To all my friends who believe in Shraadh :

Purpose of shraadh is to give respect to our ancestor who are no longer with us. With saying this, please be practical on how you do this.

It is somewhat practical in India as you will find Cow, Dog, Crow and even Brahmin (who most likely interested in making money for his family off you).
In western world, this is not practical unless you have family dog. Yes you will find Brahmin but again it will cost you almost ‘a

Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Shiva, occurs in the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) on the 13th night or 14th day of Maagha or Phalguna (February or March) when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction.

The absolute formless God, Sadashiv appeared in the form of “Lingodbhav Moorti” exactly at midnight on Maha Shivratri. That is why all Shiva devotees keep vigil during the night of Shivratri and do “Shivlingam abhishekham” at midnight.