India’s holiest City Varanasi holds this Ganga Arti ceremony every evening at sunset. Pilgrims gather on the banks of the Ganges where fire is offered to Lord Shiva and the river. Fire is used as a link between this world and the spirit world.
Arti is also celebrated in intimate ways, as seen here at a private shrine for the hotel staff in the village of Narlai.
Arti is the most popular ceremony within Hinduism, often performed in temples six or seven times per day. It is a greeting ceremony offered to the murti and also gurus, holy people, and other representations of the divine. Arti is often called “the ceremony of lights” but usually involves offering more than just a lamp.
The priest or worshipper offers various auspicious articles by moving them in clockwise circles before the deity. At the same time he or she rings a small hand bell, while meditating on the forms of the deity.
During the entire ceremony, which normally lasts from five to thirty minutes, the worshipper offers incense, a flower, water, a five-wick lamp, a lamp with camphor and other items. The ceremony is often announced and concluded by the blowing of a conch-shell.
During the ceremony the offered lamp is passed around the congregation; members pass their fingers over the flame and reverently touch them to their foreheads. The offered flowers are also passed around worshippers and the water is sprinkled over their heads.
Arti is usually accompanied by singing (bhajan/kirtan) and out of respect worshippers usually stand for the entire ceremony.
Here is a very amateur video I shot with my little digital camera of the Arti on the Ganges. It captures some of the sights and sounds. Wish I could transmit the heavy scent of incense.
