Mahashivratri 2027: Date, Nishita Kaal, Char Prahar Puja & Fasting Rules

Mahashivratri 2027 falls on Saturday, 6 March 2027. It is the great night of Lord Shiva, observed with fasting, abhishek of the Shivalinga through the four watches (prahars) of the night, and an all-night vigil. The most important moment is Nishita Kaal, around midnight, which in 2027 falls at about 12:07 AM to 12:56 AM IST on 7 March for Delhi.

Mahashivratri 2027 at a glance

Nishita Kaal is different for every city — for example, it is earlier in Kolkata and later in Mumbai — because it depends on local midnight. Families abroad should use a panchang set to their own city. The date can occasionally differ by a day outside India.

Why Mahashivratri is celebrated

Several traditions explain the sanctity of this night:

• The Lingodbhava. The Shiva Purana tells how Lord Shiva appeared as an endless pillar of fire to end a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu, neither of whom could find its beginning or end. The Shivalinga represents this infinite form.
• Shiva and Parvati's wedding. In many regions Mahashivratri is celebrated as the night of the divine marriage of Shiva and Parvati.
• The hunter's unknowing worship. The Shiva Purana's story of a hunter who climbed a bilva tree to escape danger tells how he stayed awake all night and let fall bilva leaves and drops of water onto a Shivalinga below without knowing it — and was blessed with liberation. Even unknowing worship on this night is said to bear fruit.

Char Prahar Puja: the four watches of the night

The night from sunset to the next sunrise is divided into four equal prahars, and Shiva is worshipped in each one. A common sequence of abhishek is:

Water and Ganga jal are offered in every prahar, along with bilva leaves and flowers.

How to calculate prahar times for your city: take your local sunset time on 6 March and the sunrise time on 7 March, find the length of the night, and divide it into four equal parts. That gives the start of each prahar wherever you live.

What to offer on Mahashivratri

• Bilva (bel) leaves — the three-leaf stalk, unbroken, with the smooth side touching the Shivalinga
• Water, Ganga jal, milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar (panchamrit)
• Dhatura, aak flowers, white flowers, ber (jujube) fruit
• Chandan, bhasma, akshat, janeu
• Fruits and sweets as naivedya

Avoid: tulsi leaves, the ketaki flower, haldi and kumkum on the Shivalinga, and water poured from a conch (shankh).

Mahashivratri fasting and parana rules

• The day before: a single sattvik meal, without onion and garlic.
• Mahashivratri day: take the sankalp in the morning. Keep a nirjala fast or a phalahari fast with fruits, milk, sabudana, kuttu or singhara dishes and sendha namak. Avoid grains and regular salt.
• Night: worship in the four prahars, or at least at Nishita Kaal, and chant Om Namah Shivaya and the Mahamrityunjaya mantra. Stay awake in jagran if your health allows.
• Parana: break the fast on the morning of 7 March after sunrise, after a final puja, within the time given in your panchang.

Mahashivratri abroad

• Temples and community jagrans. Most large Hindu temples in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia hold four-prahar abhishek on Mahashivratri night. Check timings in advance, since 6 March 2027 is a Saturday.
• At home. A small Shivalinga in a tray, or a Parthiv (clay) Shivalinga, is enough for the abhishek. Collect the water and pour it into plants afterwards.
• Pooja in India in your name. You can have the Mahashivratri four-prahar puja or a Rudrabhishek performed by our pandits with your sankalp.

Learn more about the abhishek itself in our Rudrabhishek guide, and about the 16 Mondays fast in our Solah Somvar Vrat guide.