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1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 124 (from laksa191)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa124.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.eastwest.org/blog/what-christians-should-know-about-maha-shivaratri/\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.eastwest.org/blog/what-christians-should-know-about-maha-shivaratri/\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/blog\/what-christians-should-know-about-maha-shivaratri\/","crawl_time":1775615319,"first_indexed_time":1741317268,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"org,eastwest!www,\/blog\/what-christians-should-know-about-maha-shivaratri\/ s443","src_root_hash":"17847082002730429924","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"What Christians Should Know About Maha Shivaratri","meta_descriptions":["Maha Shivaratri honors the Hindu god Shiva. Discover insights for Christians to engage with Hindus during this spiritual observance."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Every year in the late winter season, devotees of the Hindu god Shiva celebrate Maha Shivaratri, meaning “Great Night of Shiva” in Sanskrit. This is celebrated as one of the biggest festivals for a day of thanksgiving and worship to Shiva on behalf of the Hindus.\nMaha Shivaratri\nShiva, also spelled Śiwa or Śiva, means “Auspicious One” in Sanskrit and is one of the main deities of Hinduism. There are several roles in which Shiva partakes, including great ascetic, master of fertility, master of poison and medicine, and lord of the cattle.\nThose who worship Shiva as a god are known as Shaivites, and they celebrate Maha Shivaratri to honor his protection of the world from destruction. It is believed during the churning of the milky ocean (Kshir Sagar), a deadly poison called halahala was released, which caused the other gods to elicit Shiva’s help.\nShiva agreed to save the world from destruction by holding the poison in his throat, on the condition he would receive passionate devotion from the Earth’s inhabitants. This day is also a celebration of Shiva’s marriage to Parvati and his creation of the Ganges River Valley.\nHow is Maha Shivaratri Celebrated?\nMaha Shivaratri is intended for humans to fulfill their promise to Shiva by showing their devotion through various rituals of worship. On this day, Hindus cleanse themselves, wear clean clothes, and mark their heads with sacred ash.\nThey then observe fasting to detoxify the body and to aid in their day-long mediation. A cylindrical, pillar-like symbol known as a Shiva linga or a lingam is used to present offerings. Hindus first cleanse the artifact and then offer vermilion paste, fruits, incense, and leaves.\nThe night is divided into four “prahars,” or quarters. After each prayer, Hindus pray a special prayer and bathe in milk, curd, ghee, and honey. Finally, a service is conducted, which involves singing and dancing to give one happiness in this world and the next, regardless of class.\nMaha Shivaratri Compared to Christianity\nShiva chose to save humanity in order to gain people’s devotion to him. Contrastingly, our God is a loving Father who sacrificed His Son to save His people (John 3:16). Because Hindus believe in a works-based religion, you will want to focus on the personal impact of God’s free gift of grace through faith, not works.\nFor Hindus, the consequences of their bad actions accumulate throughout life; but for the Christian, we have access to God’s unlimited forgiveness of all our wrongdoings. The goal should be to explain what terms like “sin” and “salvation” mean to you as they would mean something different to them.\nHinduism is a polytheistic religion with more than 330 million gods and goddesses and is based on reincarnation and a caste system. Due to their practice of worshiping the most gods out of any world religion, Hindus are very open to conversations about faith, and they believe in the power of prayer.\nWith such a strong belief in prayer, ask them if you can pray for them in the name of Jesus and establish the connection of Jesus as a historical figure who deeply loves all people. Ultimately our friends should feel loved and shown that our God is an extremely gracious God who makes His love available to all.","attrs_markdown":"![](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/wp-content\/themes\/eastwest\/src\/img\/animation__loader.svg)\n\n[![Short Term and Long Term Mission Trips - East West Ministries](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/East-West-Horizontal-Logo-RGB.png)](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/)\n\n- ##### Learn\n- ##### [Pray](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/join-us\/pray\/)\n- ##### Go\n  - [Go Overseas](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/go\/)\n  - [Short-Term Teams](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/stmt-team-types\/)\n  - [Long-Term Opportunities](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/go-long-term)\n  - [Internships](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/internships\/)\n  - [Stateside Careers](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/employment\/)\n\n[Give](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/give)\n\n[My Account](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/account)\n#### Multiply the harvest by giving toward the \\$1 million match! [Give Now](https:\/\/give.eastwest.org\/campaign\/737648\/donate?c_src=website&c_src2=banner)\\!