Aarti ?

  What is Aarti ?

Aarti  is perhaps the most attended ritual in Hindu temples yet it is least understood. ‘Aarti’ Darshan is considered to be one of the most auspicious Darshans in Pushti Margiya and Maryada Purushottam temples. Aarti is one of the 16 offerings of the Pooja ritual. Aarti is also considered to be a stand-alone ritual in Hinduism. It was the masters of the school of Bhakti (devotion) who transformed the simple-fire ritual into an exalted spiritual method referred as ‘aarti’.

In Maryada Purushottam temples, Aarti of God/Goddess is performed twice a day, in the morning at the sun rise and again in the evening at the sunset. While in Pushti Margiya temples, Aarti is performed during each Darshans, typically 6 to 8 times a day. If you want to experience the true mahima of Aarti darshan, then you must visit Nathdwara temple in Rajasthan, India.

Nowadays Aarti has become traditional Indian form of greeting, which has no more religious significance than a handshake in western culture or giving someone a wreath of  flowers as a welcome in Hawaii. As an example, ‘Aarti’ is often performed to greet the principal celebrant in India such as Pope, a movie star or political leaders.

I have come across many explanations on Aarti but none of them conveyed a true meaning of aarti. Recently I found an explanation, which really makes sense and truly says what aarti is all about, which I want to share with you.

What we know about the Aarti

The ritual of aarti is a kind of simple fire ritual. That is why is frequently translated as a ritual as of ‘waving lamps’. In simplest term the Aarti consists of a small flame, which burns on a wick, placed on a plate, which is rotated round the Deity.  Aarti is a form of congregational worship, in which the devotees stand facing the image of a deity or a defied saint or, the personage (‘living idol’) of an exalted saint singing devotional songs in unison. Normally, musical instruments such as bells, gongs and cymbals accompany the singing. The object of worship is devoutly decorated with posy garlands and, aromatic incense and musk are kept smoldering (this is commonly referred as Shringar). While the devotees sing psalms, either an official or a devotee revolves clockwise, (usually) a fivefold oil lamp – consisting of five oil – traylets - round the object of adoration. By waving the lights in circular motion, we, in fact, symbolically perform ‘Pradakshina’ around our Deity.  

A lamp with wicks burning clarified butter (ghee) is most preferred. After the devotional singing, the flame of the aarti-lamp is offered to the devotees, who pass their hands by turns over the sacred flame and quickly draw them to their faces and heads as a gesture of drawing onto themselves the auspicious energy emanating from ‘the receptacle grace’ i.e. the flame.

A hymn is an expression of ardent devotion which in turn is capable of evoking emotions in the hearts of those who recite it. The most common hymn (ironically this is also called ‘aarti’) is ‘Om Jaya Jagdish Hare’.

What we should know about the Aarti

The Word. First let us understand the word. The word ‘aarti’ is an adjective form of the word ‘aart’  which in Sanskrit/Gujarati means tiredness or Vedna. The Meaning. When we think of Aarti, we immediately have an image of ourselves waving a flamed lamp in front of an idol. This action really does not go well with the meaning of the word ‘aarti’ which we just learnt. You may think what tiredness or vedna got to do with waving a flamed lamp in front of an idol. Now let us understand this concept. This is little hard to understand moreover, it is hard to explain in English language because the lack of proper words to explain the meaning! However, I will try!

The vedic philosophy believes that Lord does everything for us. In fact the very existence of us is due to Lord’s Kriya. This constant kriya makes Lord tired and experiences vedna. In order to alleviate him/her from this vedna or tiredness, we the devotees essentially tell Lord that give us your vedna and we will perform your work.

In aarti, the jyot or deep means aatma. Usually there are five jyots representing five pranas. The thali or a lamp holder represents the body. So basically when we wave a lighted lamp in front of an idol we are saying to the Lord that give us your vedna and I will do all the work. Based on this thought, we have ‘dev podhi ekadashi’ and ‘dev uthi ekadashi’. The period between these two ekadashis’s is a resting period for Lord. The circular waving motion of the lamp represents the circle of life or Kriya chakra. In other words we are saying that we will keep this kriya chakra moving forward. Remember, without Kriya there is no progress!

The waving motion differs from sect to sect and region to region. This has to do with local customs, schools of thoughts and priest preferences. This is also a deep subject matter. We will discuss it later. After aarti ritual we usually pass the lamp (aarti) to others. The philosophy behind this is that we essentially all have to distribute vedna and participate in Lord’s kriya.

