The Ganga Aarti takes place every evening at sunset on the banks of the Gange river in Haridwar, Rishikesh, and Varanasi; however, the ceremonial is partly different in each of these places.
The most spectacular ceremony takes place every evening at the Dasaswamedh Ghat in Varanasi, near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It differs from the aarti of Haridwar and Rishikesh precisely because it is highly choreographic. The ceremony is performed on small stages, in front of the river, by a group of young pandits (it is an honorary title which indicates a scholar of religion, music, philosophy or the Sanskrit language), wrapped in saffron-colored robes with dishes for puja spread out in front of them. The ceremony begins with the blowing of a shell, continues with the rotation of sticks of incense and in the final with large flaming lamps that light up the night along the river. In Varanasi, the ceremony is held by 7 pandits whose movements of incense, candles, and songs are perfectly synchronized. In the air, the smell of sandalwood is inebriating and involves you in the atmosphere of the Aarti. To be able to attend the ceremony there are several ways, it also depends a lot on what season you are visiting the city. In summer, people start arriving very early (as early as 5:00 pm), to get a good position; attending the ceremony by the ghats is free, if you want you can also attend buying a berth for a few dozen rupees and enjoy the ceremony by the river, or, always for the same price, many shops nearby rent their balconies to tourists. In winter everything is much more relaxed, the tourists are much less and even arriving at the last minute there is always a good position from which to watch the show.
In Haridwar, the Ganga Aarti is held in Hari-ki-Pauri Ghat (literally "Feet of the Lord"), in terms of spiritual importance, Hari-ki-Pauri is considered as important as Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi. Legend has it that it was born where the nectar fell (Amrit) from a plate carried by sacred birds (Garuda). The Ganga Aarti at Haridwar is perhaps the one that mostly involves the spectators, during the first half hour in fact, the prayers that resonate from the coffers of the temple are repeated in chorus by the faithful sitting on the opposite bank of the Ganges; in the second part instead, the ceremony returns to be more similar to that seen in Varanasi, although much shorter. At the end of the ceremony, hundreds of offers are released in the waters of the Ganges illuminating the entire bed, a unique show to watch. There is also a celebration (very short) at dawn, we have witnessed for curiosity but probably, if we had slept a couple of hours more, we would have earned.
In Rishikesh instead, the Ganga Aarti takes place on the banks of the river in front of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram. It is a much more intimate and relaxed celebration than the aarti of Haridwar and Varanasi and is also lacking in theatricality, many prefer it, for this reason, considering it more spiritual. Personally, I can say that, in any case, we are not talking about ceremonies made for use and consumption of tourists, on the contrary, Indian participation is by far the most important and heartfelt.
Usually, the ceremony in Rishikesh is not performed by the pundits, but by the residents (many children) of the ashram who study the Vedas (sacred texts in Vedic Sanskrit).
The ceremony begins with the singing of bhajans (devotional songs), prayers, and a Hawan (a sacred and purifying ritual that takes place around a fire, with the offers made to Agni, the god of fire). The children sing with the spiritual guide of the ashram around lighted candles under an enormous statue of Shiva.
No comments:
Post a Comment