\n\n![A child smiles, covered in colorful powders, with people in the blurred background, celebrating a festival.](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20width='1200'%20height='896'%20viewBox='0%200%201200%20896'%3E%3C\/svg%3E)\n\n![A child smiles, covered in colorful powders, with people in the blurred background, celebrating a festival.](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/What-Christians-Should-Know-About-Maha-Shivaratri.jpg)\n\n- [Evangelism](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/category\/evangelism\/), [World Religions](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/category\/world-religions\/)\n\nShare this article:\n\n# What Christians Should Know About Maha Shivaratri\n[![Picture of East-West Intern](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20width='0'%20height='0'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C\/svg%3E)![Picture of East-West Intern](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1a994ede3d63aa37ba597bf7c6ae85eead949d69a03da18b12ce9009bd41f17d?s=48&d=mm&r=g)](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/author\/east-west-intern\/)\n\n[East-West Intern](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/author\/east-west-intern\/)\n\n[View all posts by this author](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/author\/east-west-intern\/)\n\nEvery year in the late winter season, devotees of the Hindu god Shiva celebrate Maha Shivaratri, meaning “Great Night of Shiva” in Sanskrit. This is celebrated as one of the biggest festivals for a day of thanksgiving and worship to Shiva on behalf of the Hindus.\n\n## Maha Shivaratri\nShiva, also spelled Śiwa or Śiva, means “Auspicious One” in Sanskrit and is one of the main deities of Hinduism. There are several roles in which Shiva partakes, including great ascetic, master of fertility, master of poison and medicine, and lord of the cattle.\n\nThose who worship Shiva as a god are known as Shaivites, and they celebrate Maha Shivaratri to honor his protection of the world from destruction. It is believed during the churning of the milky ocean (Kshir Sagar), a deadly poison called halahala was released, which caused the other gods to elicit Shiva’s help.\n\nShiva agreed to save the world from destruction by holding the poison in his throat, on the condition he would receive passionate devotion from the Earth’s inhabitants. This day is also a celebration of Shiva’s marriage to Parvati and his creation of the Ganges River Valley.\n\n## How is Maha Shivaratri Celebrated?\nMaha Shivaratri is intended for humans to fulfill their promise to Shiva by showing their devotion through various rituals of worship. On this day, Hindus cleanse themselves, wear clean clothes, and mark their heads with sacred ash.\n\nThey then observe fasting to detoxify the body and to aid in their day-long mediation. A cylindrical, pillar-like symbol known as a Shiva linga or a lingam is used to present offerings. Hindus first cleanse the artifact and then offer vermilion paste, fruits, incense, and leaves.\n\nThe night is divided into four “prahars,” or quarters. After each prayer, Hindus pray a special prayer and bathe in milk, curd, ghee, and honey. Finally, a service is conducted, which involves singing and dancing to give one happiness in this world and the next, regardless of class.\n\n## Maha Shivaratri Compared to Christianity\nShiva chose to save humanity in order to gain people’s devotion to him. Contrastingly, our God is a loving Father who sacrificed His Son to save His people (John 3:16). Because Hindus believe in a works-based religion, you will want to focus on the personal impact of God’s free gift of grace through faith, not works.\n\nFor Hindus, the consequences of their bad actions accumulate throughout life; but for the Christian, we have access to God’s unlimited forgiveness of all our wrongdoings. The goal should be to explain what terms like “sin” and “salvation” mean to you as they would mean something different to them.\n\nHinduism is a polytheistic religion with more than 330 million gods and goddesses and is based on reincarnation and a caste system. Due to their practice of worshiping the most gods out of any world religion, Hindus are very open to conversations about faith, and they believe in the power of prayer.\n\nWith such a strong belief in prayer, ask them if you can pray for them in the name of Jesus and establish the connection of Jesus as a historical figure who deeply loves all people. Ultimately our friends should feel loved and shown that our God is an extremely gracious God who makes His love available to all.\n\n[‹ Back to Blog](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/blog\/)\n\n#### Explore More:\n[![A choir is seen holding sheet music in red folders.](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20width='800'%20height='466'%20viewBox='0%200%20800%20466'%3E%3C\/svg%3E)![A choir is seen holding sheet music in red folders.](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Blog-12.29.25-1024x597.jpg)](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/blog\/will-you-tell-others-that-jesus-christ-is-born\/)\n\n[Evangelism](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/category\/evangelism\/), [Faith](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/category\/faith\/)\n\n## [Will You Tell Others That Jesus Christ is Born?](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/blog\/will-you-tell-others-that-jesus-christ-is-born\/)\n- [By East-West Staff](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/author\/east-west-staff\/)\n\n[Read More](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/blog\/will-you-tell-others-that-jesus-christ-is-born\/)\n\n[![A person sitting and reading an open book, viewed from behind and slightly to the side.](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20width='800'%20height='534'%20viewBox='0%200%20800%20534'%3E%3C\/svg%3E)![A person sitting and reading an open book, viewed from behind and slightly to the side.](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/How-Gods-Word-Transforms-Our-Hearts-1024x683.jpg)](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/blog\/how-gods-word-transforms-our-hearts\/)\n\n[Evangelism](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/category\/evangelism\/), [Faith](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/category\/faith\/)\n\n## [How God’s Word Leads to a Transformed Heart](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/blog\/how-gods-word-transforms-our-hearts\/)\n- [By John Maisel](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/author\/john-maisel\/)\n\n[Read More](https:\/\/www.eastwest.org\/blog\/how-gods-word-transforms-our-hearts\/)\n\n## GET INVOLVED\nWe believe every follower of Jesus has a role to play in the Great Commission. 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3. Robots.txt Check

