[3] According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - waning) of the lunar month of Phalguna.

[4] The celebration includes maintaining a jagarana, an all-night vigil and prayers, because Shaiva Hindus mark this night as "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in one's life and the world through Shiva.

These medieval era Shaiva texts present different versions associated with this festival, such as fasting, and offering reverence to a lingam - an emblematic figure of Shiva.

[6][14] A different legend states the offering to Shiva icons, such as the linga, is an annual occasion to overcome any past sins, to restart on a virtuous path, and thereby reach Mount Kailasha for liberation.

The Maha Shivaratri has served as a historic confluence of artists for annual dance festivals at major Hindu temples such as at Konark, Khajuraho, Pattadakal, Modhera and Chidambaram.

The special process of worship on this day is Girivalam or Giri Pradakshina, a 14-kilometer bare foot walk around Shiva's temple on top of the hill.

[citation needed] A ritual marathon is undertaken by the devotees to the 12 Shiva shrines in the district of Kanyakumari on the day of Shivaratri called Sivalaya Ottam.

[citation needed] In recent years, the Isha Foundation has been a major patron of such festivities in India, with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi having attended the celebration hosted at the site of the Giant Adiyogi in Coimbatore.

[25] In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, special pujas are held at Pancharamas - Amararamam of Amaravati, Somaramam of Bhimavaram, Draksharamam, Kumararama of Samarlakota and Ksheerarama of Palakollu.

Devotees throng for the special poojas at Srikalahasti, Mahanandi, Yaganti, Antarvedi, Kattamanchi, Pattiseema, Bhairavakona, Hanamkonda, Keesaragutta, Vemulawada, Panagal, Kolanupaka amongst others.

Shivaratri yatras are held at Mallayya gutta near Kambhalapalle, Gundlakamma Kona near Railway Koduru, Penchalakona, Bhairavakona, Uma Maheswaram amongst others.

Shivaratri, regarded as the most important festival of the community, for instance, is celebrated by them on trayodashi or the thirteenth of the dark half of the month of Phalguna (February–March) and not on the chaturdashi or the fourteenth as in the rest of the country.

The reason for it is that this long drawn festival that is celebrated for one full fortnight as an elaborate ritual is associated with the appearance of Bhairava (Shiva) as a jvala-linga or a linga of flame.

As Vatuka Bhairava emerged from a pitcher full of water after Mahadevi cast a glance into it, fully armed with all his weapons (and so did Rama), he is represented by a pitcher full of water in which walnuts are kept for soaking and worshipped along with Shiva, Parvati, Kumara, Ganesha, their ganas or attendant deities, yoginis and kshetrapalas (guardians of the quarters) – all represented by clay images.

The ceremony is called 'vatuk barun' in Kashmiri, which means filling the pitcher of water representing the Vatuka Bhairava with walnuts and worshipping it.

The Mahakaleshwar Temple, Ujjain is one of the most venerated shrines consecrated to Shiva, where a large congregation of devotees gathers to offer prayers on the day of Maha Shivaratri.

Tilwara Ghat in the city of Jabalpur and the Math Temple in the village of Jeonara, Seoni are two other places where the festival is celebrated with much religious fervour.

In Gujarat, Maha Shivaratri mela is held at Bhavnath near Junagadh where bathing in the Mrugi (Mrigi) kund is considered holy.

[citation needed] In West Bengal, Maha Shivaratri is observed devoutly by unmarried girls and boys seeking a suitable husband or wife, often visiting Tarakeswar.

[29] In the capital city of Kathmandu, there is a provision of road blockage where children use ropes and strings to stop the people or vehicle passing through in exchange of money.

Devotees then walk barefoot with women carrying a pooja thali containing flowers, incense sticks, rice, coconut and a diya to the sea after which they are free to break their fast.