The Significance Of Shiv Puja And The Story Behind The Auspicious Ritual

The Significance of the Shiv Puja

The Shravan Somwar Shiv Puja holds great significance for the Hindu religion. Worshipping the almighty Lord Shiva and observing a fast in his name destroys all the problems caused by the malefic effects of the planets and allows a person to be peaceful and happy. Performing the Shiv Pooja with suitable shiva pooja items brings positivity and prosperity into the house and frees the devotee from all his sins. The Shravan Somwar Shiv Pooja is extremely significant because it is believed that if a true devotee performs the Shiv Puja with all the right rituals and traditions, the devotee shall be granted salvation (Moksha), which is considered the ultimate goal in life. Now that we have understood the significance of the Shiv Manas Puja, let us learn how to worship Lord Shiva with all the right methods and traditions.

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How to worship Lord Shiva on Monday: Pooja Vidhi and Rituals

• One should wake up early in the morning, clean the house and then take a bath with pure water. 
• After cleansing the house and oneself, the devotee should observe a fast and offer the Panchamrit to the Shivling. The Panchamrit includes Raw milk, Curd, Ghee, Gangajal, and Honey.
• After offering the Panchamrit, the devotee must offer some sandalwood, turmeric, gram Dal, and Abir Gulal to the Shivling.
• Make sure you offer the Bel Patra and sandalwood to Lord Shiva, given the fact that the Bel Patra is very dear to Lord Shiva, it’ll greatly please him.
• After making all the offerings to Lord Shiva, one should begin to chant the Maha Mrityunjaya Shiva Mantra 108 times.  
• In the evening, the devotee should perform the Aarti of Shiva and blow the conch shell while performing the Aarti.  
• After the Aarti, the devotee should make a Bhog out of flour and sugar and then offer it to Lord Shiva. 

With the final offering to Lord Shiva, the Shiv Puja ends. By following the right procedure and performing the Shiv Puja on a Monday, a devotee shall be able to impress Lord Shiva and convey wishes to him. It is advisable, to keep a fast every Monday of the year in the name of Lord Shiva. However, if it’s not possible to observe a fast all year, it is recommended that a devotee keeps a fast every Monday of the Shravan month. It is strongly believed that observing a fast during a month of Shravana shall greatly please Lord Shiva and help devotees make all their wishes come true.

Shiv Katha: The Story Behind the Shiv Puja on Monday

Once upon a time, there lived a moneylender in a small town. He had all the riches in the world and never had any troubles in life but the only thing that made him sad was the fact that he did not have any children. In order to wish for a child, the moneylender started keeping a fast every Monday and visited Lord Shiva’s temple to Shiv Durga Puja with utmost devotion and sincerity.

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Goddess Parvati was pleased to witness his devotion and requested Lord Shiva to fulfil his wishes by granting him the boon of a son. After listening to Goddess Parvati, Lord Shiva replied saying that everyone in the world gets different things in life according to their deeds and that everyone has to suffer for the sins they have committed in various ways. However, Goddess Parvati was strongly impressed by his devotion and sincerity and requested Lord Shiva to fulfil the moneylender’s wishes regardless.

At Goddess Parvati’s request, Lord Shiva granted the moneylender his wish but told him that the son’s life shall only be of 12 years. The moneylender listened to Lord Shiva and was neither happy nor sad about it, instead, he started worshipping Lord Shiva with even more devotion and continued fasting on Mondays.

In a few days, the moneylender was blessed with a beautiful baby boy. The moneylender was extremely happy and continued worshipping Lord Shiva with his wife for the prosperity of their child. When the child turned eleven years old, the moneylender sent him to Kashi along with his maternal uncle for further education. Before leaving the moneylender instructed the boy’s uncle to perform “Yagna” (Rituals) in every village on the way and to ensure that they feed the brahmins and give them Dakshina (Donation) at the end of every “Yajna.”

They did exactly as they were told by the moneylender and continued on their journey, performing “Yagyas” throughout the way. During their journey, they came across a city where the king’s daughter was getting married to a prince who was blind in one eye. However, the princess and the king did not know this and the prince’s father was trying to find a way to hide this fact from them. When the prince’s father came across the moneylender’s son, he thought he’ll marry the boy to the princess, and then once they take the princess back to their kingdom, he shall send the boy away by offering him some money.