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4. Spam/Ban Check

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Response:

5. Seen Status Check

ℹ️ Skipped - page is already crawled

📄

INDEXABLE

✅

CRAWLED

9 days ago

🤖

ROBOTS ALLOWED

Page Info Filters

Filter	Status	Condition	Details
HTTP status	PASS	`download_http_code = 200`	HTTP 200
Age cutoff	PASS	`download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH`	0.3 months ago
History drop	PASS	`isNull(history_drop_reason)`	No drop reason
Spam/ban	PASS	`fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0`	ml_spam_score=0
Canonical	PASS	`meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed`	Not set

Page Details

Property	Value
URL	https://www.eastwest.org/blog/what-christians-should-know-about-maha-shivaratri/
Last Crawled	2026-04-08 02:28:39 (9 days ago)
First Indexed	2025-03-07 03:14:28 (1 year ago)
HTTP Status Code	200
Meta Title	What Christians Should Know About Maha Shivaratri
Meta Description	Maha Shivaratri honors the Hindu god Shiva. Discover insights for Christians to engage with Hindus during this spiritual observance.
Meta Canonical	null
Boilerpipe Text	Every year in the late winter season, devotees of the Hindu god Shiva celebrate Maha Shivaratri, meaning “Great Night of Shiva” in Sanskrit. This is celebrated as one of the biggest festivals for a day of thanksgiving and worship to Shiva on behalf of the Hindus. Maha Shivaratri Shiva, also spelled Śiwa or Śiva, means “Auspicious One” in Sanskrit and is one of the main deities of Hinduism. There are several roles in which Shiva partakes, including great ascetic, master of fertility, master of poison and medicine, and lord of the cattle. Those who worship Shiva as a god are known as Shaivites, and they celebrate Maha Shivaratri to honor his protection of the world from destruction. It is believed during the churning of the milky ocean (Kshir Sagar), a deadly poison called halahala was released, which caused the other gods to elicit Shiva’s help. Shiva agreed to save the world from destruction by holding the poison in his throat, on the condition he would receive passionate devotion from the Earth’s inhabitants. This day is also a celebration of Shiva’s marriage to Parvati and his creation of the Ganges River Valley. How is Maha Shivaratri Celebrated? Maha Shivaratri is intended for humans to fulfill their promise to Shiva by showing their devotion through various rituals of worship. On this day, Hindus cleanse themselves, wear clean clothes, and mark their heads with sacred ash. They then observe fasting to detoxify the body and to aid in their day-long mediation. A cylindrical, pillar-like symbol known as a Shiva linga or a lingam is used to present offerings. Hindus first cleanse the artifact and then offer vermilion paste, fruits, incense, and leaves. The night is divided into four “prahars,” or quarters. After each prayer, Hindus pray a special prayer and bathe in milk, curd, ghee, and honey. Finally, a service is conducted, which involves singing and dancing to give one happiness in this world and the next, regardless of class. Maha Shivaratri Compared to Christianity Shiva chose to save humanity in order to gain people’s devotion to him. Contrastingly, our God is a loving Father who sacrificed His Son to save His people (John 3:16). Because Hindus believe in a works-based religion, you will want to focus on the personal impact of God’s free gift of grace through faith, not works. For Hindus, the consequences of their bad actions accumulate throughout life; but for the Christian, we have access to God’s unlimited forgiveness of all our wrongdoings. The goal should be to explain what terms like “sin” and “salvation” mean to you as they would mean something different to them. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion with more than 330 million gods and goddesses and is based on reincarnation and a caste system. Due to their practice of worshiping the most gods out of any world religion, Hindus are very open to conversations about faith, and they believe in the power of prayer. With such a strong belief in prayer, ask them if you can pray for them in the name of Jesus and establish the connection of Jesus as a historical figure who deeply loves all people. Ultimately our friends should feel loved and shown that our God is an extremely gracious God who makes His love available to all.
