page_title: Aarti
section_title: Aarti songs
hierarchical_section_title: Aarti / Aarti songs
caption_attribution_description: Maha Navami is the penultimate day of Durga Puja. It is on the ninth day of the Shukla Paksha (waxing phase of Moon) in the month of Aswin. The rituals culminate with the Aarati, a devotional offering where lamps are lit amid great clouds of incense. A great sense of festivity can be sensed around the Puja pandals and the Dhunuchi Naach is performed to the intoxicating beats of the "Dhaks". It is the grand finale before the "Visarjan" or immersion on the next day of Vijaya Dasami.
context_page_description: Aarti also spelled arti, arati, arathi, aarati, aarthi, aarthy, arthy is a Hindu religious ritual of worship, a part of puja, in which light is offered to one or more deities. Aarati also refers to the songs sung in praise of the deity, when the light is being offered.
context_section_description: Hinduism has a long tradition of aarti songs, simply referred to as 'Aarti', sung as an accompaniment to the ritual of aarti. It primarily eulogizes to the deity the ritual is being offered to, and several sects have their own version of the common aarti songs that are often sung on chorus at various temples, during evening and morning aartis. Sometimes they also contain snippets of information on the life of the gods.
  The most commonly sung aarti is that which is dedicated to all deities is Om Jai Jagdish Hare, known as "The Universal Aarti" and is another common aarti song. Its variation are used for other deities as well such as Om Jai Shiv omkara, Om Jai Lakshmi mata, Om Jai Ambe gauri, Om Jai Adya Shakti, Om Jai Saraswati Mata, Om Jai Gange Mata, Om Jai Tulsi Mata and Om Jai Surya Bhagvaan. In Ganesha worship, the aarti Sukhakarta Dukhaharta is popular in Maharashtra.
  In Swaminarayan Mandirs, Jai Sadguru Swami is the aarti that is sung. In most temples in India, aarti is performed at least twice a day, after the ceremonial puja, which is the time when the largest number of devotees congregates.
  In Pushtimarg Havelis, aarti is performed by a sole mukhiyaji (priest) while Haveli Sangeet (Kirtan) is being sung. Devotees only watch the aarti being done and do not get to take a major part in it. During bhajan or utsavs (festivals) celebrated at home, Jai Jai Shree Yamuna is sung while devotees perform aarti. It is said that Sandhya Aarti is done to see if Lord Shrinathji had gotten hurt while playing outside because it is performed after sundown.
  In Sikhism the aarti sung is Gagan mein thaal.
caption: Aarti dance in Bangalore, 2009.
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