Original text
नमामि गंगे ! तव पाद पंकजम्, सुरासुरैः वंदित दिव्य रूपम् । भक्तिम् मुक्तिं च ददासि नित्यं, भावानुसारेण सदा नराणाम् ॥ हर हर गंगे, जय माँ गंगे, हर हर गंगे, जय माँ गंगे ॥ ॐ जय गंगे माता, श्री जय गंगे माता । जो नर तुमको ध्याता, मनवांछित फल पाता ॥ चंद्र सी जोत तुम्हारी, जल निर्मल आता । शरण पडें जो तेरी, सो नर तर जाता ॥ ॥ ॐ जय गंगे माता.. ॥ पुत्र सगर के तारे, सब जग को ज्ञाता । कृपा दृष्टि तुम्हारी, त्रिभुवन सुख दाता ॥ ॥ ॐ जय गंगे माता.. ॥ एक ही बार जो तेरी, शारणागति आता । यम की त्रास मिटा कर, परमगति पाता ॥ ॥ ॐ जय गंगे माता.. ॥ आरती मात तुम्हारी, जो जन नित्य गाता । दास वही सहज में, मुक्त्ति को पाता ॥ ॥ ॐ जय गंगे माता.. ॥ ॐ जय गंगे माता, श्री जय गंगे माता । जो नर तुमको ध्याता, मनवांछित फल पाता ॥ ॐ जय गंगे माता, श्री जय गंगे माता ।
Transliteration
Namami Gange! Tav Paad Pankajam, Surasuraih Vandit Divya Roopam. Bhaktim Muktim Cha Dadasi Nityam, Bhavanusarena Sada Naranam. Har Har Gange, Jai Maa Gange, Har Har Gange, Jai Maa Gange. Om Jai Gange Mata, Shri Jai Gange Mata. Jo Nar Tumko Dhyata, Manvanchhit Phal Pata. (Refrain) Chandra Si Jot Tumhari, Jal Nirmal Aata. Sharan Paden Jo Teri, So Nar Tar Jata. (Refrain) Putra Sagar Ke Tare, Sab Jag Ko Gyata. Kripa Drishti Tumhari, Tribhuvan Sukh Data. (Refrain) Ek Hi Baar Jo Teri, Sharanagati Aata. Yam Ki Traas Mita Kar, Paramgati Pata. (Refrain) Aarti Maat Tumhari, Jo Jan Nitya Gata. Daas Vahi Sahaj Mein, Mukti Ko Pata. (Refrain) Om Jai Gange Mata, Shri Jai Gange Mata. Jo Nar Tumko Dhyata, Manvanchhit Phal Pata.
A Sanskrit verse before the aarti
Before the familiar Hindi aarti begins, this version opens with a short Sanskrit verse: Namami Gange! tava pada pankajam, "O Ganga, I bow to your lotus feet, whose divine form gods and demons alike revere. You always give devotion and liberation to people, according to the feeling in their hearts." That last phrase, bhavanusarena, "according to their feeling", is the key to the whole aarti: what Ganga gives depends on how you come to her. The words "Namami Gange" became widely known when India's national river-cleaning mission took them as its name in 2014. Then comes the shout heard on every ghat: Har Har Gange, Jai Maa Gange.
What the aarti says
The aarti itself, with its refrain Om Jai Gange Mata, follows the pattern of Om Jai Jagdish Hare, and its five short stanzas each make one promise:
- Whoever meditates on her gets the fruit their heart desires.
- Her light is like the moon and her water flows pure. Whoever falls at her refuge is carried across (tar jata), the word for crossing a river and for crossing the ocean of rebirth.
- She freed the sons of Sagar. This is the story of Bhagiratha's ancestors, burnt to ash by the sage Kapila and saved only when Ganga's water touched their remains.
- Whoever comes to her shelter even once loses the fear of Yama and reaches the highest state.
- Whoever sings her aarti daily gains liberation easily.
On the ghats at dusk
Ganga aarti at sunset is one of the great sights of Hindu worship: at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar, on the ghats of Rishikesh, and at Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi. Priests swing heavy multi-tiered brass lamps in circles toward the river, conches and bells sound, and thousands of small leaf-boats with a flower and a lamp, deep daan, are set floating downstream. The ghat ceremonies use their own sequences of hymns, but this simple aarti is the one most families know by heart and sing at home or on the bank.
When and how to sing it at home
Sing it on Ganga Dussehra (Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami, the day of her descent), on Ganga Saptami, on Kartik Purnima, and after any bath in the river. At home, people keep a small vessel of Gangajal in front of the lamp, wave a ghee lamp or camphor while singing, and afterwards sprinkle a few drops of the water around the house and take a sip as charanamrit. It pairs naturally with the Ganga Chalisa, which tells at length the story the aarti only touches on.
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