Thousands of people lined the banks of the River Thames in London on Sunday to witness the city’s first-ever Ganga Aarti, a traditional Hindu ceremony focused on light, prayer and gratitude.
Incorporated into the annual Totally Thames festival, the event, organised by Chinmaya Mission UK, was titled “Ganga Aarti on the Thames: A Ceremony of Light”. This was from the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, which is a historic setting.
The ceremony was an attempt to evoke the sacred ambiance of the old-Ganga-Aarti done manually on the banks of the River-Ganges in India. The event was a gathering of people from the Indian and broader Hindu community, as well as other participants, to celebrate together in a spirit of gratitude and honour for nature.
Resident Teacher, Chinmaya Mission UK, Brahmacharini Shripriya Chaitanya said the gathering was in the spirit of gratitude, as was the case at the time of travelling along the Ganga in India.
It is customary for many communities to assemble by the banks of Ganga since generations to offer light as a tribute to the river, to nature and everything that supports life, she said.
The event on the Thames was to unite people through the same message she stated: gratitude, hope and unity.
Ganga Aarti refers to an age-old Hindu practice where large, multi-tiered oil lamps are offered during the chanting of prayers, music and devotional songs. The event is also a display of respect towards the river and everything it provides.
The organisers hoped that by taking the ritual to riverside, there would be a cultural and spiritual link between the two iconic rivers and an education in an important Indian ritual for Londoners.