Mahashivarathri Live Blog

21 Feb - 6.12am

Sadhguru closed the proceedings with the Shiva Shambho chant, which he urged everyone to keep repeating till they had visited the Dhyanalinga. He also said that uttering the mantra just once a day would bring immense benefits. As Sadhguru slowly drove away, the sound of him repeating the mantra was audible over the loudspeakers until the last moment. It has been a grand night!

21 Feb - 5.38am

While the concerts and festivities take place at the Mahashivaratri grounds, there is a whole other celebration happening at the Dhyanalinga. Bus loads of people have been streaming in throughout the night, visiting both the program venue as well as the Dhyanalinga and Linga Bhairavi temples. However there is a significant percentage of people who have come just to visit the temple on this night. We bring you a few images from the happenings there.

21 Feb - 5.03am

On the occasion of Mahashivaratri, there was Annadanam or offering of food for hundreds of thousands of visitors who took part in the celebrations. A traditional custom of many spiritual festivals to offer food free of cost to all, special teams of volunteers were allotted for the work. The food was simple, but very tasty and filling.

21 Feb - 4.38am

Colonial Cousins is a band formed by Indian duo composed of singer Padmashri Hariharan and singer-composer Leslie Lewis. Both successful solo artists in their own right, they come together to create a fusion of Indian and Western musical genres.

They included Dheem Dheem Dhirena, the mellow Indian Rain before Hari asked the crowd, “Will you listen to a Tamil song?” The roar of approval was unmistakable. So he rang out with Uyire, uyire… blending into the Hindi version from the 1992 hit Roja. Then a quick but sweet rendition of another Tamil song Nilakaadiradu and they came to the old favourite Sa ni dha pa and Let me see the love from Colonial Cousins.

They upped the energy another notch with Chappa chappa charkha chale.

21 Feb - 4.09am

The Mahashivaratri celebrations at Isha Yoga Center, with about 500,000 visitors today, may be the centre of attention but it’s by no means the only location. About 150 Isha centers throughout India are also marking the night in tandem. The event starts with Guru pooja and free Annadhanam or offering of food is provided for all. Isha meditators and public are flocking to these centers, watching the live streams and telecasts, and being completely involved with the significance of the special date.

21 Feb - 2.50am

Kailash Kher continued to fling about megavolts of energy around with Tauba Tauba, Ek pal chain na aave, Naiharwa, Ba bam bam ba bam and two songs from his new album Rangeele.

The lyrics struck a chord with listeners for, among others, he sang from Kabir:

Bin Sathguru apno nahi koi, apno nahi koi
Ko yeh raah batawe
Kahat Kabir, Suno Bhai Sadho…
Naiharwa humkaa ne bhave
humkaa na bhave

Who but Satguru is our own
Who but him can show us the way
Says Kabir, listen, ye good men,
The mother’s place appeals no more…

Sadhguru danced with abandon down the ramp and everybody was up on their feet. Kailash Kher continued with Saiyyan, Allah ke bandhe and finally finished with the robust Ye duniya utpatanga. After the concert he said, “It was a wonderful concert but it’s not just about entertainment, it’s more than that: enlightenment through music. The spirit of my album Kailasa was in sync with the atmosphere here.”

21 Feb - 1.42am

Past midnight. The hills around Isha Yoga Center are colder today than they have been for days. Many eyelids were drooping, many figures slumping in their chairs. Enter Kailash Kher. With volume, zest and verve he and his band Kailasa brought them to life. He set off with Jana jogi de naal, and continued with Aao na, Mai to tere pyar mein, Teri Deewani and Rang deeni.

For Joban chalke, he asked Sadhguru’s permission to invite a few ladies on stage, who added much charm to the number. Kailash Kher said that he had been trying for years to come to Isha to perform but managed only now, adding that it was all Shiva’s grace. “Hum sab Shivji ke god mein baithe hai! (We are in Shivji’s embrace),” he said.

21 Feb - 12.43am

As the midnight sandhya kaala approached, Sadhguru spoke about the significance of Mahashivarathri as a way of moving one’s energies upward. Making use of a sound specifically crafted to produce this effect, Sadhguru chanted the Mahamantra along with the participants gathered, as well as the many thousands watching the event live in many parts of the world.

The ambience already set with cauldrons of fire on either side of the dias, a bhuta aradhana or offering to the five elements was done with the use of fire dances in various forms by the Isha Bramhacharis. Following an intense rendering of the chant Yogeshwaraya, Sadhguru then walked the length of the crowd on a raised platform in the center of the hall. Sounds of Isha then came in with boisterous drums, which set the whole hall dancing for the second time this evening.

20 Feb - 11.34pm

Sadhguru leads the crowd of 5 lakh people through a meditation process, chanting “Shiva Shambho” and opening them up to the spiritual potential of the night. Tears of devotion fill the space.

Speaking of Shiva, Sadhguru says that he is neither a devotee nor worshiper of Shiva, but his slave – a slave who is ecstatic, and therefore shameless. The greatest contribution of Shiva, the Adiyogi, is that if you strive you can evolve beyond your current limitations and boundaries while you are still alive. Charles Darwin was the first person who introduced this idea in the West that one can evolve.