Lord Varaha Retrieves The Mother Earth

In this way, while Brahma was deliberating with his associates, Sri Hari roared tumultuously like the great mountain Giriraja. The omnipotent Sri Hari enlivened Brahma and the other highly elevated brahmanas by again roaring with His uncommon voice. The sound of His roar was so sweet that it destroyed all the miseries of the hearer. Brahma, Svayambhuva Manu, and other sages who reside on Janaloka, Tapaloka and Satyaloka, chanted auspicious mantras from the Vedas as offerings to Varahadeva. Lord Visnu in the form of Varaha accepted the prayers of Brahma and other sages and for the benefit of the demigods, entered into the waters of annihilation. Before entering into the water, Lord Varaha rose into the sky lashing His tail. The Lord raised the hair on His shoulders and scattered the clouds in the sky with His hooves. With raised hairs and white tusks, and with luminous effulgence, the Lord's form was brilliant. This is Sri Hari's unique transcendental pastime. Just the remembrance of it causes shivering in the body. He was omnipotent and omniscient, yet like an animal, He searched for the earth by the sense of smell. His external appearance was fearful; however, He pleased the sages engaged in offering prayers by glancing over them and entered into the water. His dive into the water with his thunderbolt-like body divided the ocean. The ocean prayed to Lord out of fear, "Please protect me, O Supreme Lord!"
The Lord of all sacrifices penetrated the water with His hooves, and in the depths of the Rasatala Ocean, He saw the earth lying there as he carried it in his stomach during the time of devastation. Lord Varaha lifted the earth on His tusks and appeared very splendid. At that time, a very powerful demon named Hiranyaksa challenged Him with a huge mace. An enraged Lord Varaha killed the demon within the water, just as a lion kills an elephant. The body, head and face of the Lord became red with the blood of the demon. The Lord, being thus satisfied with the prayers of the great sages, placed the earth on the water with His hooves.

The third incarnation among the Ten Incarnations is Varaha avatara, (Boar incarnation.) At the beginning of the creation of the universe, Brahma, a male named Svayambhuva Manu and a female named Satarupa manifested from his body. By the desire of Brahma, Svayambhuva Manu accepted Satarupa as his wife for the purpose of creation. Seeing the earth submerged in the water of annihilation and desiring to seek a dwelling place for the living beings, Manu approached his father Brahma and prayed to him to rescue the earth. When Brahma saw the earth submerged in the water, he thought for a long time about how it could be rescued. He had earlier established the earth after removing all the water but he could not understand why the earth had sunk into the water again. He had been appointed for the work of creation but the earth had become inundated in a deluge and had sunk down to the Rasatala planetary system. 

Even after much effort, Brahma was not able to think of any solution. At last, he took shelter of the Supreme Lord Visnu. While Brahma was still deep in thought, a small boar the size of the tip of a thumb manifested from his nose. But the most surprising thing is that the small boar expanded in front of Brahma and within moments, filled the sky and assumed a form as big as an elephant. Brahma, together with the great brahmanas like Marici, as well as the Four Kumaras and Svayambhuva Manu saw the transcendental Varaha form and began to discuss among them. Lord Brahma thought that this was some denizen of the transcendental world in disguise; traveling in the form of a boar.

Bajrangabali (Lord Hanuman)

Bajrangabali or Lord Hanuman is one of the most popular gods of Hinduism.because of his loyalty and commitment to the cause of Lord Rama he has become very popular.People from all wakes of life worships and appreciate his divine nature and super human personality shaped by the strength of celibacy,humility, selflessness, unsurpassed devotion, determination,fearlessness and extraordinary commitment to work for the divine.He is such a true devotee. His temples are found everywhere in India,in the streets of towns and cities, on the hills, in the forests and most difficult places. Millions observe fast on Tuesdays and refrain from drinking and smoking as a mark of respect for him.Goddess Seeta the great consort of Lord Raam impressed by the selfless devotion and services of Hanuman blessed him to remain immortal in his existing form till the end of creation and help the loyal devotees of Raam. When people pray to Hanuman, they generally chant the chalisa for boons and protection. The chalisa is a verse of 40 lines containing pure adulation. It describes the great qualities and adventures of Hanuman. It is said that because of his complete humility he would not stir into action, unless one reminds him of his true greatness and  his divine purpose. His devotees therefore chant the chalisa, to remind him of his greatness and prompt him to wake up from his devotion and help them.He is called Anajaniputra or Anjaneya because his mother's name was Anjana and above all he is revered as Raam Bhakta Hanuman means devotee of Lord Raam.

