Only cold water and bel is offered to Lord Shankar's pindi.Neither is it bathed with milk and panchamrut (a mixture of milk, curds, ghee, sugar and honey) nor offered turmeric, vermilion (kumkum) or white consecrated rice (akshata).Milk and clarified butter (ghee) symbolise sustenance while turmeric is an underground stem and represents fertility of the soil, that is creation. Vermilion is prepared from turmeric. Since Lord Shiva is the deity of dissolution, substances such as milk, vermilion and turmeric are not used in His worship.

Wearing a rudraksha when worshipping Lord Shiva is ideal.The rudraksha converts light frequencies of deities from the universe into sound frequencies in the body of humans and vice versa.As a result, humans can absorb frequencies of deities and thoughts can get converted into the language of deities.

Devotees circumambulate thelingam and worship it throughout the night. It is bathed every three hours with the 5 sacred offerings of a cow, called the 'panchagavya' - milk, sour milk, urine, butter and dung. Then the 5 foods of immortality - milk, clarified butter, curd, honey and sugar are placed before the  lingam. Datura fruit and flower, though poisonous, are believed to be sacred to Shiva and thus offered to him.

The whole day the devotees observe severe fast,chant the sacred Panchakshara mantra "Om Namah Shivaya", make offerings of flowers and incense to the Lord,amidst the ringing of temple bells.They are awake during the night and listen to the legends,hymns and devotional songs.The fast is broken only the next morning, after the nightlong worship.

* Once Lord Vishnu and Lord Bramha challengd each other over the strength and power.However, Lord Shiva challenged both of them.He appeared as a flaming Linga and challenged the duo to measure the gigantic Linga (phallic symbol of Lord Shiva).The Lord Bramha,took the form of a swan and Lord Vishnu appeared as a boar and went to Netherland.But they were unable to measure the Shivlinga.So Lord Shiva emerged out of the Linga and declared himself to be the most powerful in the universe.Maha Shivratri therefore means the grand night of Shiva.This legend marks the supremacy of Mahadev over other Hindu Gods.

*There was a hunter who did not get any animal and was very exhausted.Later, a tiger saw him and started chasing him.To rescue himself from the tiger, he climbed a tree,which was a Bilva(Bel) tree.The tiger waited down the tree for him to get down.The hunter who was quite tensed up could not sleep.He started plucking the bilva leaves and leaving down casually.Coincidently, there was a Shiva lingam below the tree where the bilva leaves were falling the whole night .God Shiva was pleased with the tiger's Upavasa (hunger) and the Pooja of the hunter,which was done without any knowledge.The delighted God gave 'Moksha' (salvation) to the hunter and the tiger .

One day while hunting in a forest,he was tired and overtaken by the darkness of night.He soon climbed a tree to rest,which was a Bael (bilva) tree.He had shot a deer that day but had no time to take it home.So he bundled it up and tied it to a branch on the tree.Due to hunger he was awake throughout the night and also felt bad for his poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously waiting for his return.Under the circumstances,he was casually plucking the Bael leaves and dropping them down.

The messengers told him that there was a Shiva Linga below the tree,where he was resting and the bael leaves dropped by him fell on the Lingam.Further the tears he shed  for his hungry family,fell onto the Lingam and washed it.Also he had fasted the full day and night.So unknowingly he had worshipped Lord Shiva.Later,he enjoyed the divine bliss for long ages in the abode of Shiva and now he was reborn as Chitrabhanu.