Well, where did Ganga Aarti begin?
Now, it can be a no brainer question if seen in isolation.
Ganga, the lifeline of Indian civilization and
its spiritual and social heritage, is said to be sent to earth ages ago by Lord
Shiva to save the humanity from the imminent annihilation.
It’s mythological. It’s spiritual. It’s religious. Its
faith, pure faith, believing in the story! God is nothing but faith.
Anyway, the context here is different. Ganga is being
worshipped in India
since her descent to earth.
So, asking, where did Ganga Aarti begin is a no brainer.
But, when it is asked in context of the elaborate ritual that
is performed every evening around 6:45 PM on some Varanasi ghats including the Dashashwamedh
Ghat and the Assi Ghat, the question gets is validity instantly.
Here, the question was asked by a colleague in context of
the Maha Aarti to be performed tomorrow on Sabarmati river bank in Ahmedabad.
Beginning tomorrow, the Maha Aarti will be held once a month and will be similar
to Ganga Aarti, the source of inspiration behind this initiative.
And it is natural. Ganga,
the lifeline of the population inhabiting the Gangetic plain, has a significant
place in the governance initiatives of Narendra Modi, the Indian prime
minister. Narendra Modi comes from Gujarat. He
was Gujarat’s chief minister before winning a landslide majority this May to clear
his way to the India’s
prime minister’s office.
And he represents Varanasi (from
Uttar Pradesh) in the Indian Parliament, a city that is synonymous with Lord
Shiva and Ganga.
Ganga is in bad shape in Varanasi and in many big cities along its
flow and Narendra Modi has promised to change it. He has promised a vision
around Ganga.
And this Varanasi
connection of Narendra Modi will certainly have its presence in Gujarat because
rivers have a holy place in Indian culture and Ganga
is central to it.
Politically and economically, it is certainly debatable.
So, the best way is to begin it culturally.
This Maha Aarti beginning tomorrow should be an aesthetic
experience, enlightening and absorbing as its source of inspiration in Varanasi is, and should be
a more repetitive experience in the days ahead.
‘When’ of Ganga Aarti in Indian culture is beyond history
but its initiation as an elaborate organized ritual on the ghat of a major city
along its flow has its origin in Varanasi where it began in 1992 at the
Dashshwamedh Ghat.
And now after over two decades, it has evolved as a major
cultural event of Varanasi, performed on some
other Varanasi ghats as well, with a similar
intensity of the devotion to the Mother
River, a must for every Varanasi bound tourist
and pilgrim.
(Aarti: Chants and songs sung offering worship to
the deities – performed with lamps lit with camphor or wicks soaked in pure
Ghee/purified butter – depending on the occasion and place - it can be as
simple an offering as a daily Puja/worship at home or as elaborate and
method-driven as Ganga Aarti.)