This night-long celebration will bring together devotion, music, and meditation, and is expected to reach over 140 million viewers globally through live broadcasts on more than 100 TV channels and digital streams in 23 Indian and foreign languages.
The celebrations commence with the Pancha Bhuta Kriya at the Dhyanalinga, a potent cleansing ritual honoring the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space). The night-long festivities will then be led by the Linga Bhairavi Maha Yatra, a grand procession celebrating the divine feminine. The night will pulse with diverse musical performances, blending the ancient with the contemporary. Individual acts include Aditya Gadhvi, bringing the raw, soul-stirring energy of Gujarati folk, and Prashant Sonagra and team with a thunderous traditional and folk drum collaboration, while Sounds of Isha, Isha’s homegrown ensemble, will collaborate with Swaroop Khan, Blaaze, and Paradox, along with artists Swagat Rathod and Prithvi Gandharv, to create powerful tapestries of folk and contemporary soundscapes.
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Yaksha<sadhguru.co/yaksha>, Isha’s exuberant festival of Indian classical music and dance, features award-winning Carnatic vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan (12 February), Hindustani vocalist Rahul Deshpande (13 February), and Bharatanatyam dancer Meenakshi Srinivasan (14 February), leading upto Mahashivratri.
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For the first time this Mahashivratri, Sadhguru will personally conduct the Yogeshwara Linga Maha Abhishekam<isha.sadhguru.org/en/yogeshwara-linga-maha-abhishekam>, a free, sacred ritual enabling global devotees an opportunity to connect with this consecrated live energy form. A major highlight of the night is Adiyogi Divya Darshanam, a powerful light and sound show that brings the 112-foot Adiyogi statue, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017, to life. With Sadhguru narrating the story of how yoga began, it fills the space with a sense of awe and reverence for the tens of thousands gathered at the venue and the millions watching online.
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At the stroke of midnight, Sadhguru leads participants through the Mahamantra initiation, and again during Brahma Muhurtam (3:40 am), Sadhguru will guide seekers through a powerful meditation designed to utilize the night’s unique planetary alignment. Mahashivratri at Isha has evolved into a landmark event in the international spiritual calendar, regularly hosting dignitaries, cultural icons, and spiritual leaders, and with the presence of Rajnath Singh and other key national leaders this year, the night is set to resonate even more strongly as a meeting point of spirituality and public life.
Known as the “Great Night of Shiva,” Mahashivratri is a unique planetary phenomenon when the natural upsurge of energy in the human system is especially conducive for spiritual growth. Sadhguru explains, “We have the advantage of being at the foothills of Velliangiri Mountains, called the Kailash of the South, where legend says Shiva himself spent over three-and-a-half months… we are at eleven degrees latitude, which is very important because of… the tilt that the planet has and the spin it has. The maximum amount of centrifuge happens at approximately eleven degrees latitude, so that means there is a natural upsurge of energy. And Mahashivaratri is that day when this upsurge of energy is at its peak and this will be the best place to be on that night.” Seekers from across the globe are invited to stay awake and aware through the night, either by being present at the Isha Yoga Center or by joining the celebrations via online livestreams, with the event also broadcast on major television networks.
The 12-hour-long event will be streamed live in twenty-three languages on Sadhguru’s YouTube<youtube.com/sadhguru> channels and major media networks starting at 6 PM IST on 15 February, making it accessible to viewers across the world. More information about the event can be found on the official Mahashivratri webpage<isha.sadhguru.org/mahashivratri>.