Lord Vishnu

The awe-inspiring Brass statue of Narasimha, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, is minutely treated with some dazzling carvings on it. In Narasimha Avatar, Lord Vishnu appears as a semi-man, semi-lion in this world. The demon king Hiranyakasyapa, wanted to become immortal and wanted to remain young forever. He meditated for Lord Brahma and because of his severe penance the gods were frightened and asked Brahma to pacify the king. Lord Brahma, on the other hand, was impressed by his austerity and granted him a boon. The boon was that HiranyaKasyapa would neither killed by a man or beast, nor in daylight or at night and neither inside or outside a building. Having obtained the wish he considered himself the supreme God and prohibited all types of worship of gods. But his son Prahlada was a great devotee of Vishnu. This enraged Hiranyakasyapa very much. He tried numerous ways to kill Prahlada including asking his sister Holika to sit with Prahlada in the fire. But the great devotee of Vishnu escaped unhurt. Enraged, frustrated once he asked Prahlad to show him where Lord Vishnu resides. Prahlad said, "He is everywhere". Further enraged, Hiranyakasyapa knocked down a pillar, and asked if Lord was present there. Lord Vishnu then emerged as a half lion, half man from the pillar, which was neither inside the house nor outside, and the time was evening, neither night nor day. He then killed Hiranyakasyapa thus saving the life of his devotee Prahlada. The anecdote of Prahlad is revered in great reverence by the Hindus and has been inspiring them a lot.

Hindu Gods

Hinduism is a religion very different, and professes a faith in true God through a series of deities. Although some people believe in the existence of the Hindu Trinity, the one true God and the Trinity of Ohm some believe in thousands of gods, and the other 33 million Gods. However, the Hindu doctrine, who is familiar with their writings, says that a Hindu should believe and worship only one true God.

According to Hindu scriptures, God is beyond the attributes of shape, color and shapes. He has no specific form or name and is called Nirguna Brahman (attribute less than one god). However, God can take any form. It can be strong and powerful, the provider of favors, the destroyer or savior. These forms provide a basis for the Hindu devotee easy to follow the Supreme Deity otherwise incomprehensible. In general, Hindu followers believe that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.

Hindu God Statues are seen as an auspicious gift for anyone. Goddess Laxmi is considered the goddess of wealth and prosperity, happiness and abundance, is the life force of all creation. Today given the importance of wealth that would be a perfect gift for anyone.

Hindu God - Lord Ganesha

All spiritual worship of the Hindu tradition begins by invoking Ganesha (or Ganesha, Ganpati, Gajanand) the elephant-headed god. Every auspicious work starts with the worship of lord Ganesha. Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganesha Festival is a day when it is believed Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. On this auspicious occasion marble statue of Lord Ganesha are washed and scented. They are decorated and worshiped. In some parts of India like Maharashtra, this festival will continue for 10 days.

Ganesha became the Lord of all existing beings. Many stories describe how Ganesha has an elephant head. Parvati created Ganesha and said, in the absence of Shiva to protect her quarter. When Shiva wanted to see Parvati and Lord Ganesha opposes him, Shiva beheaded him. Later, Shiva, Ganesha back to life and give him the head of an elephant, because nothing else was available.

Ganesha rides a rat that represents the demon of vanity and impertinence subjugated. The laddu represents Sattva. The snakes represent control of the poisons of the passions and refer to Shiva, the father of Ganesha. The eliminates slavery of desires. The mudra grants fearlessness. The broken tusk Ganesha is one with which he wrote the Mahabharata.

Ganesha creates the faith to overcome all obstacles. Meditating on Ganesha Yantra to create an inner balance. Put Ganesha statues of marble on top of the front door and inside the house to fill the environment with positive energy and happiness. While people in other religions other than Hindus also do the same, to bring luck to their homes

You can learn more and get the realism of the marble statues of Hindu Gods like Hanuman, Ganesha, Radha Krishna and many other Hindu gods and other handicrafts Art Statue at gangesindia.com

Miniature painting - The Indian Art

Miniature painting is defined relative to the size and proportion of the element to the real object or technique used. The art began in the western world and it contains many types of painting portraits of saints and angels. It has various scenes of daily life in the middle Ages are also in this division of the arts.

Miniatures are one of the many things that make one proud of its rich Indian cultural heritage. Miniature paintings come far in the history of India. Indian Miniature paintings can be classified as wall paintings and miniatures. Murals are huge works executed on the walls of solid structures in the caves of Ajanta and temple Kailashnath.

Miniature is a painting style and technique, and as a wall-sized work could be painted "in miniature. It’s like what many people do when they want to show love and care for their loved ones and take a position on the photo with them.

The miniatures are executed in a very small scale of perishable materials such as paper and cloth. The Palas of Bengal were the pioneers of miniature painting in India. The art of miniature painting reached its zenith during the Mughal period. The tradition of miniature painting has been postponed by the painters of different Rajasthani schools of painting as Bundi, Kishangarh, Jaipur, Marwar and Mewar. Ragamala paintings also belong to this school.

Miniature is an art form, which is a very rich history that continues to this day, artists from around the world. Beautiful miniature decorative elements should be retained regardless of pieces of large, complex, or intimate hand held works.