Āratī

Āratī is a Hindu devotional ritual in which a plate bearing lit wicks, camphor, or oil lamps is circled clockwise before a deity or sacred image, accompanied by hymns and the ringing of bells. It is performed at the conclusion of pūjā or at designated times of day—typically dawn, noon, dusk, and night. Devotees then pass their hands over the flame and touch them to their foreheads, symbolically receiving the deity's light and blessings.

Āratī represents the offering of the individual jīva's inner light—awareness itself—back to its divine source. The flame symbolizes ātman, the luminous self, which the devotee recognizes as non-different from Brahman. By waving light before the mūrti, the practitioner enacts the surrender of ego-consciousness and awakens to the truth that the same light illuminating the lamp also illuminates all perception.

At the absolute level, āratī is the self-luminous consciousness (svayam-prakāśa) recognizing itself without the mediation of subject and object. There is no separate worshipper, deity, or flame—only the singular, uncaused light of pure awareness. The ritual dissolves into the realization that Brahman alone shines, and by Its light all else appears to shine.