According to sources Mahashivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated across the country to worship Lord Shiv, also called the "destroyer of evil". Meanwhile Mahashivaratri is a festival which marks the beginning of spring and this major festival, also known as "the great night of Shiva", celebrates the overcoming of darkness and ignorance.
Furthermore Maha Shivratri or Mahashivratri is celebrated by chanting prayers fasting, and meditating on ethics and virtues such as self-restraint, honesty, forgiveness, and the discovery of Shiva. Usually many devotees stay up all night, while some others visit Shiv temples or go on pilgrimages. Further devotee usually head Jyotirlingam Shiv temples on this day to pray and every year, before the beginning of summer, in the Phalguna month of the Hindu calendar (late winter somewhere in February/March), the 13th night and the 14th day is celebrated as Maha Shivaratri.
Meanwhile the origin of the festival is not known, legend has it that Maha Shivaratri was the day when Shiv drank poisonous to protect the world. Apparently today, the Kumbh Mela in UP's Prayagraj is set to witness the last dip at the Sangam, or the holy confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri. Accordingly the Kumbh Mela, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, was held in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj from January 15 on Makar Sakranti to March 4 (Maha Shivratri) this year, which is celebrated four times over a course of 12 years.
