Durga Aarti: Jai Ambe Gauri

About the aarti ‘Jai Ambe Gauri’

‘Jai Ambe Gauri’ is the best-known Hindi aarti of Maa Durga. Across north and west India, Navratri, Mata ki Chowki, jagratas and every Devi puja end with it. It describes her form (sindoor in her hair parting, a musk tilak, red garments, the lion she rides, the sword and skull-bowl in her hands) and her victories over Shumbh and Nishumbh, Mahishasur, Chanda and Munda, Raktabij, and Madhu and Kaitabh.

The last verse names the poet, ‘Kahat Shivanand Svami’, so the aarti is regarded as the work of Shivanand Swami; nothing more about him is reliably known. The refrain ‘Jai Ambe Gauri, Maiya jai Shyama Gauri’ calls the Mother both ‘Gauri’, the fair one, and ‘Shyama’, the dark one.

How to do the Durga aarti

• First finish the puja or the Durga Chalisa; the aarti comes at the end.
• Light a ghee diya or camphor on the plate, with red flowers, roli, rice and prasad.
• Sing the full refrain first, then circle the plate clockwise, repeating ‘Om Jai Ambe Gauri’ after every verse.
• Afterwards pass both hands over the flame, touch them to your eyes, and share the prasad.

How many times to circle the aarti plate

The common tradition is four times towards the Goddess's feet, twice towards the navel, once towards the face, and then seven times before the whole image. Families differ a little; the devotion matters most.

When to sing it

At the end of the morning and evening puja every day, and especially in the nine days of Chaitra and Sharadiya Navratri, both morning and evening. It is also sung on Fridays, on Ashtami, and at every Mata ki Chowki and jagrata.