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Bhubaneswar: Clearing the confusion over the dates of Maha Shivaratri celebrations this year, Puri Sankaracharya today confirmed that the festival falls on February 14 and not February 13.
The devotees of Lord Shiva have been in a dilemma over the date of the festival following different mentions in different almanacs. The Kohinoor press calendar, however, has mentioned February 14 as Maha Shivaratri.
A few astrologers also corroborated that the Rashtriya Panchang, which has been issued by the Centre in 14 languages, shows February 14 as Maha Shivaratri. The auspicious time is only for a few hours on February 13 (Tuesday) night, but it remains almost full the next day, they said.
"Places including West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Allahabad will celebrate on February 14, i.e. on Wednesday. However, in Delhi, Himachal, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Ujjain, Agra, Haridwar, Mathura, people can celebrate on February 13. As we follow the Jagannath culture and it is there in the annual calendar, February 14th is the ideal date," said astrologer Pramod Satapathy.
Meanwhile, some other experts in the field of astrology claimed that the Kohinoor Press almanac is not correct and said the muhurat starts on February 13 night and extends till next night, which has raised diverse views and confusion. They even pointed out that Shiva shrines across India are celebrating the festival on February 13.
These experts have opined that people of Odisha should celebrate the festival on February 13, as it will be beneficial in everyone’s interest.
However, the state government has declared holiday on February 14th for Maha Shivaratri.
