Though Thaipusam is the hindu festival celebrated by most hindus in Malaysia and Singapore, to me Shiva Raathri is one that is closest to my heart. So how did this day come about? What is Maha Shivarathri’s meaning ?
( It is generally accepted that Krishna avatar, Vishnu’s 8th or 9th avatar happened around 5000 years ago and Rama avatar almost 8-10,000 years ago, the story of Shivarathri takes place during Vishnu’s 2nd avatar of a turtle)
Many eons ago, the devas and the asuras had to work together to churn the Milk Ocean in order to retrieve the sacred Amritam ( Nectar of Physical Immortality) which was hidden inside. In order for them to accomplish this massive task , they used a Himalayan mountain as the churner, which Lord Vishnu carried on his back in his Turtle Avatar, to keep it from dropping into the deep waters of the Milk ocean.
Shiva granted them the use of his snake that was always on his neck , Vasuki to be used as rope as they tied it around the Mountain and pulled at both ends, one end by the devas and the other by the asuras. 
There are variations to what happened next, but according to many ancient texts the first thing that came out of this massive effort was a deadly poison, Hala Hala which was so deadly that it threatened to destroy the whole of creation (which included the 3 worlds and the devas and asuras and humans in it)
At this point, the father of all creation, The Great Lord Shiva , he who is without beginning or end, who gives equally to the asuras and devas and humans without prejudice , the one who is beyond rituals and rules, he takes action.
Walking into the Milky Ocean, he takes the deadly poison from the waters, cups them in both hands, and drinks it. His eternal consort Parvathi gently puts her palms around his neck, and makes the poison stay in his throat, thereby giving Lord Shiva one of his many names , Neela Kanda ( the blue necked one ).
It’s this act of pure love for all beings in creation, big or small, sinner or saint that has endured among all off creation for many eons and will continue til creation comes to an end. Hare Hare Mahadeva!
P.S There was a recent Shivam drama that managed to portray this epic moment in history beautifully.You can watch it below.
