaining in se – like particles of gold dust in a lump of wax – during that long period of pralaya (deluge) night, should, upon becoming active again, have His blessings, but only if they worshipped Him just as she did. Her prayer was granted. Mother Parvati named the night for the worship of Ishwara by mortals Maha-Sivaratri, or the great night of Shiva, since Pralaya is brought about by Him.

The Lord Shiva’s Favorite Day
After creation was complete, Parvati asked Lord Shiva which devotees and rituals pleased him the most. The Lord replied that the 13th night of the new moon, during the month of Maagha, is his most favourite day. Mother Parvati repeated these words to her friends, from whom the word spread over all creation.

The Story Of King Chitrabhanu
Once upon a time King Chitrabhanu of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who ruled over the whole of Jambudvipa (India), was observing a fast with his wife, it being the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the court of the king.
The sage asked the king the purpose of his observing the fast. King Chitrabhanu explained that he had a gift of remembering the incidents of his past birth, and in his previous life he had been a hunter in Varanasi and his name was Suswara. His only livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. The day before the new moon, while roaming through forests in search of animals, he saw a deer, but before his arrow flew he noticed the deer’s family and their sadness at its impending death. So he let it live. He had still not caught anything when he was overtaken by nightfall and climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a Bael tree. His canteen leaked water, so he was both hungry and thirsty. These two torments kept him awake throughout the night, thinking of his poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously waiting for his return. To pass away the time he engaged himself in plucking the Bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground.
The next day he returned home and bought some food for himself and his family. The moment he was about to break his fast a stranger came to him, begging for food. He served the food first to stranger and then had his own.
At the time of his death, he saw two messengers of Lord Shiva, sent to conduct his soul to the abode of Lord Shiva. He learnt then for the first time of the great merit he had earned by unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. The messengers told him that there had been a Lingam (a symbol for the worship of Shiva) at the bottom of the tree. The leaves he dropped had fallen on the Lingam, in imitation of its ritual worship. The water from his leaky canteen had washed the Lingam (also a ritual action), and he had fasted all day and all night. Thus, he unconsciously had worshipped the Lord. As the conclusion of the tale the King said that he had lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for a long time before being reborn as Chitrabhanu. This story is narrated in the Garuda Purana.

