Festival Guide
Maha Shivaratri 2026
Maha Shivaratri fasting, night vigil, and puja guide
Maha Shivaratri is the great night of Shiva, observed through fasting, abhishekam, mantra japa, meditation, and night vigil.
Date
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Calendar basis
Magha lunar month
Default location
New Delhi, India. Use city pages for local panchang context.
About Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivaratri is the great night of Shiva, observed through fasting, abhishekam, mantra japa, meditation, and night vigil.
HinduLab treats festival dates as calendar events connected to tithi, paksha, lunar month, solar transition, or fixed-date rules depending on the observance. For daily ritual timing, pair this guide with the panchang and muhurat tools for your city.
Common Rituals
- Observe a fast according to capacity and family tradition.
- Offer water, milk, bilva leaves, flowers, and lamps to Shiva.
- Chant Om Namah Shivaya and read Shiva-related stotras or katha.
- Many devotees keep a night vigil and perform puja across the four prahars.
Regional Notes
- Temple visits and abhishekam are common across India and the diaspora.
- Some traditions emphasize Nishita Kaal for the most important worship window.
- Fasting rules vary from nirjala to fruit-and-milk observance.
Helpful HinduLab Tools
Festival dates can be shared across regions, but exact ritual windows may depend on sunrise, sunset, tithi boundaries, and local tradition.
How HinduLab Calculates Festival Dates
HinduLab combines computed vrat occurrences, lunar festival rules, solar Sankranti transitions, and fixed Gregorian observances. The annual festival calendar is generated for the default location and then connected to city-aware panchang tools for local timing context.
Read the calculation methodology