Raveena Tandon is a big Shiv bhakt and that spirituality and faith runs in her family for generations. On Maha Shivratri today, the actor reflects on her belief in Shiva saying, “Shiva is the all-loving, all-forgiving, universal entity for me. And the beauty about being in Shiva’s bhakti is the fact that he doesn’t enforce any laws, any rules on you. He is omnipresent.”
Being an animal lover also comes to Raveena Tandon due to her faith in Shiva. “He is known as Pashupatinath and that’s why I value him even more. He was always someone who loved animals and his entire form, his forever-loving Nandiji always with him, his form of Kaalbhairav where he always had dogs around him. And if you see the earliest seal of Indus valley, it was the seal of Pashupatinath which showed him sitting in a yogic pose with all animals around him, surrounded. And that’s the most enduring part of him.”
The actor shares that even her kids’ names, Rasha Thadani and Ranbir Thadani, have originated from Shiva. “Rasha’s actual name is Vishakha in her kundli and Ranbir’s name has Vardhan in it and that’s also Lord Shiva for me. Mahadev has always made me feel his presence in my life and in a lot of ways. And these are signs that tell you that he’s there for you in every possibility in happiness and laughter, in struggle, in every kind of tough situation,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}The actor shares that even her kids’ names, Rasha Thadani and Ranbir Thadani, have originated from Shiva. “Rasha’s actual name is Vishakha in her kundli and Ranbir’s name has Vardhan in it and that’s also Lord Shiva for me. Mahadev has always made me feel his presence in my life and in a lot of ways. And these are signs that tell you that he’s there for you in every possibility in happiness and laughter, in struggle, in every kind of tough situation,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}Maha Shivratri celebrations each year include Rudra Abhishek at home for Raveena. “Otherwise I go off to Kashi for Mahashivratri. The last two Maha Shivratris Rasha and I both have been in Kashi and this time I’m going to be at the Isha Foundation at Sadhguruji’s ashram and it’s just such a wonderful celebration of music, dance, singing and just life there,” she shares.
Raveena has completed her pilgrimage of the 12 jyotirlingas and it has had a family connection for her. “I started my 12 Jyotirlingss at Kashi Vishwanath in 2023 on February 17, which was also my father’s (later filmmaker Ravi Tandon) birthday. I had just lost him in 2022 and I took a little bit of his ashes, which I had saved, to put it in the Ganga. Within a year, till the next Maha Shivratri in 2024, Rasha and I had finished all our 12 Jyotirlingss and ended it with the last Maha Shivratri visit to Kashi,” she shares, adding, “That was something I owed to my dad and for him, I did it too. That was very special for us and our entire family.”