What is Pradosh? Why is it Important for Shiva Worshippers?

The term "Pradosh or Pradosham" in Sanskrit refers to the evening time that starts roughly an hour and a half before sunset and ends an hour and a half after sunset (everyday). Usually during prasodham time, Lord Shiva and his vehicle (vaahan) Lord Nandi is worshipped in Hindu culture, and the most important pradosham worship is observed on the 13th tithi (trayodashi) of both the shukla and krishna paksha.

What does Purana say?

According to the purana, once Lord Indra was riding on his Airavat (celestial white elephant), and came across Sage Durvasa on the way. As a blessing, the sage offered Indra a special garland. Indra accepted the garland and put it on the head of the Airavat. However, the flowers in the garland had a strong scent that attracted bees. Annoyed by the bees, Airavat shook its head, and the garland fell on the ground. Seeing this disrespectful act, Sage Durvasa became angry and cursed Indra and the rest of the devas, stripping them of their power, pride and fortune. As a result, they were defeated by the asuras in a battle led by King Bali.

After losing everything, Indra and the rest of the devas sought Lord Vishnu's help, who advised him that churning the celestial ocean was the only way to retrieve what they had lost. Indra then convinced the asuras to join them in this effort to obtain the nectar of immortality aka Amrita. They used Mount Mandara as the churning rod and the serpent Vasuki from Lord Shiva's neck as the churning rope, with the asuras taking the side of serpent's mouth and the devas taking its tail. However, during the churning, the mount began to sink, prompting Lord Vishnu to take an avatar of a turtle, known as Kurma avatar, to support the mountain on his shell, allowing the churning to continue.

shiva and parvati with nandi — Lord Shiva and Parvati with Nandi

Due to the constant twists and pulls, the serpent Vasuki began emitting poisonous fumes (Halahal), causing everyone to flee towards Lord Shiva for help. In an act of compassion, Lord Shiva gulped the poison (Halahal) and kept it in his throat. The poison turned his body blue in colour, but this act saved them all. Everyone started cheering for him by praising Long live Neelkanth Mahadev. To keep the Halahal in place, Lord Shiva performed the cosmic dance (tandav) between the horns of his mount Lord Nandi, which was witnessed by Lord Vishnu, Brahma, the celestial sages incl. the devas and asuras. This divine moment of blessings from Lord Shiva is now known as Trayodashi Pradosham.

Types of Pradosham

There are a total of five different pradoshams celebrated by Shiva worshippers namely:

Nitya Pradosham (daily)
Paksha Pradosham (fortnight)
Maasa Pradosham (monthly)
Maha Pradosham (yearly)
Pralaya Pradosham

Nitya Pradosham: It is the daily pradosham time mentioned earlier, it occurs every evening.

Paksha Pradosham: It occurs on the 13th tithi (trayodashi) of both shukla and krishna paksha.

Monthly Pradosham: It occurs on the 13th tithi (trayodashi) of the krishna paksha (waning lunar cycle).

Maha Pradosham: 13th tithi (trayodashi) falling on a Saturday is called Maha Pradosham. It is derived from the fact that puranic accounts of Halahal story was associated with the Pradosham occurred specifically on a Saturday. Hence, pradosham occurring on a Saturday is referred to as Maha Pradosham aka Shani Pradosham.

Pralaya Pradosham: Pralaya means “destruction”. In the puranas, the term pralaya denotes the end of time when all living beings will look toward Lord Shiva to save them. This time is called Pralaya Pradosham.

Prayer Rules

The method of prayer, or pooja vidhi is as follows: Begin by taking a bath in the morning at sunrise and worship Lord Nandi with Shiva by chanting their mantra 108 times. Start the fast (vrat) from then on and continue it till the end of the pooja at Pradosham time. The pooja shall be performed by lighting a diya and pouring milk (abhishekam) over Shivling and Nandi (while reciting the mantra). You may also perform honey abhishekam, sandalwood paste (chandan), curd, vibhuti (ash) and bilva leaves. After the abhishekam you can offer fruits, incenses and aarti to finish the pooja. Eat the offerings after the aarti to conclude the fast.