Arati
The act of waving a lighted lamp before
a deity. The deity may be present
in many forms, such as a picture,
statue, symbol (svayambhu image)
such as the shalagram, or even a
natural phenomenon such as a river, as
in the case of the Ganges.
The arati lamp usually is a shallow
vessel holding a cotton wick soaked in
oil or clarified butter, with a ring-shaped
handle to protect one’s hands. This is
one of the sixteen traditional offerings
(upacharas) presented to a deity as part
of worship. This particular act is the
offering of light.
Arati is arguably the single most
common act of Hindu worship, per-
formed daily in Hindu homes and
temples throughout the world. Because
of this fact, the word aratiis sometimes
used to refer to any act of worship,
even singing panegyric hymns during
worship. Before electric lights were
invented, when the temples were much
darker, arati also served to give the
devotees (bhakta) in the temples a
better view of the deity, which was
very important.
Aravalli Hills
A range of hills running diagonally from
the southwestern to the northeastern
corner of Rajasthan. They are important
for their physical characteristics, which
have a profound effect on the environ-
ment. On the northern side of the hills,
the land slopes gently into the Thar
desert and is arid and thinly settled. On
the southern side, the hills provide
more protection. As a result the land is
greener and comparatively richer than
on the northern side.
Sacred sites (tirthas) in the Aravallis
include the town of Pushkar, with its
holy lake, as well as the temple devoted
to Balaji, which is located in the village
of Mehndipur.
Archana
(“salutation”) Rites of welcome and
reverence, usually performed during
formal worshipof a deityin a temple. In
a larger sense, this word can also refer to
those rites of reverence and salutation
performed for one’s elders, superiors, or
any honored guest.Architecture
Hindu temple architecture in India has
developed over time into several dis-
tinct, mature styles. The earliest phases
are based on early Buddhist architectur-
al forms, such as the rock-cut cave tem-
ple (chaitya) or enclosed courtyard
(vihara). Some of these early Hindu
rock-cut temples include those at Ellora
andElephanta; others are free-standing
but based on this form, as at Aihole.
Later Hindu architecture has three
basic styles: Nagara, Dravida, and
Veshara, of which the first two are the
most important. Each of these styles is
found in a certain area of India: the
Nagara in the north and east, the Dravida
in the south, and the Veshara in the west
and in Deccan. The basic differences
between them can be simplified to the
different styles of the temple towers.
The Nagara style emphasizes verti-
cality, with the whole temple building
culminating in a single highest point.
Different emphases in the ways of
treating the tower led to different
substyles: In the temples at Khajuraho,
the entire structure gradually leads up
to the central tower, whereas the
Orissastyle stresses a single enormous
tower surrounded by much smaller
subsidiary parts.
In the Dravida style, the towers tend
to be composed of horizontal tiers, with
the visual emphasis on horizontal rather
than vertical. In the later Dravida
temples, the tallest structures are the
gopurams, the central gateways in
the walls enclosing the temples. A
Dravida-style temple may have a fairly
modest tower over the central shrine, but
the area covered by the temple is often
enormous, and many of them are cities in
their own right.
The Veshara style has a barrel roof
over the sanctuary, an architecturalArchitecture