Mahashivarathri was on Feb 19th this year. 'Shivarathri' is used almost as a synonym for 'staying awake in the night'. But a true Shivarathri would be to dedicate the night in prayers to Lord Shiva. I was familiar with the விடிய விடிய (day/night) poojas on Shivarathri and also the 'Shivalaya Ottam' where people visited twelve Shiva temples on this day back in India...
May be because our temple visits were limited to those on very important days and obviously, Shivarathri not being one of them for us, I had no clue that day-night poojas were conducted here in New Jersey temples too. Luckily the next day being a holiday on account of President's day, we decided to visit the Guruvayoorappan temple in NJ. It was a nice experience - thanks to the pooja, the devotees, the bhajans, it had the very same flavor and scent of the temples in India.
Though we did not stay through the night, I felt highly motivated to spend the night creating a song video with lingashtakam. Successfully started it that night but could not stay awake even past midnight! Have finally completed it today..... here is the lingashtakam video with some information on the Pancha Bhootha Lingams and Sthalams.
Reciting the lingashtakam in a Shiva temple is considered very noble.
Hope you like it!
