आरती संग्रह
Traditional aartis in full — the Devanagari text, a romanisation you can actually sing from, and what each verse means in English. Every text is public domain and cites the printed source it came from.
13 texts · Marathi and Hindi · Ganesha, the Goddess, Shiva, Vishnu and Hanuman
The dates ahead, and which text each evening needs.
Sukhkarta Dukhharta is the best-known Marathi aarti to Ganesha, composed by Samarth Ramdas in the 17th century. Its name means “bringer of happiness, remover of sorrow”, and it is the first aarti sung at the close of Ganesha puja across Maharashtra.
Marathi · Samarth Ramdas · 1608–1682 · 4 sections
Ghalin Lotangan is the prayer that closes the aarti sequence in Maharashtra. It opens with an abhang of Sant Namdev in Marathi and then moves through four Sanskrit verses of surrender, ending with the cry of Ganpati Bappa Morya.
Marathi and Sanskrit · Sant Namdev (opening abhang) · c. 1270–1350 · 6 sections
Shendur Lal Chadhayo is the second Ganesh aarti of a Maharashtrian puja, sung straight after Sukhkarta Dukhharta. It is in Hindi rather than Marathi, and its three verses describe a Ganesha covered in vermilion with a jaggery laddoo in his hand, then ask for nothing more than to keep looking at him.
Hindi, sung in Maharashtra · Gosavi Nandan (named in the closing verse) · 4 sections
Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh Deva is the Ganesh aarti of north India, sung at the start of almost every Hindi-speaking puja. Five short couplets name his parents, describe his form, list what he gives — sight to the blind, a child to the childless — and end by asking him to protect the dignity of the poor.
Hindi · 5 sections
Jai Ambe Gauri is the Durga aarti sung through Navratri and at every Devi puja. Its twelve verses describe the goddess head to foot, then name the demons she has defeated, and close with the promise that whoever sings it receives ease and plenty.
Hindi · 13 sections
Om Jai Lakshmi Mata is the aarti of the goddess Lakshmi, sung at Diwali’s Lakshmi puja and on Fridays. Its seven verses argue a single unusual idea: without her there is no cloth, no food, no ceremony — prosperity is what makes worship itself possible.
Hindi · 8 sections
Durge Durghat Bhari is the Marathi aarti of the goddess, sung through the nine nights of Navratri and at every Devi puja in Maharashtra. Its three verses do not describe her at all; they argue that the Vedas and the philosophies failed to reach her, and that she comes quickly to anyone who simply asks.
Marathi · Narahari (named in the closing verse) · 4 sections
Om Jai Shiv Omkara is the aarti sung at the close of Shiva puja across north India. Its argument is unusual for an aarti: rather than praising Shiva alone, every verse sets Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva side by side and then closes by saying the three are one inside the syllable Om.
Hindi · Shivanand Swami (named in the closing verse) · 9 sections
Lavthavti Vikrala is the Marathi aarti of Shiva, composed by Samarth Ramdas, sung on Mondays and through the month of Shravan. Its four verses picture a terrifying, beautiful figure — a garland of worlds, a black throat, flames in the third eye, the Ganga running from his hair — and then explain the black throat by retelling the churning of the ocean.
Marathi · Samarth Ramdas · 1608–1682 · 5 sections
Om Jai Jagdish Hare is the aarti sung to close almost every Hindu puja, whichever deity the puja was for. It was written in Hindi by Pandit Shraddha Ram Phillauri in the 1870s, and its seven verses move from praise to a plain admission of need.
Hindi · Pandit Shraddha Ram Phillauri · 1837–1881 · 8 sections
Aarti Kunj Bihari Ki is the Krishna aarti of north India, sung at Janmashtami and in every Krishna temple at evening. It is unlike most aartis: each long verse is a single unbroken picture — the peacock crown, the flute, the Ganga in Shiva’s hair, the cows at dusk — that runs on without a pause until the refrain catches it.
Hindi (Braj) · 6 sections
Yei O Vitthale is the aarti of Vitthal of Pandharpur, sung at Ashadhi and Kartiki Ekadashi and at every Vitthal temple in Maharashtra. It is written as a wait: the singer stands with a hand shading their eyes, watching the road, and asks the god to come — not to bless, just to come.
Marathi · Vishnudas Nama (named in the closing verse) · 5 sections
Most song pages on this site carry commentary rather than lyrics, because those lyrics are still in copyright. Aartis are different: Samarth Ramdas died in 1682, Sant Namdev around 1350, Pandit Shraddha Ram Phillauri in 1881, and the anonymous texts are older still. Indian copyright runs for the author's life plus sixty years, so these verses belong to everyone and can be published complete — and they are worth publishing carefully, since people sing from them. Each page says which printed collection its text follows and what was corrected against the scan.