Maha Shivaratri Temple Night Vigil — Ancient Temple, Diyas, Crescent Moon
Free download • HD quality
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About this image
The atmosphere of Maha Shivaratri night vigil at an ancient Shiva temple is captured in its full mysterious beauty in this HD wallpaper. A massive stone temple entrance is illuminated by hundreds of oil lamps lining the stone steps. Devotees sit in meditation and prayer on the cold stone floor, wrapped in shawls against the night. A large Nandi bull statue in the foreground is silhouetted against the warm temple glow — Nandi, the divine vehicle (vahana) of Shiva, whose very posture of eternal waiting before the temple door is one of the most beloved images of devotion in Hinduism. A crescent moon floats in the dark night sky above the temple shikhara (spire) — Shiva's celestial ornament, the Chandra, waxing and waning as a reminder of time's passage. Incense smoke drifts through the lamplight, creating halos around the oil flames. Maha Shivaratri is the one night in the year when Shiva is believed to be closest to the material world. Scripturally, this is the night Shiva performed the Tandava — his cosmic dance of creation and dissolution — and also the night his marriage to Parvati is celebrated. Devotees stay awake through all four praharas (quarters) of the night, performing puja at each one. Temples across India remain open through the night, and the sounds of "Har Har Mahadev" and "Om Namah Shivaya" fill the air until dawn. Free HD download for Maha Shivaratri.
