Aarti is a Hindu devotional ritual in which light (usually from a brass lamp with cotton wicks soaked in ghee or camphor) is offered to a deity while singing hymns of praise. The lamp is moved in a clockwise circular motion before the deity's image. Aarti is typically performed at the end of a puja ceremony and is one of the 16 steps of formal worship (Shodashopachara Puja). Major aartis include the Ganga Aarti at Varanasi's Dashashwamedh Ghat (performed every evening), Jai Jagdish Hare (universal evening aarti), and deity-specific aartis like Om Jai Shiv Omkara and Om Jai Lakshmi Mata. After the aarti, devotees pass their hands over the flame and touch their foreheads, symbolically receiving divine light and blessings.