Herath is celebrated on Trayodashi or the thirteenth of the dark half of the month of Phalguna. It is a long drawn festival that is celebrated for one full fortnight as an elaborate ritual, is associated with the appearance of Bhairava (Shiva) as a jwala-linga or a linga of flame. Called ‘Herath’ in Kashmiri, a word derived from the Sanskrit ‘Hararatri’ the ‘Night of Hara’ (another name of Shiva), it has been described as Bhairavotsava in Tantric texts as on this occasion Bhairava and Bhairavi, His Shakti or cosmic energy, are propitiated through Tantric worship.