Maine Hindu Temple (MHT) is celebrating Hindu festival Maha Shivaratri with devotion and religious fervor in honour of the Lord Shiva on Feb 24th, 2017. Celebrating the festival of Maha Shivaratri,  devotees observe day and night fast and perform ritual worship of Shiva Lingam to appease Lord Shiva. Background* : The fourteenth day of every lunar month or the day before the new moon is known as Shivratri. Among all the twelve Shivarathri that occur in a calendar year, Mahashivratri, the one that occurs in February-March is of the most spiritual significance. On this night, the northern hemisphere of the planet is positioned in such a way that there is a natural upsurge of energy in a human being. This is a day when nature is pushing one towards one’s spiritual peak. It is to make use of this, that in this tradition, we established a certain festival which is nightlong. To allow this natural upsurge of energies to find their way,one of the fundamentals of this nightlong festival is to ensure that you remain awake with your spine vertical throughout the night. * Courtesy of Isha Sadhguru The day of Maha Shivaratri is spent in meditation on Lord Shiva and fasting. The Shiva Linga at the temple is bathed with milk, honey and water, and offerings are made to Lord Shiva in the form of fruits, and other specially prepared foods. Devotees sing and chant the sacred Panchakshara mantra "Om Namah Shivaya" mantras. Program Details : February 24, 2017 – Friday (Maha Shivaratri day) 07:00 pm - 08.30 pm : Rudra  Abhishekam 08:30 pm - 09.00 pm : Alankaram & Shiva Archana 09:00 pm - 09.30 pm : Prasadam distribution 09:30 pm - Cleanup Lord Shiva Bhajan  MHT is planning to keep temple open until midnight and after that if required. Devotees can sing Lord Shiva Bhajans throughout the night. Sponsorship Rudra Abhishekam    :        $21.00 (members) and $26 (non-members) Maha Shivaratri Abhishekam is done with panchamrutham using Milk, Ghee, Curd, Honey, and Coconut Water to please Lord Siva. All devotees are requested to bring Milk, Sugar, Ghee, Honey, Water, Flowers, variety of Fruits and Prasadam. We need volunteers for celebrating  Maha Shivaratri, so please contact MHT to discuss the event in details.  Volunteers are needed for registration, decoration, perform Puja, crowd control, Prasad distribution and clean up. Please sign up for any of the seva as soon as possible. Please email info@mainehindutemple.org or call (207) 370-0475 if anyone needs more details or clarifications. Thank you for your continued support. We are looking forward to seeing you all at  Maha Shivaratri Celebrations. Sincerely, MHT Board