Maha Shivratri is an auspicious Hindu festival that is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva. The celebration falls on the 13th night and 14th day of the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna or Maagh. This year it occurs on Tuesday 13 through to Wednesday 14 February 2018. Many Hindus believe that those who worship Lord Shiva on this auspicious day will be cleansed of all their sins.

Maha Shivaratri
Devotees offer prayers and perform rituals in front of a statue of Lord Shiva at a temple in Bengaluru during the Maha Shivratri festival Abhishek N Chinnappa/Reuters

Maha Shivratri is said to be the day when Lord Shiva, destroyer of the universe, married Goddess Parvati. She is the mother goddess in Hinduism and represents love, fertility and devotion. A number of Indian women conduct a fast on the day of Maha Shivratrito appease Parvati. She is believed to bless women with marital bliss and long and prosperous married lives.

Many Hindus mark the day by pouring water, milk or honey over a Shiva ling – a stone sculpture that is both a representation of Lord Shiva's phallus and a symbol of Lord Shiva himself.

Maha Shivaratri
Hindu devotees perform rituals to a Shiva Lingam – a stone sculpture representing the phallus of the Hindu god Lord Shiva – during Maha Shivaratri at the Keesara Gutta temple on the outskirts of Hyderabad Noah Seelam/AFP
Maha Shivaratri
Hindu devotees pour milk over a stone sculpture representing the phallus of Lord Shiva at a temple in Amritsar Narinder Nanu/AFP
Maha Shivaratri
A newly-married couple and other Hindu devotees pour holy water over a Shivling or Shiva lingam (a representation of Lord Shiva's phallus that also serves a symbol of Lord Shiva himself) as they pray inside a temple during the Maha Shivratri festival in Kolkata Rupak de Chowdhuri/Reuters

Many people celebrate the holy day by praying, covering their bodies with ashes and drinking a cannabis-infused drink 'Bhang' or smoking chillums of hashish.

Maha Shivaratri
A Sadhu (Hindu holy man) smokes a chillum, a traditional clay pipe, as a holy offering to Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction, near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal Prakash Mathema/AFP
Maha Shivaratri
A Sadhu (Hindu holy man) smokes a chillum, a traditional clay pipe, as a holy offering to Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction, near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal Prakash Mathema/AFP

Believers say that when you pray to Lord Shiva, every negative form of energy that surrounds you is transformed into peace and joy. IBTimes UK presents photos of Hindu devotees celebrating Maha Shivratri across India and in Nepal.

Maha Shivaratri
A person dressed as Hindu goddess Kali dances during a religious procession during the Maha Shivratri festival in Allahabad Jitendra Prakash/Reuters
Maha Shivaratri
A Sadhu performs religious rituals to mark the Hindu festival of Maha Shivaratri at Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal Prakash Mathema/AFP
Maha Shivaratri
A Hindu devotee takes part in a religious procession to mark the festival of Maha Shivratri in Allahabad Sanjay Kanojia/AFP
Maha Shivaratri
A Hindu sadhu (holy man) applies face paint near the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu during Maha Shivaratri Prakash Mathema/AFP
Maha Shivaratri
A Sadhu dressed as Hanuman the monkey god poses at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal Prakash Mathema/AFP
Maha Shivratri
Performers dressed as Shiva and Parvati, and Kali take part in a religious procession to mark the Hindu festival of Maha Shivratri in Amritsar Narinder Nanu/AFP
Maha Shivaratri
A woman whispers her wishes in the ear of a representation of Nandi – a bull who serves as the mount of Lord Shiva – inside a temple in Chandigarh during the Maha Shivratri festival Ajay Verma/Reuters
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