Know The Religious Significance Of Bel Patra And Why It Is Offered To Lord Shiva

Mondays are considered to be dedicated to Lord Shiva, as per Hinduism. A special worship of Mahadev is done on this day by ardent devotees to please Him and gain His blessings. On this day, he is offered flowers, water, milk and bel patra as well. But have you ever thought about why this particular leaf is offered to him?

The Samudra Manthan or the churning of the ocean between deities (devtas) and demons (asuras) resulted in both good and bad things emerging from the ocean. One such thing was a lethal poison called Halahala. Fearing this, the Gods approached Lord Shiva, who decided to consume the poison to help them and save the world from being destroyed. As soon as he drank Halahala, Goddess Parvati placed her hand on His throat to prevent the poison from spreading any further. The Lord’s throat turned blue and henceforth he came to be known as Neelkanth (blue-throated one).

Lord Shiva’s body began to heat up due to the extremely dangerous effect of the poison. Because of this, His surrounding environment too started to heat up. According to Hindu mythology, bel patra is known to reduce the effect of poison. Hence, the deities started feeding the leaves to Lord Shiva. He was also offered water to keep him cool. This decreased the heat in His body and ever since this tradition of offering bel patra to Bholenath has continued.

It is also believed that bel patra is a trifoliate leaf representing the Holy Trinity of Hinduism- Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Hindu mythology also believes that the leaves are dearest to Lord Shiva because the Purana mentions that once, Goddess Parvati’s sweat droplets fell on the Mandrachal Mountain. It led to the growth of the Bel or Bilva plant. And the Goddess is considered to reside in the Bilva tree in all her forms.

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