The devotees of Lord Shiva worship him according to their faith and devotion. Everyone is involved in worshipping Lord Shiva. The importance of worshipping Lord Shiva in the month of Sawan has been mentioned in the Rigveda.  The worship of Lord Shiva begins with the commencement of Shravan Month. One should chant the below given mantras in this month while worshipping Lord Shiva.

1) “ Panchakshari Mantra” should be enchanted.
2) Chant one Rudraksha mala everyday with "Om Namah Shivaya" mantra.
3) Chant one mala of Mahamrityunjaya Mantra everyday to keep away the troubles.

The person gets salvation from all kinds of diseases, fears, sorrows etc. The person also achieves long life. Rudraabhishek and rituals are conducted by the devotees along with chanting the mantras. People who are unable to worship Lord Shiva every day during the Sawan month, should definitely worship on all Mondays of the month. The prayers will be rewarded equally.

Worshipping Lord Shiva in the month of Sawan

Lord Shiva is worshipped along with his entire family in the month of Sawan. The prayer begins with anointing of Bholenath. Bholenath is given a bath with milk, water, curd, ghee, honey or sugar, ganga jal etc. After that,  Belpatra, Samipatra, Kusha and Doob is offered to Lord Shiva to please him. In the end, Bhang, Dhatoora, and Shriphal is offered to the lord in the form of Bhoga.

Importance of Belpatra.

The significance of offering Belpatra and Samipatra on the lingam has been mentioned in the ancient scriptures. Belpatra is offered  to the lingam to please Bholenath. According to an ancient tale, 89 thousand saints asked Brahmaji about the way to please Bholenath. Brahmaji told them that as Shivaji gets pleased with 100 lotus flowers, in the same way he can also be pleased by offering one Neelkamal.

Likewise, 1 Belpatra is equal to 1000 Neelkamal and 1 samipatra is equivalent to 1000 Belpatra.  Lord Shiva is highly pleased with these offerings. Belpatra is one simplest way to please Lord Shiva.

There is a legend behind the importance of Belpatra.  According to this tale, there was a bandit named Bheel. He robbed people to feed his family. Once in the month of Sawan, he went to the jungle with a motive to rob the passers. He climbed a tree to hide himself there. 24 hours passed by,  but he could not see anyone there.

The tree on which the bandit was hiding was a Bel tree. After 24 hours, he got upset and started breaking the leaves from the vine and threw them down. There was a lingam beneath the tree, and all the leaves that he was throwing was unknowingly falling over the lingam. Lord Shiva was pleased with the continuous fall of the Bel leaves over the lingam and appeared in front of the bandit. He gave the bandit a blessing, and since then the importance of Belpatra increased.