Aarti & Chalisa Lyrics in Hindi & English

How to do aarti at home

Aarti is the part of puja most of us remember from childhood: the whole family standing together, someone ringing the bell, the smell of ghee and camphor, and everyone's voices joining in. You don't need anything elaborate to do it well.

1. Put a ghee diya (or a piece of camphor) on a clean thali with a few flowers and a little kumkum and rice.
2. Light it, and stand facing the deity with the family.
3. Move the thali slowly in a clockwise circle while everyone sings. A common custom is four circles at the feet, two at the waist, one at the face and then seven around the whole idol, but a loving aarti in any form is fine.
4. When you finish, pass your palms over the flame and touch them to your eyes and forehead.

Aarti, chalisa, mantra: what's the difference?

An aarti is a short hymn sung while waving the lamp, usually at the end of a puja. A chalisa is a longer prayer of forty verses, like the Hanuman Chalisa, read on its own. A mantra is a few sacred words repeated with concentration, often 108 times on a mala.

Every lyric page has the words in Hindi and in English letters, in large print. Many aartis have small regional differences in wording. If your family sings a line differently, that's not a mistake, but if you spot a real error, please tell us.