The moneylender’s son was then asked to wear the groom’s clothes and marry the king’s daughter, however, the moneylender’s son was honest and didn’t want the princess to be deceived. So he wrote a message on her bridal clothes saying, “You are married to me. The prince with whom you will be sent is blind in one eye and I am going to Kashi to study.”

The princess read this and told the whole thing to her parents. After listening to his daughter, the king sent the prince and his father away and refused to send his daughter with them. The moneylender’s son and his uncle continued their journey and reached Kashi. As soon as they reached Kashi, they performed another Yajna and provided food and Dakshina for the brahmins.

On the boy’s twelfth birthday, while performing the Yajna, the boy told his uncle that his health seemed unwell and that he needed rest, so his uncle asked him to go rest in his room. According to Lord Shiva’s boon, it was the end of the boy’s time on Earth and the child died. Witnessing his death, his uncle began to mourn and cry. At that point, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were passing by and Goddess Parvati observed the uncle crying. She said to Lord Shiva that she was unhappy watching this person cry and requested him to make all his troubles go away.

When Lord Shiva saw the deceased child, he told Goddess Parvati that he was the son of the same moneylender to whom he had given the boon of a son and according to his fate his time on earth came to an end in the natural course of life. However, Goddess Parvati insisted Lord Shiva bring the boy back to life and reminded him of the utmost devotion of the moneylender and the way he had been worshipping him with all his strength and sincerity. She said, “If everything would happen the way it is supposed to, then why would anyone worship the Lord and observe fasts in his name.”

After listening to Goddess Parvati, Lord Shiva brought the boy back to life. On the completion of his education, the boy and his uncle found their way back home. On the way, they arrived at the same village where the boy was married to the princess and organised a Yajna, the king recognised the boy instantly and welcomed him and his uncle with great hospitality. The king then asked the boy to accept the princess as his wife and sent her off with him.

On the other hand, the moneylender and his wife were eagerly waiting for their son to arrive and had taken a vow that if the news of their son’s death came, they would also sacrifice their lives. But when the boy arrived healthily and well, along with his wife and uncle, the moneylender and his wife were extremely happy and thanked Lord Shiva for his blessings. On the same night, Lord Shiva entered the moneylender’s dream and said, “ Dear son, I am extremely pleased with your devotion and have granted your son a long life because you have observed the fast of Monday and worshipped with all the right rituals and methods, and just like you, anyone who shall observe this fast and worship me with all his devotion, I shall grant him his wishes. And thus, began the auspicious ritual of the Shiv Puja.

Achieve the blessings of Lord Shiva by performing Rudrabhishekam Puja.

Lord Shiva Mantra

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

Om Tryambakam Yajamahe Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam.

Urvarukamiv bandhanat mrityormukshiya mamrita.

Worship Lord Shiva According to Zodiac Signs

You can get the blessings of Shiva by worshiping according to the zodiac.

Aries: People of Aries zodiac should do Rudrabhishek of Shiva with sugarcane juice, along with silver moon should be offered on Shivling.

Taurus: The natives of this zodiac should anoint Shiva with raw cow’s milk and offer white flowers.

Gemini: The people of this zodiac should offer red gulal sandalwood to Lord Shiva and anoint with green fruit juice and other things.

Cancer: The native of this zodiac should offer butter and moong to Shiva.

Leo: The natives of this zodiac should offer honey, jaggery, pure cow’s ghee, bilva leaves to Shiva.

Virgo: The natives of this zodiac should offer flowers of Dhatura, cannabis and figures to Shiva.

Libra: Offer mogra, rice, rose, sandalwood to the native of this zodiac.

Scorpio: The natives of this zodiac should anoint Lord Shiva with pure water and donate lentils.

Sagittarius: Offer dry fruits to Lord Shiva and offer yellow flowers to the natives of this zodiac.

Capricorn: Offer mustard oil or sesame oil to the native of this zodiac.

Aquarius: The people of this zodiac should offer a mixture of white and black sesame seeds to Shiva.

Pisces: Offer sugarcane juice, honey, almonds, bilva leaves, yellow flowers, yellow fruits to Lord Shiva.

Conclusion

Now that you know all about the Shiv Puja and its Significance, we hope Lord Shiva blesses you with his grace and grants you all your wishes.