Arati Sai Baba

Arati

Arati flame

Arati is a form of congregational worship with music and lights, celebrated with particular elan in Maharashtra and especially in Shirdi. Those interested in the history of arati and its evolution in Shirdi are referred to Arati Sai Baba - the Psalm Book of Shirdi Aratis by Sri Sainathuni Sarath Babuji.

For many who come to Shirdi, attendance at arati is one of the highlights of their visit. It is perhaps during arati that we can most easily experience the essence of Shirdi and the power of Baba's presence. Some people experience a heightened state and speak of a dissolution of the sense of separation, the erosion of the boundary between self and God. Others say that this is the time when Baba comes "alive" for them and answers their questions and prayers.

The effect of the group and its stirring emotion - of faith, longing and devotion - acts powerfully on the heart. The atmosphere becomes highly charged and there is a palpable sense of the numinous. In Baba's time too, it seems that arati was an occasion when his grace was particularly felt and experienced by the devotees. Some of these instances are recorded in Shirdi Diary by G. S. Khaparde who, in his own phlegmatic style, speaks of a particular elation at such times. The impact of the ceremony is intensified by dazzling sensual input: for the eyes there is a dynamic kaleidoscope of colourful images (the fondly adorned statue and samadhi, the waving arati flame, the red and gold uniform of the mace-bearing chopdars); for the ears there are the melodious and passionately rendered songs accompanied by harmonium and other instruments - not to mention the thrilling cries of praise at the end; and for fragrance there is the aroma of incense, rose-water and numerous flower offerings.

 Arati

Prostrating before Baba.

Of the thirty or so devotional songs sung in the aratis, about half were specially composed for Baba and the remainder are traditional arati songs by the medieval poet-saints of Maharashtra. Most of them are in Marathi with a couple each in Hindi and Sanskrit. A small booklet of English transliterations is available; Arati Sai Baba (already mentioned) includes transliterations, full English translations and commentaries.

Arati is held four times a day at Baba's samadhi: at 5 a.m., noon, sunset (around 6.30 p.m.) and at 10 p.m. A siren resounds throughout Shirdi a few minutes before the noon and sunset aratis, and at four o'clock in the morning. The ceremony is broadcast by an amplified system throughout the village. To attend arati it is best to go early and join those waiting in the Queue Complex, where there will be a separate line from the regular darshan queue. If you are too late for this you may be able to enter through the Mukh Darshan entrance, i.e. directly into the mandir at the northeast corner (depending on the number of the people) and attend from the back of the Samadhi Hall. If you are unable to get inside the Samadhi Mandir because of the crowd, you can participate in arati by going next door to Dwarkamai. It was in Dwarkamai that arati was originally performed to Baba and devotees still flock here to join in the worship. Alternatively, you can watch the arati on one of the outside television screens located around the mandir, including one at Gurusthan.

"While singing devotional songs in unison, a devotee can cut across the cussed insulations of the ego and merge easily into the group rhythm. It induces a sense of expanded consciousness in which one tends to lose the individual 'voice'. The sense of being 'apart from the world' is subtly replaced by an awareness of being a part of a 'whole'."