Haridwar’s Ganga Aarti

After a lovely tour of Haridwar, we went to the banks of the River Ganges to watch an important religious ceremony called the Ganga Aarti (worshipping with fire by the Ganges).  It was really interesting to see this ritual after doing so much research on Hinduism.

The River Ganges is very holy in the Hindu religion. In the mythology, it is said there was a king named Bhagiratha who discovered his ancestors couldn’t go to heaven until their ashes were purified by the water, so he asked the river to come down from heaven. The river agreed, but needed someone to be underneath to break the force of its descent. The king then asked Shiva to help, which the god did by receiving the river on his head. The river flowed through Shiva’s hair onto the earth and Bhagiratha’s ancestors were accepted into heaven. Since the river came from heaven and flowed through a god’s hair, it is considered holy. We heard this story in Mumbai when we visited the Elephanta Caves so it was neat to see the real thing.

There is a ceremony held at the Ganges every morning and night called the “Ganga Aarti”. This is done to worship the goddess Ganga.

Before the ceremony, altars to the goddess are brought down on to the ghat for the pundits to perform the holy rituals.

The platform with an altar

The steps of the ghat

To watch the ceremony, we sat on one of the raised platforms on the ghat. These seats can be rented out for people to have a good view of the Aarti. While we were on the platform, we were blessed by a priest who tied string around our wrists, put sandalwood marks on our foreheads, and we even said a prayer in Sanskrit (by repeating after the priest of course)!

Getting the thread tied

Getting the sandalwood mark

Our priest

During the ceremony, there was a lot of chanting by the pundits, presumably to the river goddess. All the Hindus who attended would raise their hands up to show they were leaving things for the Gods to decide. It was incredible to see how devoted these people are to their faith.

People at the Ganga Aarti

Raising their hands

At one point, some of the holy men poured different liquids into the river, like milk, honey, curd, and ghee. They also threw coloured powder into the water.

Pouring in the liquids

Putting in the powder

The powder in the water

Since the purpose of an Aarti is to worship with fire, the climax of the ceremony came when the pundits took big flaming lamps and waved them in a circular motion.  The sun was setting and you could see the light from the lamps reflected in the river which made the water look like it was glowing.

The lit lamps

Lots of lamps

Two pundits with lamps

At the end of the ceremony, we floated our lit baskets down the river. It was a beautiful sight to see so many lit flowered baskets floating down the river.

Zoe putting the basket in the water

Putting the basket in the water

The flowers and candles

Visiting the Ganges and witnessing the Ganga Aarti was amazing. Seeing how the Hindu people worship and how much devotion they have is incredible. This has been an unforgettable experience.