Sadhguru tells the story of Thirumoolar. There was a Shiva saint sage called Sundaranathan, who once found the body of Moolan, a cowherd who had suddenly died. The cows grieved, so the sage occupied the dead body of the cowherd, so that they could return home. When he returned the next day for his own body, he found that some passers-by had cremated it. So he lived in the cowherd’s body, going into dhyana, only to emerge, out of compassion, every Mahashivaratri to impart one gem of wisdom and insight.

20 Feb - 10.40pm

Sounds of Isha is a home-grown, anomalous group of ‘musicians’ – full time volunteers at the Isha Foundation who create subtle fusions that reflect the rich and diverse beings that they are. Almost 10 years old, Sounds of Isha has quite a few albums and a huge fan following to its credit.

This was evident in their performance today. Ranging from the Bhairavi Shatakam to the lively riffs of Velliangiri, they kept the audience rapt. With the opening notes of Oru Anniyar… a roar went up in the crowds. This song tells of a man who came by and took away the sounds, one by one, leaving behind only silence. It is hugely popular and became even more so after Sadhguru stood up and encouraged the crowd to dance, to thunderous applause.

Members of Sounds of Isha said they had great fun performing today, particularly because they had to shuffle their program rather hurriedly based on the enthusiastic response they received. “Besides, we’re a full team today with all of our members present, so it was a pleasure,” they said. Sounds of Isha came out today with a new album Trigun, which was released by singer Hariharan of Colonial Cousins.

Another musical album highlighted earlier in the evening was Ishana by popular singer Smitha, which was released by former actress and politician Hema Malini. Other releases include Isha’s first ever Hindi magazine Isha Lehar by Leslie Lewis of Colonial Cousins and a range of health products named Isha Arokia by Dr. Prathap Reddy of Apollo Hospitals.

20 Feb - 9.36pm

Taking up Raga Malkauns, the artiste talked of how the body is the ‘gaatri veena’ – the singing veena, from which instrument arise all other instruments. During the alaap he demonstrated several variations where the human voice imitates a wind instrument, a damaru (Shiva’s two headed drum) etc.

The singer then persuaded the audience to join him in the next chant, which they did with involvement and fairly accepable pitch! Earlier in the day, he had said: What does music have? Sound and rhythm. But there is another beautiful aspect that music has – silence. Silence between words is also speech, silence between notes is also music.

Choosing to end on a high note, he sang a tandav in Raga Adana, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva… This fast paced item was marked by a rapidly enunciated string of praise. The booming pakhawaj seemed to thunder in the hearts of its listeners!

Shiva, Shiva, Shiva
Shankar, Adi Deva
Shambho, Bholanath
Yogi, Mahadeva
Mahabali Shiva, Adi, Ant Shiva
Pooran sakala kaaj, Hara Hara Mahadeva

20 Feb - 8.42pm

Padmashri Wasifuddin Dagar is a Hindustani classical singer of the dhrupad genre. A descendent of the legendary Swami Haridas Dagar, Tansen’s teacher, Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar is the 21st generation of an unbroken lineage of Dhrupad singers.

He began in Raga Puriya with an invocation that is traditionally sung in his family with the aalap “Om Anant Tam Taran Tarini Twam Hari Om Narayan, Anant Hari Om Narayan” praying for the end of darkness. The jor in the beat Chautal went directly into the praise of Shiva: Parvati nath, Shiva, Shambo. Earlier the artiste had shared that the individual personality of the raga is held very important in his family: “The raag is like a rose. Some like the colour, some like the fragrance, some like the petals. We appreciate the rose because it is a rose, because of its existence as a rose. We don’t appreciate a raag because of one aspect; we explore it as a whole.”

20 Feb - 7.43pm

The first item of the evening was the vibrant Dhol Kunitha from Karnataka. Coming from the folk stronghold of Ramnagar, ‘high-energy’ would be the only way to describe the performance.

The artistes, exhultant after the perfomance, said that the form was Shiva’s boon to them. The story behind the folk dance is about when a rakshasa performed penance and asked for Shiva himself to enter him. When that happened, however, the devotee was unable to contain the Mahadeva and his stomach burst open. So his skin was made into the skin of the dhol, his hands the stick, his palms the cymbals and so on.

After this, Sadhguru sat on the stage and bramhacharis chanted the ancient Nirvana Shatakam.

20 Feb - 6.58pm

The bases of all creation, including the physical body, are the five elements. The wellbeing of the body and the mind can be established by purifying the five elements within the human system. There is a whole system of yoga called bhuta shuddhi, meaning purification of the elements. The Pancha Bhuta Aradhana, is a unique opportunity for devotees to benefit from this deep yogic science. The event takes place on the 14th day of every lunar month, known as Shivarathri in the Dhyanalinga between 5:40 pm and 6:10 pm. On Mahashivaratri, the event is presided by Sadhguru.

The Pancha Bhuta Aradhana stabilizes body and mind and is particularly beneficial for those suffering from physical ailments, a weak constitution, psychological instabilities, disturbed sleep and a constant sense of fear.

20 Feb - 6.32pm

The Mahashivaratri is the biggest event in Isha’s calendar. Hundreds of thousands of people stream in and the events – including sathsang with Sadhguru, powerful meditations, concerts, dances – go on all night.

It is a massive effort and we bring you some pictures from the preparations leading up to the event.