As the Sun descends, the dusk takes it over. The evening turns darker and Varanasi prepares itself for the Ganga Aarti.....
Ganga Aarti is performed daily in the evening at the bank of scared and pious river Ganga. It is a magnificent event during the evening in which worshipers, pilgrims, and devotees gather near the Ghat.
The Aarti gains the momentum by beginning with a “tilak” on the forehead of river Ganga. The priest dressed in a dhoti, kurta and tightly bound with a long towel called “Gamcha” and does the routine rituals before performing the Ganga Aarti at the Daswamedha Ghat.
Before the beginning of the Aarti, the priest makes some more offerings of flowers and incense stick to goddess Ganga. He also rings the heavy bell rhythmically to awake river Ganga to shower her blessings on all the devotees.
The goddess Ganga purifies the air and hearts of the devotee. The Ganga Aarti is very powerful and blissful.
They blow the conch shell and with a loud conch sound in unison, they call Goddess Ganga. This is one of the ways in which the priests try to derive the attention of goddess Ganga.
All the priests wave the incense stick in front of the idol by being at kneeling position. According to Hindu rituals, Aarti begins by waving an incense stick. The beautiful odor of the stick purifies the air around.
Now, the priests stand and they turn their back towards the idol. Again, the priests wave the incense sticks in the same manner on the opposite side.
The priests have an amazing tuning and devotion into what they are doing.
After the completion of waving the incense stick, its the turn for big heavy metal camp by which the Dhoop Aarti is performed.
The head priest of the Gangotri Seva Samiti lits up the multi-layered Aarti. The Aarti handle has 6 layers and a diya at the top of it.
The entire gist of Ganga Aarti lies in this. The 6 layered Aarti and mantras in chores send signals directly to heaven.
After the multi-layered Aarti is done, it is accompanied by the brass camps along with the chanting of mantras.
The priests throw flowers with their right hand and continue to ring the bell with the left hand.
All the gathered devotees raise their hands to take the Aarti. They believe in the powerful holy vibes of Aarti and pray to goddess Ganga to take away their pain and grief
As the Aarti completes, people pray and bow their heads to the idols.
The Ganga Aarti spreads the blissful vibes all around the Varanasi.
