What is this priest using?

[Jainarayan]

This is one of many pics from the daily Ganga aarti at Varanasi. I'd love to see it live someday. There is a line of young priests who perform the aarti every evening.

I don't think it's camphor, which has black smoke. Boy, does it have black smoke! And I don't see any flame.

I'm thinking maybe sambrani? I have sambrani at home, powder and shaped like small shotgun shells. Those are self-burning, the powder requires charcoal.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

Yes, it's sambrani !
We use it at Home also, it's just resin/Roots/any naturally fragrant thing and you put it on a burning charcoal. Makes a a lot of smoke but absolutely great on the fragrance side !

Ganga aarti is a sight to see... We were there last year, and watched the ceremony on a boat. I'll find the pictures for you tomorrow ~ !

Aum Namah Shivaya

 

[Vinayaka]

Definitely sambrani. There's a man that really knows how to make it last for our festival. He uses coconut husk as embers, and it will last for half an hour it seems. I used to do it and never had the success he has, although he has a better burner than I ever did. You can get it at Indian stores, in resin form, or in powder form. The resin form has to be powdered before tossing on embers.

 

[Jainarayan]

Thanks both.

I got the powder and self burning variety from the temple store. They have all kinds of neat stuff. And you know I have to have everything.

I have charcoal pellets from the New Age store. Kingsford Charcoal Briquets would probably work just as well. I usually use it for incense in rock form. I don’t think I did it right with the sambrani. I dumped about 1/2 tsp. on the burning charcoal but it didn’t last. I probably should have sprinkled it evenly.

Gonna try again.

 

[Valjean]

Does the fire marshal know they disabled the smoke detectors?
They could face a hefty fine...

 

[Vinayaka]

Does the fire marshal know they disabled the smoke detectors?
They could face a hefty fine...

At the temple I attend it's only outside ... they stay low on incense as well, and never camphor inside. Too much cleaning. But yes, I suspect some temples might get in trouble ... kitchen facilities, overcrowding, homas.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Thanks both.

I got the powder and self burning variety from the temple store. They have all kinds of neat stuff. And you know I have to have everything.

I have charcoal pellets from the New Age store. Kingsford Charcoal Briquets would probably work just as well. I usually use it for incense in rock form. I don’t think I did it right with the sambrani. I dumped about 1/2 tsp. on the burning charcoal but it didn’t last. I probably should have sprinkled it evenly.

Gonna try again.

Trials and errors, that's how we all master it
But we'll never produce as much smoke at Home than they do at the temple x'D

 

[Aupmanyav]

During Durga Puja too (gugal, guggul, gugul, guggulu - Tamil, myrrh - Commiphora wightii - Wikipedia).
For home, we get the mix as sticks, lumps. Shamans use it extensively.

 

[Jainarayan]

I have a thing for smoke and fire (no pyromaniac). I once burned so much rock incense the house looked like an opium den. Even the dogs were coughing and sneezing. Anyway, needing to prove a point to myself last night, I lit a couple of the self-burning sambrani dhoops. Ohhh yeah, I got smoke. Smelled nice. I have something almost exactly like this. The diyas don't hold very much oil, maybe 1/4 tsp. But that's enough for a small aarti.

It holds several sambrani dhoops. These are what I use. It must have burned for close to 1/2 hour, give or take.

 

[Vinayaka]

I have a thing for smoke and fire (no pyromaniac). I once burned so much rock incense the house looked like an opium den. Even the dogs were coughing and sneezing. Anyway, needing to prove a point to myself last night, I lit a couple of the self-burning sambrani dhoops. Ohhh yeah, I got smoke. Smelled nice. I have something almost exactly like this. The diyas don't hold very much oil, maybe 1/4 tsp. But that's enough for a small aarti.

It holds several sambrani dhoops. These are what I use. It must have burned for close to 1/2 hour, give or take.

View attachment 32419

That's the same one I use for final arati every day. Common to find.

 

[Jainarayan]

That's the same one I use for final arati every day. Common to find.

Yep, they're all over. Do you use regular wicks? I cut them into tiny pieces, just enough to sit in the diya and burn. I have small round wicks that I'm thinking of trying. They absorb a good amount of oil and don't drip.

 

[Vinayaka]

Yep, they're all over. Do you use regular wicks? I cut them into tiny pieces, just enough to sit in the diya and burn. I have small round wicks that I'm thinking of trying. They absorb a good amount of oil and don't drip.

I make my own. The cotton wad roller thing. Thin ones work better for this. Same ones they use for the larger alankara deepams at temples. We don't do incense much. I'm a sneezer. One stick will last 5 or 6 pujas as I butt it out fairly soon after offering it. It's those guys we beseech who have to smell it anyway, not me.

 

[Aupmanyav]

If Guggual is in form of a lump, then one could roll it between palms and make a small thin stick.

 

[Jainarayan]

I was thinking, out of curiosity and comparing notes...

