MUMBAI: Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of Lord Shiva. It is a major festival that marks the overcoming of darkness and ignorance in life. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating.

There are many mythological stories pertaining to Maha Shivratri. It is believed that the formless God appeared in the form of a ‘Lingodbhav Moorti; at midnight on Maha Shivratri.

This is said to be the reason Shiva devotees keep vigil at night and offer prayers to the Lord. It is also believed that Hindu devotees stay awake whole night to give company to God Shiva, who was not supposed to fall asleep after drinking the ocean poison (Kalakootam).

Popular TV celebs like Shubhangi Atre, Helly Shah, and Zebby Singh consider Lord Shiva as a source of inspiration, as he is the ‘destroyer of evil’ and ‘God of meditation’, they said on the occasion of Mahashivaratri, which is today.

Here's what the celebrities had to say.

Shubhangi Atre: Lord Shiva inspires me a lot. I love to follow him because he is known as the destroyer of evil. He couldn't tolerate injustice and destroyed the evil in a fair manner. Similarly, even we should try to keep zero tolerance for the evil happening around us and take a stand against injustice.

Roop Durgapal: I am a huge devotee of Lord Shiva and everything about him is worth getting inspired from. His third eye symbolizes that we should not always believe that we see until we are able to see it through our mind's eye. Similarly, his Trishul symbolises controlling our ego, mind, and intellectual self.

Helly Shah: An uncontrolled mind can lead you to live a disastrous life. You cannot win your targets when you lose focus and fall prey to your desires and addictions. Therefore, it's necessary to keep your mind aligned to your goals and heart too. Lord Shiva is god of meditation. I feel he inspires me to be focused. I am a big devotee of Shiva.

Tanya Sharma: Take a look at Shiva's attire for a second—Lord Shiva always stayed away from wealth. You're missing out on nothing in life if you're not attached to wealth and materialistic things. Because materialistic happiness is temporary. You need to find your happiness in events and experiences, and not things. He clearly explains to me that materialistic happiness never stays for long.

Zebby Singh: Shiva inspires me to keep calm and keep moving on. Shiva is called a ‘Maha Yogi' because he meditated for hours for the well-being of the universe. His calm state of mind was disturbed only due to extreme reasons, but otherwise he would always be in a meditative state of mind.

Mahika Sharma: Shiva teaches us that our ego is the only thing that prevents us from attaining greatness. It is your ego that comes between your goals and your dreams, and makes you a less loving person. He never let his ego get the better of himself. On the other hand, nor did he tolerate anyone else's ego.