Markdown	![](https://www.eastwest.org/wp-content/themes/eastwest/src/img/animation__loader.svg) [![Short Term and Long Term Mission Trips - East West Ministries](https://www.eastwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/East-West-Horizontal-Logo-RGB.png)](https://www.eastwest.org/) - ##### Learn - ##### [Pray](https://www.eastwest.org/join-us/pray/) - ##### Go - [Go Overseas](https://www.eastwest.org/go/) - [Short-Term Teams](https://www.eastwest.org/stmt-team-types/) - [Long-Term Opportunities](https://www.eastwest.org/go-long-term) - [Internships](https://www.eastwest.org/internships/) - [Stateside Careers](https://www.eastwest.org/employment/) [Give](https://www.eastwest.org/give) [My Account](https://www.eastwest.org/account) #### Multiply the harvest by giving toward the \$1 million match! [Give Now](https://give.eastwest.org/campaign/737648/donate?c_src=website&c_src2=banner)\! ![A child smiles, covered in colorful powders, with people in the blurred background, celebrating a festival.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20width='1200'%20height='896'%20viewBox='0%200%201200%20896'%3E%3C/svg%3E) ![A child smiles, covered in colorful powders, with people in the blurred background, celebrating a festival.](https://www.eastwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/What-Christians-Should-Know-About-Maha-Shivaratri.jpg) - [Evangelism](https://www.eastwest.org/category/evangelism/), [World Religions](https://www.eastwest.org/category/world-religions/) Share this article: # What Christians Should Know About Maha Shivaratri [![Picture of East-West Intern](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20width='0'%20height='0'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Picture of East-West Intern](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1a994ede3d63aa37ba597bf7c6ae85eead949d69a03da18b12ce9009bd41f17d?s=48&d=mm&r=g)](https://www.eastwest.org/author/east-west-intern/) [East-West Intern](https://www.eastwest.org/author/east-west-intern/) [View all posts by this author](https://www.eastwest.org/author/east-west-intern/) Every year in the late winter season, devotees of the Hindu god Shiva celebrate Maha Shivaratri, meaning “Great Night of Shiva” in Sanskrit. This is celebrated as one of the biggest festivals for a day of thanksgiving and worship to Shiva on behalf of the Hindus. ## Maha Shivaratri Shiva, also spelled Śiwa or Śiva, means “Auspicious One” in Sanskrit and is one of the main deities of Hinduism. There are several roles in which Shiva partakes, including great ascetic, master of fertility, master of poison and medicine, and lord of the cattle. Those who worship Shiva as a god are known as Shaivites, and they celebrate Maha Shivaratri to honor his protection of the world from destruction. It is believed during the churning of the milky ocean (Kshir Sagar), a deadly poison called halahala was released, which caused the other gods to elicit Shiva’s help. Shiva agreed to save the world from destruction by holding the poison in his throat, on the condition he would receive passionate devotion from the Earth’s inhabitants. This day is also a celebration of Shiva’s marriage to Parvati and his creation of the Ganges River Valley. ## How is Maha Shivaratri Celebrated? Maha Shivaratri is intended for humans to fulfill their promise to Shiva by showing their devotion through various rituals of worship. On this day, Hindus cleanse themselves, wear clean clothes, and mark their heads with sacred ash. They then observe fasting to detoxify the body and to aid in their day-long mediation. A cylindrical, pillar-like symbol known as a Shiva linga or a lingam is used to present offerings. Hindus first cleanse the artifact and then offer vermilion paste, fruits, incense, and leaves. The night is divided into four “prahars,” or quarters. After each prayer, Hindus pray a special prayer and bathe in milk, curd, ghee, and honey. Finally, a service is conducted, which involves singing and dancing to give one happiness in this world and the next, regardless of class. ## Maha Shivaratri Compared to Christianity Shiva chose to save humanity in order to gain people’s devotion to him. Contrastingly, our God is a loving Father who sacrificed His Son to save His people (John 3:16). Because Hindus believe in a works-based religion, you will want to focus on the personal impact of God’s free gift of grace through faith, not works. For Hindus, the consequences of their bad actions accumulate throughout life; but for the Christian, we have access to God’s unlimited forgiveness of all our wrongdoings. The goal should be to explain what terms like “sin” and “salvation” mean to you as they would mean something different to them. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion with more than 330 million gods and goddesses and is based on reincarnation and a caste system. Due to their practice of worshiping the most gods out of any world religion, Hindus are very open to conversations about faith, and they believe in the power of prayer. With such a strong belief in prayer, ask them if you can pray for them in the name of Jesus and establish the connection of Jesus as a historical figure who deeply loves all people. Ultimately our friends should feel loved and shown that our God is an extremely gracious God who makes His love available to all. 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