May 3, 2012

• Varanasi-City of Light, Fire and Knowledge

  Where was I? Ah Yes, the magical mystical fire aarti of varanasi

  

  Aarti is generally performed one to five times daily, and usually at the end of a bhajan session. It is performed during almost all Hindu ceremonies and occasions. It involves the circulating of an ‘Aarti plate’ or ‘Aarti lamp’ around a person or deity and is generally accompanied by the singing of songs in praise of that deva or person (many versions exist). In doing so, the plate or lamp is supposed to acquire the power of the deity. The priest circulates the plate or lamp to all those present. They cup their down-turned hands over the flame and then raise their palms to their forehead – the purificatory blessing, passed from the deva’s image to the flame, has now been passed to the devotee

   

   

  Aarti is said to have descended from the Vedic concept of fire rituals, or homa. In the traditional aarti ceremony, the flower represents the earth (solidity), the water and accompanying handkerchief correspond with the water element (liquidity), the lamp or candle represents the fire component (heat), the peacock fan conveys the precious quality of air (movement), and the yak-tail fan represents the subtle form of ether (space). The incense represents a purified state of mind, and one’s “intelligence” is offered through the adherence to rules of timing and order of offerings. Thus, one’s entire existence and all facets of material creation are symbolically offered to the Lord via the aarti ceremony

   

  When aarti is performed, the performer faces the deity of God (or divine element, e.g. Ganges river) and concentrates on the form of God by looking into the eyes of the deity to get immersed. The flame of the aarti illuminates the various parts of the deity so that the performer and onlookers may better see and concentrate on the form. Aarti is waved in circular fashion, in clockwise manner around the deity. After every circle when Aarti has reached the bottom (6-8 o’ clock position), the performer waves it backwards while remaining in the bottom (4-6 o’ clock position) and then continues waving it in clockwise fashion. The idea here is that aarti represents our daily activities, which revolves around God, a center of our life. Looking at God while performing aarti reminds the performer (and the attendees of the aarti) to keep God at the center of all activities and reinforces the understanding that routine worldly activities are secondary in importance

  Apart from worldly activities aarti also represents one’s self – thus, aarti signifies that one is peripheral to Godhead or divinity. This would keep one’s ego down and help one remain humble in spite of high social and economic rank. A third commonly held understanding of the ritual is that aarti serves as a reminder to stay vigilant so that the forces of material pleasures and desires cannot overcome the individual. Just as the lighted wick provides light and chases away darkness, the vigilance of an individual can keep away the influence of the material world.

  

  The Multiple priests/performers in the videos above are students at the religious college in Varanasi, and performing these rituals is both a community service and an exam. Throughout the performance tourists and pilgrims offer up our own small aartis or prayers, setting adrift small bowls of flowers, ghee, and the other components of aarti on floating baskets in the ganga river

  

  The site of all those prayers being set afloat nightly is truly something magical to behold

  

  After the ceremony, we opted to wander the streets of Varanasi a bit. Another name for the city is Benares, city of knowledge. We garnered much knowledge on our walk

  

  We learned that the streets are hella crowded…no seriously

  Just crossing the street you take your life in your hands

   

   And because it was so thrilling the first time, we decided to tempt fate and go back for one more round of knowledge and danger

   Having successfully tempted fate twice, we just wandered the market in search of more knowledge

  

  like child mannequins are terrifying with their soulless eyes

  

  And to Beware the Aquatic Association…but more on that next time in the final Varanasi, and final India post before we lose Dr Han and trek onward to Nepal

   

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