President’s Maha Shiva Ratri Message
[Friday, February 16, 2007 - 5.00 GMT]

Maha Shiva Ratri is the one of the most important festivals in the Hindu religious calendar. The festival falls exactly at the seasonal transition from winter to spring.
 
A deeply religious festival, there is a great deal of ritual in its celebration, which includes fasting and keeping a vigil through the night at the temple. This vigil is symbolic of overcoming ignorance, indicated by night, through the four-fold paths of wisdom, knowing, understanding and realizing. 

While the devotions of this day help the individual in achieving the objective of Moksha, the community involvement and group celebration at this festival are considered the key for harmony in society.

Hindus in Sri Lanka have been living in amity and harmony with other religious communities throughout the ages. It my wish that the spirit of Maha Shiva Ratri will further enhance ethno-religious harmony and bring
nearer the total reconciliation among communities to whom Sri Lanka is home.

I also wish all our Hindu brethren a Maha Shiva Ratri that enriches them spiritually through the many time honoured religious observances of this festival.
 

Mahinda Rajapaksa
February 16, 2007

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Last Updated Date: February 16, 2007 -5.00 GMT