Rituals of Maha Shivratri
From the very early morning, Shiva temples are flocked by devotees, mostly women, who come to perform the traditional Shivalinga worship and hence pray for blessings from the Lord. Devotees bathe at sunrise, preferably in the Ganga, or any other holy water source (like the Shiva Sagartank at Khajurao). This is a purificatory rite, an important part of all Hindu festivals. Wearing a clean piece of clothing after the holy bath, worshippers carry pots of water to the temple to bathe the Shivalinga. They offer prayers to the energies of the sun (Lord Surya, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.Women pray for the well-being of their husbands and sons. An unmarried woman prays for a husband like Lord Shiva, who is considered to be the ideal husband. The temple reverberates with the sound of bells and shouts of “Shankerji ki Jai” or ‘Hail Shiva’. Devotees circumambulate the linga, three or seven times, and then pour water over it. Some also pour milk.
According to the Shiva Purana, the Mahashivaratri worship must incorporate six items: (1) Bathing the Linga with water, milk and honey, and Wood apple or bel leaves added to it, representing purification of the soul; (2) The vermilion paste applied on the linga after bathing it, representing virtue; (3) Offering of fruits, which is conducive to longevity and gratification of desires; (4) Burning incense, yielding wealth; (5) The lighting of the lamp which is conducive to the attainment of knowledge; and (6) Betel leaves marking satisfaction with worldly pleasures.
Tripundra refers to the three horizontal stripes of holy ash applied to the forehead by worshippers of Lord Shiva. These stripes symbolise spiritual knowledge, purity and penance (spiritual practice of Yoga), so also they represent the three eyes of Lord Shiva.
Wearing a rosary made from the rudraksha seed of the rudraksha tree (said to have sprung from the tears of Lord Shiva) when worshipping Lord Shiva is ideal. A rudraksha seed is a mahogany-like color, sometimes black, and sometimes may have traces of sacred sandalwood powder, turmeric, kumkum, or holy ash if the rosary was used in worship ceremonies or anointed.
Swami Purnanandaji Maharaj had been sent by the Bharat sevashram Sangha to Trinidad, where he was working when he was sent an invitation to establish a mission of the Sangha in Guyana.  He came for a brief visit on a one-way ticket but never returned.  He had just been gifted land in Cove and John by great devotee, lovingly and respectfully called “Big Maie”, the wife of businessman Resaul Maraj,to build the Ashram.
Today the Guyana Sevashram Sangha and its various arms in Guyana stand testimony to the courage, determination and commitment of Swami Purnanandaji Maharaj and his disciples.  A shrine of many miracles, the Ashram at Cove and John has become a holy place of pilgrimage for Hindus in Guyana and the world over.
During the twenty-four hour of this Festival the chantings of the Lord’s name in the Sri Guru Mandir, the Shiva Kund Mandir, the Laxhminaraine Mandir, the Shivalaya Mandir, the Shiva Parbat Mandir, the Hanuman Mandir, and the Krishna/Rama Mandir reverbrated in the air and created an indescribable aura of peace and tranquility that blanketed the soul with a sense of oneness with the universe — an integration with space and light that, for a time, transformed one into something greater than human as the quintessential essence of the Godhead in Man rose foremost to dominate his baser instincts.
The Sangha is inviting everyone in the fraternity of humanity to join with its devotees to seek the blessings of the great Lord of the universe, Lord Shiva, and incarnate Sri Sri Guru Maharaj, founder of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, during the auspicious observances of Maha Shiva Ratri.

The people who make things happen at the Guyana Sevashram Sangha
The Ashram thrives on the concept of seva (service) to humanity, which is the bedrock on which the organisation is based. Along with spiritual activities such as Sunday morning satsangh (worship) and twice-daily puja, celebrations in a major way of other religious festivals, such as Diwali, Phagwah, Ramnavmi, Navraat, etc., the Ashram also conducts workshops, development sessions, an annual summer camp for children, fun-days, among other events structured to mould growth and development in healthy, productive and progressive ways. The organisation responds to both national and individual crises in times of natural disasters, moments of grief, personal, and in any way possible to alleviate suffering.

Swami Shivashankarji Maharaj
Swami Shivashankarji Maharaj is a young disciple of Guruji who carries on the daily functions of coordinator of Ashram activities during the physical absence of Guruji, but he says that Guruji is still the guiding force of the Guyana Sangha and that he is able to overcome every challenge because Guruji’s blessings and guidance, and the selfless support and help of the numerous devotees are ever available to propagate the service to humanity that the Ashram provides on a mammoth scale. Sangha, he says, is a group of people working together in the interest of humanity and for the propagation of Satya Sanatan Dharm, and the Guyana branch of the Sangha is ever-evolving, with new people and entire families joining the Ashram in a continuous process, which does not allow him to be overwhelmed with the massive administrative responsibilities of the Sangha.
According to Swami Shivashankarji, while Guruji provides oversight through all the advanced communications technologies currently available, he allows his disciples the opportunity to develop their own potentials for leadership.  “Guruji”, he said, “has always been and will always be my Guruji.”
The immense volume of work necessary to get the Sangha ready for all its activities, especially Shiva Ratri, is a labour of love, with a one-pointed focus on the Lord, which, he says, fills one with spiritual bliss.
The pulsing energy of the Sangha during Maha Shiva Ratri has to be experienced to be believed; but the thousands of devotees who make that annual pilgrimage bear testimony to the spiritual bliss that enervates the soul with limitless joy during the Night of Shiva at the Bharat Sevashram Sangha.