When doing aarti what do y'all use for mantras, prayers, verses, songs? For Mangala Aarti at temple, it's the aarti song om jai jagadisha hare then twameva mata cha pita... , kayena vacha manasendriyairva... and om asato ma sad gamaya. At home I just do those three. I don't do the song, though I might try it. I'm not good enough to do it a capella. I have a couple versions in my phone I could sing with.

 

[Vinayaka]

I was thinking, out of curiosity and comparing notes...

When doing aarti what do y'all use for mantras, prayers, verses, songs? For Mangala Aarti at temple, it's the aarti song om jai jagadisha hare then twameva mata cha pita... , kayena vacha manasendriyairva... and om asato ma sad gamaya. At home I just do those three. I don't do the song, though I might try it. I'm not good enough to do it a capella. I have a couple versions in my phone I could sing with.

Mine varies by God, and Guru, as in the final aarti they're all done separately. It would take too long to write it all here.

 

[Jainarayan]

Mine varies by God, and Guru

Yeah, I guess that would be true. I’ve only ever done any kind of puja just for Krishna.

 

[Jainarayan]

I bought this exact one from the temple store yesterday.



They had a cargo ship load of them.

The one I already have is very messy. The wells are not deep (no pun intended ) at all and drip oil either with regular wicks or round wicks. I lit it a couple of times to see how it burns, but I wasn't impressed.

But all was not lost. I unscrewed the wells and replaced them with the cup part of this. I particularly like the decorative handle of the first deepa.



Now it's a regular puja deepa. I am indeed my father's son in re-purposing things.

But anyway, I'm embarrassed to admit that after all these years I had not done a full aarti until yesterday morning after puja. I have a couple of recordings of Om Jai Jagdish Hare in iTunes in my phone, so yep... I played it and sang with it, then chanted tvameva mata ca pita tvameva... , kayena vacha... , and om asato ma sad gamaya... . I used the new deepa this morning, and have to say I had quite the conflagration. I think the round wicks I used were too big, I try the smaller round ones or regular wicks. I put a chunk of sambrani in the dhoop cup as well.

So yeah, that's my little aarti.

 

[Vinayaka]

I bought this exact one from the temple store yesterday.

View attachment 32762

They had a cargo ship load of them.

The one I already have is very messy. The wells are not deep (no pun intended ) at all and drip oil either with regular wicks or round wicks. I lit it a couple of times to see how it burns, but I wasn't impressed.

But all was not lost. I unscrewed the wells and replaced them with the cup part of this. I particularly like the decorative handle of the first deepa.

View attachment 32763

Now it's a regular puja deepa. I am indeed my father's son in re-purposing things.

But anyway, I'm embarrassed to admit that after all these years I had not done a full aarti until yesterday morning after puja. I have a couple of recordings of Om Jai Jagdish Hare in iTunes in my phone, so yep... I played it and sang with it, then chanted tvameva mata ca pita tvameva... , kayena vacha... , and om asato ma sad gamaya... . I used the new deepa this morning, and have to say I had quite the conflagration. I think the round wicks I used were too big, I try the smaller round ones or regular wicks. I put a chunk of sambrani in the dhoop cup as well.

So yeah, that's my little aarti.

I don't quite understand. The top one that I use, is really easy to use. The wicks hang out the pointed ends, and I ignore the big middle one, which would traditionally be for camphor. Worls like a charm very time, and is easily lit off a kuttavillakku. Aarti generally involves clockwise circles and all sorts of mantras. The Jai Jagadisha ... one is very north Indian. Never hear it in the temple I attend regularly, and I don't use it or know it. But yes, absolutely common in the North style temples.

 

[Jainarayan]

I don't quite understand. The top one that I use, is really easy to use. The wicks hang out the pointed ends, and I ignore the big middle one, which would traditionally be for camphor.

Right... that's is the new one I just got. It's very nice, it's light to hold and doesn't make a mess. The one that made a mess is the first one I got. I don't have a picture of that. I've used camphor, and have quite a few of the little tablets. But it does make a lot of smoke. I only use it occasionally, mostly for scenting up the house. Husband though I had an open jar of Vicks® VapoRub™.

Worls like a charm very time, and is easily lit off a kuttavillakku. Aarti generally involves clockwise circles and all sorts of mantras. The Jai Jagadisha ... one is very north Indian. Never hear it in the temple I attend regularly, and I don't use it or know it. But yes, absolutely common in the North style temples.

I patterned mine from the nightly Mangala Aarti at temple. Given that there are people from all over, and it's a Vishnu temple, I'm not surprised. However, the Sri Venkateshwara aarti is more elaborate. I can't make out what the mantras are. But they use several deepas... one is the regular single puja deepa...

This one...



and one that looks like a brass jar, single flame at the top which makes a lot of smoke, may be camphor.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Like Vinayaka said, there should not be any problem with small wick and less oil. These are not for many artis which take a long time. For that your scheme is OK. Note what he said - the wicks hang out.