Like other Hindu rituals, the arti has profound spiritual sentiments underlying it. The arti also features as a component of other, more elaborate rituals within Hindu worship, and is often the concluding prayer in religious assemblies and festivals. When the Deities are about to retire for the nightĪt smaller mandirs and in shrines at devotees’ homes, the arti is performed twice daily, in the morning and the evening. When the Deities offer their special evening audience When the Deities offer the first darshan of the day, signifying the auspicious beginning of the day for devoteesĪfter the Deities have been offered their midday meal The arti is usually performed five times during the day at shikharbaddha (large, spired) mandirs with each arti relating to a specific part of the Deities’ routine. The purificatory blessing, conveyed from the Deities to the flame, has now been passed on to the devotee. Members hover their down-turned hands over the flame and then reverently touch them to their eyes and head. The pujari also rings a small hand-bell while waving the wicks and singing the prayer.Īfter the short prayer, the lighted wicks are passed around the congregation to allow members to receive the blessings infused within the flames. In fact, the ceremony is often announced and concluded by the blowing of a conch-shell. This prayer is joyously sung to the accompaniment of musical instruments, including drums, bells, gongs, and a conch-shell. The term ‘arti’ also refers to the prayer sung in praise of the Deity while the wicks are waved. These together represent the five elements of the world – 1) space (white cloth), 2) air (wisp), 3) light (flames), 4) water, and 5) earth (flowers) – and symbolise the offering of the whole of creation to the Deity during the arti ceremony. Some artis also involve the waving of a chamar (wisp) or white cloth. Other auspicious articles offered during the ceremony include incense, water, and flowers. It is performed by sadhus (Hindu monks) and pujaris (attendants to the Deities).Īlong with – or sometimes instead of – flames from ghee-soaked wicks, the light from camphor is also used. Often called the ‘ceremony of light’, the arti involves waving lighted wicks before the sacred images to infuse the flames with the Deities’ love, energy and blessings. It is sung and performed with a deep sense of reverence, adoration, and meditative awareness. The arti is thus an expression of one’s complete and unflinching love towards God. In Sanskrit, the word ‘arti’ – transcribed as ‘aarati’ – is composed of the prefix ‘aa’, meaning complete, and ‘rati’, meaning love.
The arti sung within the Swaminarayan tradition was composed by Muktanand Swami, one of Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s most senior and learned sadhus, when Bhagwan Swaminarayan was only 21. Gradually, the practice developed into the arti. To allow devotees darshan of the sacred image, the priest would wave an oil lamp from the Deity’s head to toe while chanting Vedic mantras or singing a prayer. Others attribute it to the practice many centuries ago of illuminating a murti set deep inside the dark recess of a mandir’s cave-like inner sanctum. The arti ceremony is said to have descended from the ancient Vedic concept of fire rituals, or homa. It is a prayerful ceremony performed in extolled greeting and thanksgiving of the Deities where devotees are reminded of God’s glorious presence and providence. The arti (pronounced ‘aarti’) is one of the most important and popular ceremonies of the Hindu faith.
0 kommentar(er)
